Today I have a guest post from Jennifer Rainey, the author of The Beldam's Eye, These Hellish Happenings and Thoroughly Modern Monsters. She has stopped by to talk about her favorite ghost stories.
I love a good ghost story. From the time I was about eight or nine years old, I loved reading spooky tales, and it was inevitable that I eventually write one myself. The Beldam's Eye is my own take on the ghost story, but today I’m here to talk about three others that have inspired and occasionally horrified me—and trust me, horrifying me is quite a feat!
1. The Woman In Black by Susan Hill.
I picked this book up when I started seeing trailers for the movie version that came out earlier this year. The title character is a truly terrifying and vengeful specter who destroys the life of the book’s protagonist/narrator, Arthur Kipps. This book has a fantastically creepy atmosphere about it, and Hill does a spectacular job of pulling the reader in. This is a book you just can’t shake after finishing. If you love period ghost stories, give this one a look.
Creepiness factor: 3.5/5. While The Woman in Black herself is quite the spooky ghost, the book has a few dry spells where you don’t get a lot of paranormal activity.
2. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Who doesn’t love A Christmas Carol? This book and all of the marvelous movie adaptations helped spark my interest in spirits. Jacob Marley is a tremendous ghost, and it was my dream as a child to play the Ghost of Christmas Past on stage. Dickens expertly blends in A Christmas Carol our own world and the paranormal world. While this isn’t the scariest ghost story in the world, it is a very inspirational one.
Creepiness factor: 2/5. It’s not the creepiest, but The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come is pretty hardcore.
3. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill.
This story of an aging rocker who buys a haunted suit is truly one of the eeriest tales I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Craddock, the spirit after the protagonist, is a relentless villain with the ability to control the minds of the living. The book can go from darkly amusing to horrifying to disturbing, and it does so seamlessly. If you haven’t read Heart-Shaped Box, find a copy as soon as possible.
Creepiness factor: 5/5! Chilling, gripping and very entertaining!
These are just three of my favorites, but there are so many more. Let us know what your favorite ghost stories are in the comments!
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When Erasmus Bramble finds the recently-deceased Angus Heyer rummaging through his kitchen cabinets, he knows he has a unique case on his hands.
As paranormal investigators in rural Ohio, Ras and his business partner Antony Yeats tackle ghostly problems on a daily basis, from poltergeist exterminations to troubled spirits just looking for a shoulder to cry on. Angus isn't looking for ghost therapy. He needs Ras and Yeats to help him to retrieve a pocket watch stolen from him after death, a pocket watch that is said to be cursed: The Beldam's Eye.
The skeptical Ras and Yeats agree to take Angus's case, but they soon find themselves in over their heads, facing murder, theft and perilous dark magic. Is it all just backwoods superstition or is the curse of The Beldam's Eye grisly reality.
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