18
Nov
Author : Fiona | Category : For children | Comments: 0
Ghosts can’t really hurt you. Some cartoons, TV shows, books, and movies pretend that ghosts can hurt you, but they’re not real.
Sometimes when a ghost is trying to do or say something, it can be confusing. That can seem scary until you figure out what he or she is trying to do.
If you think that your house has a ghost and it’s scaring you, here are two simple ways to keep ghosts away.
When you go to bed, turn your shoes so that one of them is backwards. (See photo at left.)
We used this to keep ghosts away in America’s most haunted house, The Myrtles Plantation.
It worked.
Also, clean your room and keep it organized.
We don’t know why spirits avoid clean, tidy rooms, but they usually do.
Vacuum cleaner (hoover) noises scare them away, too.
18
Nov
Author : Fiona | Category : For children | Comments: 0
Ghosts are people who have lived in the past, usually long ago. Some of them visit now and then. Others have stayed here because they still have things to do.
Ghosts are natural. We can’t imagine a God who’d say, “I’m sorry. Your earthly life is over. You can’t visit your family or your favorite places any more.”
So, ghosts visit where they lived, worked, and played. Sometimes, they let friends and family know that they’re watching over them.
Other ghosts are confused. We’re not sure why they visit some places.
Some other ghosts seem to have jobs on earth.
For example, ‘Green lady’ ghosts of Scotland watch over the houses where they lived, and protect the families that live there. Those ghosts are called ‘green ladies’ because they usually wear green gowns.
Some ghosts have something to do, or they want to leave a message. Once they do that, they leave and don’t return.
A good example of them is the ghost in the children’s story, The Canterville Ghost.
Plan to watch it during a family movie night. Like the movie, Casper, the Friendly Ghost, it’s a good way to calm children’s fears and begin a helpful discussion between parents and children.
18
Nov
Author : Fiona | Category : For children | Comments: 0
Books are the best places to find good ghost stories.
For children: Start with a classic such as Oscar Wilde’s tale, The Canterville Ghost. (You can download a free copy here at our Ghosts101.com website: The Canterville Ghost, by Oscar Wilde.)
We also recommend the movie or cartoon versions of that story. However, copies of the better films can be hard to find.
Our favorites include the older movies with stars such as Sir John Gielgud and Richard Kiley. They’re shown on TV, especially around Halloween and Christmas.
If you’d like to own the movie on DVD, we suggest the Patrick Stewart version ofThe Canterville Ghost. (Yes, that’s the same Patrick Stewart who starred in Star Trek: The Next Generation.) It’s a good family film.
In more recent popular children’s fiction, pre-teens may enjoy R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps
books.
Younger children will prefer Casper-type tales, or perhaps some Spooky Campfire Stories
Ask for recommendations at your public library, too.
Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol is a classic. Download your free copy of the original book, here.
Adults may enjoy “true” ghost stories such as The Myrtles Plantation
and The Amityville Horror
. Or, choose
a really good scare with Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House
, or the original movie based on it, The Haunting
. (That movie inspired Disney’s ‘Haunted Mansion’ attraction.)
However, there are some good ghost stories at websites, too.
For children: MacScouter’s Ghost Stories for Scouts.
For adults: The Moonlit Road, Ghost Stories online, and Halloween ghost stories.
