What are the main themes in haunting/ghost stories?

[Lark]

Do you think there are any recurrent themes in haunting/ghost stories? Like are there a set figure of plots when you boil it down and how many are they?

Are good ghost stories inspired or are they worked out in accordance with a formula?

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Do you think there are any recurrent themes in haunting/ghost stories? Like are there a set figure of plots when you boil it down and how many are they?

Are good ghost stories inspired or are they worked out in accordance with a formula?

Well, aren't ghost stories really about the relationship of the past to the present? Hamlet's technically a ghost story. The character's desire to right the wrongs of the past leads to tragedy.

Have you ever watched Crimson Peak? It's the kind of movie I wanted that awful Liam Neeson Haunting movie to be. I'd also say that if there is a formula, it plays with it a little bit.

 

[The Cat]

Most Horror is typically an aesthetically stylized morality play. With archetypal monsters representing either innocence lost or the cost of transgression. Comedy may licit us to laugh at what we aught naught, but horror tantalizes us to break taboos and bear witness to the terrible consequences Every now and again you'll get some pure stand alone jewels or series that just are so aesthetically beautiful or written so well acted so well that you only notice the people the subtext you just instantly grasp because every stroke of pain on set is done to evoke a specific reaction from the audience. And some horror, my favorite horror is all aesthetics and atmosphere.

Cool post Lark ^_^

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I'd say 'letting go of attachments' and/or unprocessed emotional charge, which often runs into the same thing (e.g. unprocessed emotional charge can linger/result from an unexamined attachment to the idea that life 'should' be fair, etc.).