Ghosts 101

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.