How To Tell a Ghost Story
- October 15, 2008
- 15,554 Views
from
Mark Fain and Katie Montgomery
(and 7 others) Subscribe
Writer
Rachel_Korowitz
Music (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5)
Jonathan Roberts
Music (track 3)
James Miksche
Actor
Peter Coleman
Actor
Seena Jon
It was a dark and stormy night, and you wanted to scare the crap out of your campfire friends…
You Will Need
- The right setting
- Practice
- An active imagination
Step 1: Find a good setting
Your story won’t work if you’re shouting over street noise or basking in a bright, sunny day. If you want maximum scare impact, find a spot that’s dark, quiet, and secluded, and pick a time when you won’t be interrupted.
Step 2: Understand the basic structure
Whether it’s about a vengeful spirit or a stalking serial killer, ghost story structure is simple. We meet the hero, who has a problem. The hero’s attempts to solve the problem unwittingly upset the bogeyman, who takes a lengthy ironic revenge. The story ends with the bogeyman still out there somewhere, possibly very nearby…
When you know this basic structure cold, play with it a little to find out what works for you.
Step 3: Make it personal
Make it personal. Say the story happened to the friend of someone you know, or fill in the specifics with places and names familiar to your audience. In other words, if you’re in the woods, your story should be set there, too — and the characters should be a lot like your listeners.
Make your specifics sound familiar and believable, so the listeners can easily imagine the story happening to them.
Step 4: Build suspense
Start your story with a quiet, casual attitude. As you work towards the scary climax, ratchet up the suspense by increasing — or decreasing — your speed and volume.
Step 5: Be presentational
If you’ve got a flare for the dramatic, now’s the time to break it out. Give each character a different voice and mannerism, and don’t be afraid to use your body.
Work props into your performance, like shining a flashlight under your chin or flashing a hook hand at just the right moment.
Step 6: Make contact
Target someone a little jittery. When your performance hits its scariest peak, make quick physical contact with that person. Watch your audience jump a foot in the air.
One of the most popular and widespread ghost story themes involves phantom or disappearing hitchhikers.
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Comments (15)
so cool! I love the nod to Buster Keaton in Step 1 -- is that the same girl that's in How to Make Patriotic Popsicles?
over 3 years ago by PAUL
Woah! I am so glad you got that. It's subtle because she doesn't actually go through the window as Keaton does, but that was totally the inspiration. And she is, indeed, the actress from Patriotic Popsicles. Thanks for watching.
over 3 years ago by AndHow
Unbelievable! This reminds me of Edward Scissorhands in terms of the mood it evokes. You guys are the new Tim Burton!! I also really like the use of the socket wrench, or whatever that is, as the killer's weapon...nice to see something other than the usual machete or axe!
over 3 years ago by Jeff_K
Love the grafics
over 3 years ago by Michelle
Are you afraid of the dark...I am now! Amazing effects. Love it!
over 3 years ago by tessa
Smooth ";operation"; from start to finish. Thanks for not murdering the idea, but making it fun and individually challenging! You make storytelling a living art rather than one left to the ghosties.
over 3 years ago by emarquard
I've always wanted to know how to do this.
over 3 years ago by norgon
Great job. My stories should be better from now on.
over 3 years ago by cmfain
This is super!
over 3 years ago by HeatherMenicucci
KOOLIO!
:)
over 2 years ago by tacos35
I love this video, and ghost stories. Great job.
over 2 years ago by Dynamic
sooooo funny good job
about 1 year ago by 10009132
lol on the guy that screamed
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