Dom, who prefers to use only his first name, had been fast asleep. Just 15 at the time, he panicked and closed his eyes. But he still remembers the experience vividly.
Was the figure a ghost? In the mythology of the United States and many other Western cultures, a ghost or spirit is a dead person who interacts with the living world. In stories, a ghost may whisper or groan, cause things to move or fall, mess with electronics — even appear as a shadowy, blurry or see-through figure.
Ghost stories are lots of fun, especially on Halloween. But some people believe that ghosts are real. Chapman University in Orange, Calif. On ghost-hunting TV shows, people use scientific equipment to attempt to record or measure spirit activity. And numerous creepy photos and videos make it seem like ghosts exist. However, none of these offer good evidence of ghosts.
Some are hoaxes, created to fool people. Ghosts are the least likely of many possible explanations. Not only are ghosts supposed to be able to do things that science says are impossible, such as turn invisible or pass through walls, but also scientists using reliable research methods have found zero evidence that ghosts exist. What scientists have discovered, though, are lots of reasons why people might feel they have had ghostly encounters. Dom began having unusual experiences when he was eight or nine.
He would wake up unable to move. He researched what was happening to him. And he learned that science had a name for it: sleep paralysis. This condition leaves someone feeling awake but paralyzed, or frozen in place. Sometimes, Dom hallucinated that creatures were walking or sitting on him. Other times, he heard screaming.
He only saw something that one time, as a teenager. Sleep paralysis happens when the brain messes up the process of falling asleep or waking. And you stop dreaming before you waken.
A neuroscientist, he studies sleep paralysis at the University of Cambridge in England. He says this is why it happens: Our most vivid, lifelike dreams happen during a certain stage of sleep. In this stage, your eyes dart around under their closed lids. That could get dangerous! Imagine flailing your arms and legs as you play dream basketball, only to whack your knuckles on the wall and tumble to the floor.
Your brain usually turns this paralysis off before you wake up. Have you ever felt your phone buzz, then checked to find there was no message? Have you heard someone calling your name when no one was there? Have you ever seen a face or figure in a dark shadow? These misperceptions also count as hallucinations, says David Smailes. He thinks that just about everyone has such experiences.
Most of us just ignore them. But some may turn to ghosts as the explanation. So when experiencing a hallucination, our first instinct is usually to believe it.
The brain has a tough job. Information from the world bombards you as a mixed-up jumble of signals. The eyes take in color. The ears take in sounds. The skin senses pressure. The brain works to make sense of this mess. This is called bottom-up processing. And the brain is very good at it. Little wonder they were so prone to feeling haunted by lives that might have been.
Whatever women repress, ghost stories suggest, will eventually come back to haunt if not them, then those who colluded in keeping them downtrodden. These ghost women are often deeply sympathetic characters. What makes them terrifying is that death has enabled them to break free of social mores and fully unleash the anger that their living sisters must swallow.
The ghosts become proto-feminist figures who — in death at least — cast off the traditional roles that society foists upon them, those of obedient wife, doting mother, dutiful daughter. The words come from a newly published collection of literary odds and ends, Let Me Tell You, but her novel, The Haunting of Hill House, has been cited by Stephen King as one of the greatest horror novels of all time.
In writing ghost stories, the authors were exorcising thoughts and concerns deemed unspeakable at the time. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. The secret meaning of ghost stories. Share using Email. By Hephzibah Anderson 22nd January Think about W.
His son dies at work, and the money is payment from the company where the accident happened. Try sharing your story at a campfire, sleepover, in the basement, or on Halloween. Say it again. Compare to scare. Give strong visual descriptions and choose your comparisons wisely. If there are clouds in your story, compare them to ghosts, not cotton candy.
If your creepy character rides a bike, unless you have a good reason to make it shiny and new, describe it as rickety. The more details you give, the more realistic your story will sound—and the more spooky the details, the scarier the story. Say it scary. Telling a story aloud allows you to use your voice to scary effect.
Give your old man character a gravelly voice and the little child a high-pitched voice. Pause for dramatic effect and pace the story to slowly build tension. Sometimes, the scariest stories are told quietly, or even in a whisper. You can get loud all of a sudden to scare your listeners. Nothing says scary like a bucket full of gooey eyeballs—ditto for lighting effects. Dim the overheads and shine a flashlight at your face from below to cast eerie shadows.
You can also use spooky sound effects. If there are noises in your story, imitate them. Arcane books of forbidden lore, disturbing secrets in the family bloodline, and terrors so unspeakable the very thought of them might drive you mad. These have become standard elements in modern horror stories. But they were largely popularized by a single author: H.
Lovecraft, whose name has become synonymous with the terror he inspired. The prisoner strapped under a descending pendulum blade. A beating heart buried under the floorboards. But just what is it that makes Edgar Allan Poe one of the greatest American authors? Scott Peeples investigates. In , Lord Byron proposed a challenge to a few literary guests he had gathered in his house on Lake Geneva: Who could write the most chilling ghost story?
Welcome, foolish mortals. Haunted music and monsters are just the beginning—look here for spooky resources. How do fables and myths explain the unknown and preserve cultures? What makes a good story? How do plays comment on societal issues?
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