Christmas Ghost Stories Week Three
Story Review and Prompt
Another week of stories from The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume Five, along with a prompt for me (and you as well) to write with.
“Ejected by a Ghost” by John Pitman (1869) might be the one story in this collection that I had heard of before. Though, for the life of me, I cannot remember where it was mentioned. It has to be connected to how vivid the descriptions of the grotesque are in the work. I bet it was some comparison to Poe in some article I read in the delving years of grad school.
Spoilers ahead! (Read the story first if you would don’t want it to be spoiled)
The setup for this one is pretty familiar. A man moves into a haunted apartment and starts to experience paralysis, cold chills, horrid smells (I do love horrid smells), and bumps in the night. He is not there long when he decides to pull his friend into an investigation.
This does not work out well for his friend, who sees the shambling monstrosity of a ghost the next night and ends up dying later in the story from his fright. Our narrator also sees the ghost, which he describes as “A man writhing on the floor, his features blue, bloated, and decomposed, the eyeballs turned up, yet bearing full upon me dead and glassy…” (54).
Finally, some visceral horror! It is nice to move away from women in white gowns and children dressed for Sunday service. I love these ghost stories, but I also love me some gore. It goes a little further than that, but I hate to spoil everything for you.
With “Ejected by a Ghost,” by John Pitman in mind, write a story or poem that incorporates visceral horror.
If you are tired of ghost stories, just focus on Christmas horror. Having recently watched Krampus and Rare Exports, the story I have in mind for this prompt moves away from the ghost aspect. We will see where that takes me.
See my entry later in the week and comment or Cross-Post with your own story or poem. Check out The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume Five, and read along with me as we move into the spooky Christmas season.
You could also post your favorite Christmas horror movie in the comments. I would love to check them out.
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-red-rose-on-black-background-247122/