Ghost story writing prompts

 

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Want to write a ghost story? There are two ghostly posts on my Weird Wednesday writing prompts blog!

A Peak in Darien: Visions from a Deathbed

A “Peak in Darien” experience refers specifically to seeing the apparition of someone who has died, but whose death is unknown to the experiencer. It describes gazing into the afterlife and inexplicably seeing someone that you believe to still be alive, only to find out later that the person has indeed died.

Sample writing prompt: Can you keep a secret? Although deathbed visions are not known for containing messages, apparitions of the dead are often thought to want to communicate something, whether it be the location of money or other valuables, the answer to important questions, apologies, or the name of their murderer and the site where their body rests. This could get dicey if the murderer is actually in the room at the time, attending the deathbed.

The Wild Hunt

A mighty hunter and a pack of dogs, horses, or other beasts racing across the horizon, making a terrible noise as they rush above you! What could it mean? Well, that depends on who you are.

Sample writing prompt: Doomed riders. You could focus on the sadder figures here— the poor souls (literally) who are already in the hunt for eternity. Sometimes these are people who committed the usual infractions: murder, theft, drinking, and so on. Or sometimes, these folks have done a Very Specific Thing that they may have be warned not to do, like hunting on the sabbath, or some other odd thing like don’t get off your horse until your dog jumps down. Fairies (and the devil) love this sort of warning! You can make it as absurd as you want, that’s the point. And if you fail in this one strange thing, you are doomed to the hunt forever.

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