Ghosts can work as powerful literary devices

Ghost stories can help us process death

Scholar Coya Paz’s research into ghost stories indicated that people often use them to grieve and remember tragic histories. Paz notes that specters in stories almost always demand to be acknowledged. She also shares the three most common types of ghosts we hear about are either vengeful, unwelcoming, or comforting.

Toni Morrison's novels were popular postmodern texts

Toni Morrison’s novels broke new ground in American fiction by using bold structures and colloquial voices to reckon with the country’s past, developing her approach through classic early novels like “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved,” all the way to later works like “Home.” Morrison once said, “The meaning of a novel is in its structure.”

Ancient ghost stories appeared in texts like 'The Odyssey'

Sharing ghost tales has been around for centuries. Ancient Mesopotamia, Rome, and Greece each had their own chilling stories about encountering spirits. Find mentions of specters in some of history’s most famous writings like the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and "The Odyssey."

19th-century Americans used technology to try to prove the existence of ghosts

In the 19th century, following technological advancements like the telegraph, phonograph, and others, efforts were made to capture proof of ghosts. These technologies seemed supernatural in their own right and emerged at the same time Spiritualism took off in the US, resulting in new approaches to connecting with the dead.

Literary theorists distinguish between ‘terror’ and ‘horror’

In her essay “On the Supernatural in Poetry,” gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe defined “terror” as the lurking, unseen specter in a story—something that defined gothic literature. “Horror,” on the other hand, was the explicit portrayal of it. For her, the former was artistic, while the latter was cheap.

Ghosts didn't say 'boo' until the 19th century

The word derives from Scotland in the early modern era and was often used to assert oneself. Eventually, it became a way to startle someone, and by the 19th century, was the go-to utterance of literary spirits.

A 2020 poll found around 50% of Americans believe ghosts and demons are real

Ghosts are typically represented as sad and still retaining some of their humanity. Demons are more associated with evil and the devil, without any connection to being human.

Dreams have long been used for religious and political power

Classic literature and mythology attests to the crucial role dreams play in narratives, from the Virgin Birth to the prophetic visions of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The heightened state of dreaming and its analog, hallucinating, have long held special power over the collective imagination.

Eight ways literature can make us happier

Novels are often characterized as a form of cultural escape, but psychologists argue there are health benefits to the many elements comprising fiction. The Greek philosopher Aristotle explored this in his "Poetics," asking if literature was something meant to make us happier. This article highlights eight different innovations common to literature that provide psychological benefits, including the plot twist and more.

Peruse the works of spooky 19th-century writer Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe is one of the central figures of Gothic and Romantic literature of the 19th century, penning famous short stories like "The Tell-Tale Heart" and the long poem "The Raven." This digital library collects over 130 of his works in one...

Walt Whitman helped define the voice and spirit of American literature

The 19th-century poet is considered one of the most important voices in the American canon. His collection “Leaves of Grass,” in particular, is regarded as a foundational text and is widely taught in American high schools and colleges.

Former American President Abraham Lincoln is one of history’s most famous ghosts

Abraham Lincoln, Anne Boleyn, Pausanias, and the Maharajah Duleep Singh are just a few of the notable phantoms found around the world. Several White House occupants and visitors have claimed to see Lincoln, including Theodore Roosevelt, Grace Coolidge, and Winston Churchill.

Langston Hughes solicited ghost stories from his readers

Hughes had a column in the Chicago Defender newspaper for two decades. In 1951, he asked readers to send him their ghost stories, promising that he'd reward them with autographed copies of his books. He spent the next several months dedicating the column to the stories he received.

One writer believes fantasy is a form of realism

The literary genre has become massively popular in the 2020s, turning a previously marginal form into a mainstream concern. Spufford, a literary novelist who grew up loving books that explored fantastic worlds, argues that fantasy is so popular because it so accurately reflects the real world.

Novels sometimes use unreliable narrators

When we read a book, we’re effectively forced to take the narrator’s word for what’s unfolding. But what if that narrator has a biased take on those events? What if, in a general sense, that narrator can’t be trusted? Enter the unreliable narrator, a strategic way of shaping a story that adds an additional layer to the narrative.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

Dickens' live readings sometimes used visual projectors that predated cinema

Dickens was interested in adapting his work in various forms. With his live readings, he sometimes used a 'magical lantern,' a popular tool that projected moving slides. In addition, some stage plays of Dickens' work that included ghost scenes used the magical lantern to cast apparitions on stage.

'The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.'

- Poet Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)

'It's those who lie outside ordinary experience who have the most to teach us.'

- Author Malcolm Gladwell (1963 - present)

King sets many of his stories in Maine

In the process, he has created a few fictional towns. This extensive travelogue by a superfan explores the writer's favorite haunts, pinpointing specific details from and inspirations for King's fiction. Helpfully, it also provides plenty of photos, allowing you to venture through King's haunted version of the state without ever leaving the comfort of your home.

Musicals use motifs to tell stories

This clickable interactive illustrates how famous musicals reuse musical motifs to convey character, power, and change—using "Wicked," "Les Misérables," and "Hamilton" to demonstrate how recurring melodies subtly drive the story.

The ‘Bullshit Bombers’ of the Vietnam War and their mountain ghost

Armed with marketing insight and leaflets, these US soldiers tried to use propaganda to get the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese military to abandon their weapons and leave the war. But what’s more effective than a leaflet’s promise of a decent cup of coffee amid bombing? Ghostly threats from the great beyond. Learn more about weaponized superstition in this 42-minute podcast episode.

Flannery O’Connor believed the South was ‘Christ-haunted’

O’Connor was a lifelong Catholic who spent most of her life in the Protestant Bible Belt, the setting for nearly all her fiction often infused with Catholic themes. “I think it is safe to say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted,” she wrote.

Nobel Prize winner William Butler Yeats was fascinated by magic and the occult

The Irish poet and 1923 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature laid out his beliefs in a 1901 essay, entitled "Magic," and was a member of several organizations dedicated to occult and mystical practices.

An academic on why the animals in 'Animal Farm' matter

Although Orwell intentionally wrote his 1945 novella as an allegory of the Russian Revolution, Charlotte Sleigh—an associate professor of science and technology—argues that the text can also be used to understand (and complicate) our relationship with the nonhuman world.

The Faustian Bargain is a classic trope about cutting a deal with the devil

Goethe's "Faust," Broadway's "Damn Yankees," and the American folktale about Robert Johnson all embrace the familiar details of the Faustian Bargain, in which a young, eager striver is offered their wildest dreams in exchange for the rights to their soul.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.