IN PRAISE OF GHOST STORIES

From: The Sunday Herald | Date: October 29, 2006| Author: | Copyright information

GREAT ghost stories are much rarer than you might think. First, there is the small matter of suspending disbelief, of seducing readers into entering a world and a situation which at first seems so unlikely as to be ridiculous. Then there is the matter of being terrified. The best ghost stories are those which make you so fearful you do not want to go on reading but can't stop yourself. There is something hypnotic about a classic ghost, something which you can't quite put your finger on. It is as if you have been mesmerised or drugged.

Children of an earlier generation were routinely read ...

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