Five Tips For Writing Haunted House Tales

Susanna here, and in the spirit of the season I’ve been thinking about tales of haunted houses—and not only as a reader, but a writer. I’ve been thinking of the stories—what it is that makes one work for me, and when I first began to fall in love with them

I’m fairly certain it was Edward Mulhare’s fault.

I loved the television series of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1968-1970) and spent countless childhood hours glued to his performance of the grumbling, charming, ghostly Victorian sea captain forced to share his home with a modern-day widow and her children. I’m certain that’s where it began.

Later I discovered The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was originally a novel, written by Irish author Josephine Leslie (writing as R.A. Dick) in 1945, and that it had been made into an equally brilliant film in 1947, starring Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney, which I also came to love, though Edward Mulhare remains “my” Captain Gregg.

But by then I was already entranced by the idea of haunted houses, and unable to resist most stories that revolved around them.

Here are five things that help make a good one, in my view:

1. Make the main character the biggest skeptic.

Most of us, finding ourselves sharing a house with a ghost, wouldn’t simply accept it. We’d question our sanity. In the book The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, when Mrs. Muir first begins hearing Captain Gregg’s voice in her mind, she sensibly consults a psychoanalyst to rule out the possibility of mental illness. Even in the film High Spirits (a 1988 effort by Neil Jordan that, while arguably not good, is at least good fun, featuring Peter O’Toole, a young Liam Neeson, and such memorable lines as: “Look, you’re a ghost, I’m an American—it would never work out”) Steve Guttenburg’s character has the sense to be skeptical. When he encounters a ghost, he puts it down to the effects of his late-night binge drinking, and then a potential nervous breakdown, before he begins to accept that she’s real. By having your character react like a normal person would to an abnormal situation, you earn them the reader’s respect. And as you carefully convince your character that the impossible is happening, you might convince your reader, too.

2. Start small.

One of my favourite haunted house films of all time is 1980’s The Changeling, starring George C. Scott as a very recent widower who moves into a very creepy mansion. That film works so well for me on so many levels, but one of the things I love best about it is how it begins with the smallest moments—a piano key that plays when no one else is there, a door that opens quietly. Small things, that slowly build to larger ones that can’t be easily explained or ignored, like rhythmic banging on the walls. And then it hits you with the…well, I won’t spoil it, but watch it. It’s really well done. And it wouldn’t work nearly as well if the large thing had just been flung out at the very beginning. It pays to start small.

3. Give the ghost a purpose.

Preferably this will be a purpose other than getting rid of the people in the house, because while admirably single-minded that’s not very original. The ghost in The Changeling, for example, is driven by a need to have his true identity revealed. Blackbeard’s Ghost, in the Walt Disney film from 1968 with Peter Ustinov playing the titular ghost with his usual flair, must break a curse by performing a good deed, and Sir Simon de Canterville in Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost needs someone to perform specific tasks for him before he can find his own peace. Giving your ghost an agenda can lend the plot interesting angles.

4. Create a personal attachment or connection between the ghost and the main character.

Often the main character is the only person who can see the ghost, or with whom the ghost chooses to interact, which can cause complications. This is often used for comedic effect, as it was in Blackbeard’s Ghost and the television series of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, but it also helps to humanize the ghost and allow the reader to engage emotionally.

5. Provide a twist, if possible.

Don’t do it to be clever, but if something clever comes to mind, then do it. The haunted house tales I remember most are those that walk me furthest from the doors I think they’re going to lead me to. The film The Others (2001), with Nicole Kidman, was one of those stories, as was Just Like Heaven (2005), with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Haunted houses have many doors—don’t be afraid to try opening odd ones. You never know where they might take you.

So those are five tips for you, if you’re a writer. You may find them useful.

But if you’re a reader, I’m curious—what makes a haunted house tale work for you? What are your favourite ghost stories, in any format—TV, books, or movies?

Comments

[Donna H.]

Oh, I did enjoy this post so much! I just love spooky stories and movies. The one I loved was one that was, I think, on TV. It was originally a movie made in the 1930's I believe. It was called "Topper" about a ghost couple and a ghost dog and was done with a lot of humour. I also liked the one with Jimmy Stewart as the star and he had that friend who was a giant rabbit, not quite a ghost but along the same lines. The title escapes me.
I also liked both the book and the film, with the two creepy children and the governess who is not sure if they are dead or not. Again the title escapes me.

[Kathy K]

Yes! That movie with Jimmy Stewart was "Harvey." I liked that a lot even though I don't, as a rule, like anything creepy or scary. Because Harvey was not creepy or scary, it was just funny.

[Miriam Bresticker]

As a general rule, I'm not that much into ghosts, hauntings etc, but I love that movie - I always cry at the end even though I know what's going to happen.

[Lisa Demers]

An Excellent movie to see (it's part of my Halloween rota) is The Uninvited. Screenplay, oddly, by the same lady who wrote 101 Dalmatians. Great atmosphere and great twists, great acting.

[TMT]

"I also liked both the book and the film, with the two creepy children and the governess who is not sure if they are dead or not. Again the title escapes me."

That's "The Turn of the Screw," originally a horror novella by Henry James.

[Pamela DG]

I loved the Rex Harrison/Gene Tierney version of the Ghost and Mrs. Muir. I remember reading an interview where Harrison stated "How can it be a romance if I don't touch her?" That's what made it work for me. In Ghost, Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore's characters had such a connection that made me believe that their love could transcend the mortal veil. The special effects were incredible. I have witnesses things in my life as a medical historian that has allowed a crack in my skepticism. It is best described by Shakespeare, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than dreamt of in your philosophy."

[theo]

I love The Uninvited and watch it all year through. :)

[theo]

I love Ghost and Mrs Muir. I read that when I was very young because...ghost and romance and a little touch of gothic, and good gravy, Victoria Holt! For me, now anyway, a die hard romantic, the story doesn't necessarily have to have a romance anymore, not that it hurts ;) Ghost Story, The Haunting, Woman in White, Woman in Black (which, if you didn't see it, you must!) Lady in White, as you mentioned on The Others...they're all great stories in their own right with just enough to give you a wonderful chill down your spine.

[Sue McCormick]

I'm not fond of ghost stories, although I do enjoy some of them. For me "The Ghost and Mrs Muir" will always be the original novel, which I read when it first appeared. On the other hand, the well-known, well-respected, and much-liked "Turn of the Screw" leaves me cold. Of course, this is a matter of personall taste and I don't have any idea why I react this way.

[Pat Dupuy]

I loved the book The Uninvited that spawned the Ray Milland movie of the same name in the 30s or 40s. Any newer Uninvited's I'm unfamiliar with. I also loved both versions of The Ghose and Mrs Muir, and Topper!

[Jeanne Behnke]

I loved both versions of The Ghost & Mrs. Muir as well. I never read the book. I don't even think I knew there was one. Topper - oh yes - Carey Grant! I loved everyone of Victoria Holt's books - keepers. The Woman in White & The Haunting are also favorites. I don't love horror but ghost stories are different.

[Jennifer Marsh]

Thank you for this post! I love creepy stories, even if a ghost is only hinted at. My favorites are all children's stories - a short story called "Rosemary for Remembrance" in an old Cricket magazine (I've tried and tried to find it again), a middle grade novel called The Ghost Next Door, and above all The Children of Green Knowe, one of my favorite books of all time. And nothing can beat a good ghost story told around a campfire or at a sleepover - The Golden Arm comes to mind.

[Sheri Cobb South]

I loved the TV series when I was a kid. Even though I was only 8 years old when it premiered, I knew it was really a romance! I didn't see the movie until much, much later, and only recently learned that both were derived from a book.

My favorite ghost book, though, is TRYST, by Elswyth Thane, who is best known for her Williamsburg series.

[Kay]

One of my favorite ghost books was Ghost Story by Peter Straub.
I also am a big fan of the movie the Uninvited. Supposedly it was an influence for part of The Poltergeist by Steven Spielberg. There is a reference to the smell of Mimosa in The Poltergeist. Two things that always struck me in The Uninvited: just how much money does an unpublished composer make, and wasn't there any electricity in that house? Anyway, I've always loved The Uninvited, and I still do not watch it by myself right before I go to bed.

[Saundra]

I love The Uninvited. No blood, no gore but lots of atmosphere! I've probably seen it over fifty times. So well done!

[Karin]

That was Dodie Smith, who also wrote one of my favorite YA novels, "I Capture the Castle". Great writer!