Ghost Stories

Even though I happen to be the biggest chicken on the planet, I also just happen to love ghost stories. I can remember coming to Maine in summers with my cousins, and sitting around the fire, first telling jokes and then, ghost stories. Being the youngest, I was always the most afraid. And, yet, I couldn't wait for the next sentence, for the following thought, for ultimate test of human will vs. the ghost's scary plan. I also loved Scooby Doo...and even though none of the ghosts were real, "thanks to those meddling kids", uncovering the mystery behind the ghost story always left me a little disappointed. I wanted Shaggy & Scooby to actually meet a real ghost!

While slasher movies have given ghost stories a bum rap, in my humble opinion, I think there is something intrinsically healthy in being scared, facing that fear, and moving on, feeling more brave as the result of a ghost story. There is a feeling of captivation by a well told ghost story. One gets caught up in the book, or the movie, or the storytelling, and for a moment, we forget where are, what we're doing, and can easily become completely absorbed by the story. While movies like the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" just strike me as disgusting, I have yet to meet a serious movie buff who hasn't enjoyed "The Shining". The difference? Both movies create a sense of fear and adrenaline, but "The Shining" is a true "story". It has a beginning, a middle and an end, and the path that winds around Jack Nicholson's descent into a ghost's madness is brilliantly told. It's terrifying, and yet, the intellectual stimulation of a well written, and famously acted, story creates the magic of artistic ghost 'telling'.

And yet, there is another aspect to ghost stories that enthralls us: the possibility of making contact with someone who has passed on. Even if you don't believe in ghosts, in heaven or hell or in reincarnation, there is a human fascination with 'what happens next'. All you need to do is read a book to a persistent 3 year old to understand the human experience of wanting 'more' after "the end". When my daughter was a preschooler, she used to get so frustrated with the endings of books that she'd flip through the pages, trying to find more of them, after the book ended. This is a perfect metaphor for how we, as a species, feel about life. We want there to be something *more* after "the end". Ghost stories, in a sense, give us another chapter to think about. Whether malevolent or helpful, mischevious or companionable, ghost stories connect us with the possibility of a part of us that goes on. Beyond the religious ideals of Heaven and Hell, ghost stories captivate our attention because, to put it mildly, they bring the story to our backyard, and not to somewhere far away. Ghost stories don't lessen our belief systems. They are simply a method of feeling rooted in being alive against the alternative.

Ghost stories are rite of passage for many of us. They evoke memories of summer camp, or long bus rides, or sitting in a movie theatre with high school friends. They challenge us to be scared, and then to triumph. Many people we know have experienced them first hand...and if we have not, we feel somehow missing out on an adventure. Therefore, the listening to stories, the reading of books and the watching of well made movies draws us into that 'inner circle' where we can include ourselves in the 'have experienced' sector.

Maybe there are spirits who haven't moved on. Maybe there aren't. But our need to measure ourselves by our endorphin barometer, now and then, can be powerful. Elvis' ghost at Graceland aside, as long as we know that we can turn on the light, and know that there are no monsters under the bed, ghost stories can be a healthy outlet....not to mention an awful lot of fun.

Oh, Heaven, it is mysterious, it is awful to consider that we not only carry a future Ghost within us; but are, in very deed, Ghosts! ~ Sir Thomas Carlyle