Category Archives: GhoStory Guru
GhoStory Guru: “What Say the Frogs Now, Jenny?” by Hugh B. Cave
I’m a New England girl, born and bred, and so I have a deep love for writing New Englandghost stories—mostly because, let’s face it, the creepy woods, two-hundred-or-more-year-old houses rife with Colonial tragedy, silent winters and pretty-near-consistent gray weather eight to nine months out of the year are the perfect setting for such tales. It’s just too easy.
But thanks to my friend and co-editor of Read Short Fiction, Robert Mayette—who treated me to the book Haunted Dixie: Great Ghost Stories from the American South Christmas—I’m thrilled for the new challenge in my work when I relocate to Florida in the next few months. From Haunted Dixie’s Introduction—“Into the Shadowy South”—by Frank D. McSherry, Jr.:
“The scary and entertaining stories in this volume are about just such beings—those that defy description—as they wreak their havoc in an equally unclassifiable setting: the American South, where mystery and majesty lurk behind the shadows of the beautiful and the bizarre. Running from the grassy plains of Texas, to the tangled swamps of Georgia, the rolling Virginiahills, the foggy bottomlands of Mississippi, and the stormy coastline of the Carolinas, Dixieis a land haunted by more than just history.”[1]
I’ll start withFlorida’s feature: “What Say the Frogs Now, Jenny?” byHughB.Cave.
There are a few hallmarks which make this a fabulous ghost story, and I can’t go into depth without completely spoiling it (the mark a true craftsman at work), so I’ll be a little vague.
The most striking element is the fine motif Cave has chosen to weave throughout the piece: that of hands. With so many subtle references popping up, it works on the subconscious to create the overall feel of hands reaching from beyond the grave.
The second is the fact that we love Jenny—we feel sympathy toward her; she’s the hardworking, just-can’t-seem-to-get-ahead girl we all recognize in ourselves.
And the third? A shocking twist on the combination of the first and second things I mentioned, and if I explain how it works in terms of literary mechanics, I will ruin everything. You’ll just have to read the story and find out.
Tell you what: if you get the book, read the story, and want my analysis, contact me through the contact page on this website—and if you do, I’ll send you a free copy of my book Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World (why not; let’s have some fun, here!)
This book—only issued in hardcover, as near as I can tell—seems to be out of print, but there are several used copies at reasonable prices available through the Amazon Marketplace here: http://amzn.com/1435104579 But if you’re a ghost story lover, no price should be too high to own this one.
[1] Frank D. McSherry, Jr., “Into the Shadowy South,” in Haunted Dixie: Great Ghost Stories from the American South, comp. by Frank D. McSherry, Jr., Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenburg (New York: Fall River Press, 1994), vii.
GhoStory Guru: “Autopsy” by Theresa Williams
I’m always on the look out specifically for ghost stories, but sometimes I start reading a short story simply because I’m intrigued by the title—and am surprised to find out it’s anything but natural.
Such was the case when I discovered “Autopsy” by Theresa Williams. My short story “Denigrating David” appeared in July 2011’s State of Imagination, and as a rule, I try to read all the work in an issue in which mine was published—I almost always find a gem of a story that way, and sometimes I even reach out to the authors to make friends or tell them how much I admired it. I haven’t reached out to Theresa yet—I’ll share my thoughts with you first.
What makes “Autopsy” an effective ghost story is its honesty, and its lack of the fantastical: if a loved one with whom you were close has died, especially if, at the time, you were a child or teen, you’ll recognize the thoughts of this character. And what happens could just as easily happen to you—if it hasn’t already.
“Autopsy” is extremely short, and that’s what also makes it effective: every word is succinct, every one is important, and it packs a powerful punch in its last line. This will take you less than five minutes to read—but you’ll remember it for months to come.
You can find “Autopsy” in State of Imagination’s July 2011 Issue #3 here: http://stateofimagination.com/autopsy-by-theresa-williams/
GhoStory Guru: “The Day Ghost” by David Huddle
Ever wonder what goes on in your house when you’re not home? David Huddle’s main character in “The Day Ghost” does—just like the rest of us—and what’s haunting his second floor turns out to be the last thing he expected.
“The Day Ghost” is an unusual ghost story, and that’s what sets it apart. It certainly isn’t your typical chain-rattling chill-fest set in a creepy castle; instead, it’s set in every day modern environments—and what’s haunting David isn’t that much different from what haunts many of us every day. That’s what makes it disturbing: the very same thing could happen to you at any time. For that, I have to place it on my “Genius” list.
You can find “The Day Ghost” in Ghost Writing: Haunted Tales by Contemporary Writers, edited by Richard Weingarten, here: http://amzn.com/096796833X
GhoStory Guru: “Doors” by Pamela Painter
Looking to downsize? After reading Pamela Painter’s “Doors,” you might upsize instead.
“Doors” is a fine example of what extremely subtle ratcheting of tension can do: the situation seems normal. Then it’s normal but curious. Then it’s normal but slightly off…and so on. By the time the reader realizes what’s happening, it’s way too late to put it down—although the story’s subject and content are completely different, the way it was built reminded me of “A Rose for Emily”—and after I’d finished the last line, I felt that same “void.”
While many ghost stories ratchet tension well, I find this extreme subtlety not very common among the modern pieces, so for that reason, “Doors” is a must-own.
You can find “Doors” in Ghost Writing: Haunted Tales by Contemporary Writers, edited by Richard Weingarten, here: http://amzn.com/096796833X
GhoStory Guru: “The Hold” by Koji Suzuki
From Koji Suzuki—the man who brought you Ring, Spiral, and Loop—comes Dark Water, a collection of ghost stories in which the title element plays a major role.[1]
The finest in this collection is “The Hold,” a tale of a Conger Eel fisherman searching for his wife. Part mystery, part Poe-esque study, clues foreshadowing the piece’s end are skillfully wrought through the text: “Since the rubber flaps prevented the conger eels from escaping, they would squirm around in the dark slippery tube. Hiroyuki was definitely not one for metaphors, but he thought the slippery squirming interior of the tube and the struggling eel resembled nothing so much as sexual intercourse.”[2] Want to know what that has to do with anything? In “The Hold” it’s about what writhes in wait beneath the surface—and there’s a new, chilling discovery each time you plunge into a new page.
You can find “The Hold” in Suzuki’s 2004 Dark Water. To purchase the 2006 paperback release, visit here: http://amzn.com/1932234225
[1] For those of you who are wondering, the American film Dark Water is based on the book’s first story, entitled “Floating Water.”
[2] Koji Suzuki, “The Hold,” in Dark Water (New York: Vertical, Inc.), 113. Please note this collection was originally published in Japan as Honogurai mizu no soko kara by Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, 1996.
GhoStory Guru: “The Pool People” by Alison Lurie
It’s easy to get chills reading a ghost story that’s set in an abandoned house, a dark forest, a haunted castle—one of the keys to the great ghost story is setting. But a talented writer can give his reader as many shivers in Key West as he can in Transylvania through word choice.
At this, Alison Lurie’s “The Pool People”—about a Key West woman and her not-so-nice mother-in-law who treats the help pretty badly—excels. Lurie’s taken everyone’s concept of paradise and shadowed it up to prove you can still get the spook factor in a sunny environment. Read this and I can guarantee you’ll think twice before taking that dip in your friend’s pool.
“The Pool People” is found in Lurie’s 1994 collection, Women & Ghosts. Click on the picture to purchase.
GhoStory Guru: “The Face on the Garden Wall” by Edward Lodi
Lodi’s tale of overgrown gardens, old maids and creepy statuary is a ghost story classic: it addresses the common theme of sexual frustration in the most elegant and subtle of ways. Take the sibilance, for example. When read aloud, there’s a consistent hiss we associate with serpents—a keen allusion to Eve’s tempting in the Garden. Makes sense: this Massachusetts manor’s garden is a twisted Eden. A stroke of genius. Don’t miss this one.
“The Face on the Garden Wall” can be found in Till Human Voices Wake Us…The Lost Ghost Stories of Edward Lodi, which was published in 2009 in a limited run of 400 copies. It’s a beautiful volume, and should be on every ghost story lover’s shelf. The original price was $27.50, and there are a couple near that in stock through Amazon Marketplace here: http://amzn.com/1934400157
GhoStory Guru: “Fat People” by Alison Lurie
Has that diet got you down? Maybe you need to develop a healthy fear of food.
It can be done—thanks to Alison Lurie’s ghost story “Fat People.” Lurie has taken an every day struggle that most of us have experienced—the desperate diet—and cooked up something terrifying. One of the ways she achieves this level of terror is making her dry-humored, frank heroine, Ellie (“The salads all started to have sour low-cal dressing, and there was never anything but fruit for dessert: watery melon, or oranges cut up with a few shreds of dry coconut on top, like little undernourished white worms”) someone with whom we can identify: she’s the dieting side of all of us, that voice we hear in our heads. Read this and you definitely won’t put that donut in your mouth.
“Fat People” is found in Lurie’s 1994 collection, Women & Ghosts. Click here to purchase: http://amzn.com/0385518315
GhoStory Guru: “How the Dead Live” by Gina Ochsner
So, what do you think being dead sounds like? Gina Ochsner’s ghost story “How the Dead Live”—about a man who has died and haunts his daughter’s house only because she will not let go of his memory—answers this question beautifully. Ochsner uses sound in a subtle manner to imply the lack of communication between the man and his loved ones when he was alive, and the reader is treated to a piece that renders chills in what is heard: for example, there is the “sad sound of geese honking” (40-41) in his daughter’s dreams.
Ochsner’s story, on the surface, is about losing a loved one; the motif of sound and how it’s used serves as a reminder that we should, while we are still alive, take the time to listen to those around us, and be certain that we are heard.
“How the Dead Live” is found in Ochsner’s 2009 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction-winning Collection The Necessary Grace to Fall. You can purchase it by clicking here: http://amzn.com/0820334235
