Virginia Tech instructor discusses the fascination with ‘things that go bump in the night’

Halloween is a time where people can become anything they want – from superheroes to zombies, from a pop star to a politician.

Today’s ghost stories generally instill fear in those who hear them or watch them. However, a Virginia Tech instructor said that hasn’t always been the case.

October 31 marks the beginning of a season of remembrance of the faithful dead, according to the Christian calendar.

Halloween may also be linked to Samhain, a pagan festival that celebrated the change of seasons from autumn to winter, or harvest to darkness, said Virginia Tech English department instructor Ingrid Johnson, who teaches a course on “Monsters, Madness, and the Macabre.”

Ghost stories have been used to promote good behavior or to explain death, but modern depictions of ghosts are used primarily to instill fear.

“In our now more secular celebration of Halloween, we associate it with mystery and fear and a time to masquerade as something other than ourselves,” said Johnson. “In each of these traditions, there is acknowledgement of mortality: Christians use it as a time to pay tribute to those who have passed; the pagans honored the dead with celebrations that included the opening of burial mounds; modern celebrants revel in the dark and macabre.

“Ghost stories are naturally aligned with Halloween because they speak to our fascination for — and fear of — death. Halloween and ghosts are perfect for each other.”

Ghost stories date back to the 16th century.

“Ghost stories really take hold of the English imagination when we get to the 16th century. Shakespeare’s ’Hamlet’ begins with a ghost, who encourages the action of the play. The Gothic tradition and the rise of mesmerism in the 18th and 19th centuries further fueled our collective fascination with things that go bump in the night,” said Johnson. “Charles Dickens, who was a celebrity during his life, wrote one of the most celebrated and enduring ghost stories of all time: ‘A Christmas Carol.’”

Other examples include “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James, “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde, “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier and “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson, Johnson said.

Ghost stories are definitely considered mainstream in today’s culture with films like “Poltergeist” and series like “Supernatural.”

“Ghost stories are truly everywhere,” Johnson said. “If sheer volume of media output is an indicator of our collective fascination with ghost stories, then we’re hooked.”