Repost from last year... Ping...
I happen to believe in ghosts. I know of a family who experienced strange things happening in their house.
I plan to bury all my bodies where ever DU is set up.
bump for later. thanks for the post.
Swordmaker, very good story. Did you write it?
I have seen three.
They are real.
I do not know what they are.
Their existence does not "fit" into my Catholic belief system about what happens to the souls of the dead.
Whatever they are, we are not going to figure it out.
And if you think that it would be "cool" to see one and that you'd learn something from it. You are wrong.
It is terrifying, you learn nothing, and if you go looking for that sort of trouble, there is no reason to believe that the forces of good that normally keep those things at bay - whatever THEY are - guardian angels, perhaps? - are going to be at your beck and call because you go trafficking in spirits.
I think that if you bump into one of these things accidentally, it probably can't hurt you because the angels won't LET it.
I think if you go LOOKING for it, you are out of your freaking mind.
A great ghost story.
I saw you getting pinged on another thread.
Ooh, spooky!
btt
Its voice also doesn't fit the narrative style of the story. So on both counts I suggest getting rid of it. It jars the illusion you have deftly created. Good for you!
Secondly I think mentioning the business about the husband that never annulled the marriage is a mistake and leads no where. So it is a waste of emphasis and repetition. If you need to mention it for a reason, since it doesn't fit into the overall through line of the story in any significant way, I say mention it once and move on, but even that is distracting to be honest. There is no reason actually to mention Ilene's marital status. The story isn't really about her and any marriage at all, so I think it is unnecessary on many levels.
Suspense and teasing a reader is hard to write. You have a great story and played up everything else perfectly. You have a knack for writing suspense. Great work. Send it somewhere. Although once it has been published on-line, as you know, that eliminates places to send.
Great work. I would be proud.
As far as ghosts themselves, I must agree with several other posters they are spirits of evil no matter how 'nice' they may seem. I literally was haunted for--yes this is no lie--five years through my teens by the most terrifying spirits. They even returned into adulthood off and on. The only thing that moved them on was continual prayer and pleading with Jesus to help and protect me.
It was terrifying to say the least and taught me that Jesus and my turning to Him and God is the only thing that can save me. It made me spiritually very, very strong. I can basically feel evil in people and places very easily and it makes me physically ill. But I will bear it only if I believe God is using me somehow. Otherwise I will not play with fire. So I agree ghosts are evil spirits. No doubt. There is nothing the devil/Satan likes more then when people are fascinated with him. He is the world's biggest narcissist.
Great story! Thanks for taking the time to write it up.
As for what I think ... I think ghosts are real, though I don't know what they are, whether they are actual souls, or just "impressions" left on a location by events, or evil, or what. I never thought ghosts were real, though, until I lived in a haunted apartment one summer -- and it was NOT fun or cool. I ended up sleeping on the couch all summer because the bedrooms were uninhabitable, because of the incredibly angry presence of whatever it was that was haunting the place. Only the living room and kitchen were unaffected. It made such an impression on me that when we went to buy our first place, I embarrassed my husband by quizzing the real estate agent at length as to whether anyone had ever died there. I was taking no chances! LOL!
bump