Fictional Ghosts

Subject: Fictional Ghosts Wed 19 Mar 2008, 1:11 pm

I have been giving some thought to how Ghosts appear in popular literature and films and wondering if there has ever been a popular, good and accurate portrayal of a ghost. Shakespeare has his ghosts coming back for vengeance, Dickens has Scrooge visited by series of different spectres, Casper looks like a cartoon bed sheet and Ghostbusters……well, I kind of like Slimer actually Shocked

. These ghosts tend to be sentient and communicate with the living. Are they true representations or guilty of perpetuating a myth.

What do you consider to be the most realistic and worst fictional ghosts or paranormal events and why?
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"Sometimes I just sit and think, and sometimes I just sit".

Joined : 05 Feb 2008 Posts : 163

The quick answer is, of course, that fiction portrays ghosts according a cultural stereotype rather than reality.

Funnily enough, I was wondering what kind of 'research' writers do before writing their scripts or books. I suspect it consists mostly of reading other fiction which is why the same old cliches continue generation after generation. Of course, being cynical, you will sell more books if your ghost has conversations with people, like any living character, than if it behaves aloofly like a real ghost. It's what readers expect.

Age : 31 Joined : 12 Oct 2007 Posts : 254

I have two favorite ghost renditions on film.
The first one is, of course, the splendid 1963 The Haunting. You are left to wonder whatever the many happenings inside the house are actually the work of an entity or the product of a scared mind. Like in many cases.
The second one is the trilogy A Chinese Ghost Story. Take away the martial artists flying around on wires and you have a pretty faithful rendition of a few popular Chinese ghost types.
I think also Henry James wrote some of the most memorable and "believable" ghost stories ever. The 1970 posthomous compilation Stories of the Supernatural is of course recommended material.
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Joined : 30 Jan 2008 Posts : 138

I suppose you could ask the question as to whether fiction should (or needs to) portray ghosts and such experiences faithfully. In literature, ghosts are often used as a form of plot mechanism, so the desire for paranormal realism (if you see what I mean) is secondary to providing narrative impetus.

Joined : 05 Feb 2008 Posts : 163

Subject: Re: Fictional Ghosts Wed 19 Mar 2008, 7:59 pm

I personally love the endless series of fictional ghosts that appear on Most Haunted...

Joined : 30 Jan 2008 Posts : 138

Their endless series of fictional mediums is pretty entertaining, too!

Subject: Re: Fictional Ghosts Thu 20 Mar 2008, 1:17 pm

It's like a global conspiracy to spread misinformation Shocked

. Obviously it all depends upon the story and the ghost is likely to be an integral character for plot development, but it makes me wonder why no one seems to have broken from what the masses expect a ghost to be and do some research.

I think that mass media such as literature and film are just confirming the cultural stereotype of a ghost and there is nothing we can do about it. I wonder what the world would be like if every story or film involving rocks, had them talking outer mongolian when the temperature suited them. Would people ignore scientific reasoning and would we have people out there trying to communicate with pebbles, armed with heat lamps and phrase books?
_________________
"Sometimes I just sit and think, and sometimes I just sit".

Joined : 30 Jan 2008 Posts : 138

I think the answer probably lies as much with how the powers that be in the literary world - agents, publishers etc - play it safe and cater for reliable tastes. There could be hundreds of authors out there writing truthful portrayals of ghosts, but if no-one wants to publish them then they never see the light of day!

Subject: Re: Fictional Ghosts Thu 20 Mar 2008, 6:13 pm

A fictional ghost would be pretty dull if all it did was mope around on a bridge not talking to anyone or not trying to right an injustice that happened in its life would it.

However my personal favorite film involving nasties has got to be the Entity, it still gives me goosebumps whenever its on the telly. And Salems Lot is a good un for vampires.......scratch scratch....open the window Mark, let me in.....scratch scratch....

Subject: Re: Fictional Ghosts Sun 30 Mar 2008, 7:06 pm

Subject: Re: Fictional Ghosts Sun 30 Mar 2008, 7:39 pm

The best fiction is founded on fact... Take for example, Most Haunted - bet few people know that it has a script writer who 'develops' local ghost stories...

Joined : 01 Apr 2008 Posts : 2

Urisk is right - whether a fictional ghost is an accurate representation or not is not really the question. The power ghosts have over us - i.e. their continued popularity, their ability to dislocate our taken-for-granted worlds - is precisely because we cannot know whether they're real or not and thus whether a story (sic) is telling the truth or not.

Anyway, The Haunting (1963) is still one of the most chilling ghost films I have ever seen, although Ring 1 scared me stupid. The book The Hauting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (upon which The Haunting is based) is one of my fave ghost stories, but there are countless others - Arthur Machen (more weird fiction, but still chills), Sheridan le Fanu, Wilkie Collins and of course Henry James, come to mind.