How to tell good ghost stories
Whether it’s on Halloween night or just sitting around a campfire with your closest friends, telling ghost stories is a long-standing American folk tradition. The idea, of course, is to tell a story that will terrify listeners in a terrifying yet entertaining way. Typically, these short stories focus on a supernatural being or event, such as a haunted house, vampires, creeping white ghosts, monsters, and psychotic humans. While most of the stories are fictional or urban legends, many listeners still believe some of them because they hear them from many sources. Telling scary stories is fun, especially if you’re already good at it, as your young friends and family will ask you to tell them your ghost stories over and over again. To be good at telling ghost stories you have to keep three things in mind.
Preparation
Before you start looking for good ghost stories to tell, you first need to know who your audience is. Knowing who you are going to tell the story to is crucial because people have different opinions and viewpoints on issues. If you are planning to tell a story with gruesome images, telling it to teenagers and young adults would be a safe bet, but not to children, as imagining horrible and disgusting scenes may be too much for their innocent little brains. That being said, always remember to match the level of horror your story has to the level of tolerance your audience has. Now, there are many urban legends that you can use. These include the “Mothman” in West Virginia, or the “Hunted Railroad Tracks” in San Antonio, Texas, or the local “Big Foot” sightings, which always work well with kids. There are many more short stories to be found on the internet. Just visit your favorite search engine and type in the type of story you have in mind.
Choose the right place and have the accessories ready
To be honest, setting the mood is more important than the story itself. If you told a really scary story over breakfast, none of your listeners would freak out. In fact, laughter would probably be the more appropriate reaction than being scared. The point is that you need to set the right frame of mind to tell a scary story effectively. You will need a dark room or dark outdoors, candles, firewood (if applicable), lanterns, atonal music, and a very low voice. The more supports, the better. Getting a partner to help you tell the story is even better, as they can help you with the effects. For example, you can have your partner turn on a fan in the room briefly to flicker the candles, or slam the door during the cliffhanger of the story. Be creative.
Practice makes perfect
Once you’re done with the setting and props, now it’s time to practice telling the story. Ideally, you should practice in front of a mirror with all the props present so that the storytelling is automatic. This also helps you identify the right tones of voice in the parts of the story that matter. The most important thing is to learn the story by heart. Believe it, or at least make your audience believe that you believe it. GP