Works based on classical material

[OokamiKasumi]

@OokamiKasumi ...your stories are terrifying and amazing and I don't think I'm going to get much sleep tonight. I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with your cousins. *shudders*

Ghosts in general really aren't that big a deal. You get used to them, after a while. (I did.) Most ghosts are merely left over bits of memories; recordings from the past activated by certain conditions. The rest are generally just looking for a little attention. If you say, something like, "Hi, I know you're there. Please don't scare me," they usually stop acting up.

However, certain spirits are pure bad news. Those are easy to spot though. The area those types occupy are Cold -- as in; cold enough to see your breath, and they tend to make you wanna barf --strongly-- just before you enter their area of influence.

Rules of thumb:
-- If you feel sick to your stomach before entering a building, or a room. Don't Go In There.
-- If you can see your breath AND you feel queasy, Get Out of There. Seriously.

'Kay?

[ghostbunnies]

The ghostly turn this thread took was a lot of fun to read. :>

I feel odd about interrupting, but, oh, The Highwayman...

It's been made into some gorgeous picture books. The edition with illustrations done by Charles Mikolaycak were in the version I read as a young girl, and the image of Bess at the window has haunted me ever since. There's also the more grotesque illustrations by Charles Keeping (more of Keeping). I think they show how beautiful the poem has the potential to be as a KN or VN. (Definitely need an artist who can draw horses...)


The idea of using classical materials as a source is really interesting. I know there are otome games based on the Phantom of the Opera and Peter Pan. If it were me... The Secret Garden came to mind (there's even a sort of love triangle!), but there are some terrible book sequels already. I'd be scared of messing something up, so... I'm not sure.

[phoenixhymn]

@OokamiKasumi I shall keep your advice in mind, but I dearly hope to never need it. XD Sounds like some fun details for anyone that wants to write a ghost story, though!

[Taleweaver]

However, certain spirits are pure bad news. Those are easy to spot though. The area those types occupy are Cold -- as in; cold enough to see your breath, and they tend to make you wanna barf --strongly-- just before you enter their area of influence.

Well, that's not surprising. The spirits you speak of are not ghosts, nor are they memory imprints. They were never human in the first place. And they were here before us.

Rules of thumb:
-- If you feel sick to your stomach before entering a building, or a room. Don't Go In There.
-- If you can see your breath AND you feel queasy, Get Out of There. Seriously.

'Kay?

Absolutely the right advice. We still have a few of the animal instincts that kept the early homo species alive. These instincts are really good at detecting these things because except for staying away from them, there's not really much you can do about them.

[J. Datie]

Well, that's not surprising. The spirits you speak of are not ghosts, nor are they memory imprints. They were never human in the first place. And they were here before us.

And to bring this topic full circle, I demand someone makes a Shakespeare VN featuring dinosaur ghosts.

[Sapphi]

[J. Datie]

Now we're talking! There'd also need to be Romeo and Juliet, but with herbivores and carnivores.

[OokamiKasumi]

@OokamiKasumi I shall keep your advice in mind, but I dearly hope to never need it. XD Sounds like some fun details for anyone that wants to write a ghost story, though!

That was the idea -- to inspire!
-- Accuracy, and Truth in one's stories is a Good thing.
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However, certain spirits are pure bad news...

Well, that's not surprising. The spirits you speak of are not ghosts, nor are they memory imprints. They were never human in the first place. And they were here before us.

Some of them were here before us, in places where the land itself developed a consciousness, and a hate for mankind. Some of those elder forests really do watch us, and really will come after us if we hurt their wildlife.

However, the worst presences I've personally encountered were made from concentrated human misery and hate. That stuff collects in literal pools of deep shadow in areas sunlight never reaches, such as basements, closets, and attics, and it's highly Toxic. It poisons everything that comes in contact; objects, animals, and people. Battlefields, old hospitals, factories that date back to before the turn of the century, prisons... Any place were people suffered tends to have this sort of thing lurking in the darker corners.

We still have a few of the animal instincts that kept the early homo species alive. These instincts are really good at detecting these things because except for staying away from them, there's not really much you can do about them.

The only way to deal with something nasty like this is to tear the buildings down --expose the areas to sunlight, (or fire)-- then fill it in, and let the lot sit empty (nothing but grass) for at least a year before you try to build something over it.

Unfortunately, only the land-owner can do this, (and most land-owners won't, especially if it's making a profit.) The rest of us just have to pay attention to our instincts and stay out of areas our instincts don't like.
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And to bring this topic full circle, I demand someone makes a Shakespeare VN featuring dinosaur ghosts.

Dino Hamlet???

[Taleweaver]

However, the worst presences I've personally encountered were made from concentrated human misery and hate. That stuff collects in literal pools of deep shadow in areas sunlight never reaches, such as basements, closets, and attics, and it's highly Toxic. It poisons everything that comes in contact; objects, animals, and people. Battlefields, old hospitals, factories that date back to before the turn of the century, prisons... Any place were people suffered tends to have this sort of thing lurking in the darker corners.

Homo homini lupus. But if man made it, man can unmake it. Though some of that unmaking requires crazy preparation. Fortunately, in these cases, knowledge is power. And at least we keep records. So while these man-made presences may seem really bad, they mostly are because we can relate to their origins. In a way, we have a weakness to those sorts of toxic presence because we know that sort of suffering. But that affinity is also the reason why we're able to deal with them.

With the other presences (and they sometimes WILL be lurking inside man-made buildings after man has left), there is no such affinity. And trying to attain knowledge about them is suicidal. If you try to find them, they will come to find you.

[OokamiKasumi]

However, the worst presences I've personally encountered were made from concentrated human misery and hate. ... Any place were people suffered tends to have this sort of thing lurking in the darker corners.

Homo homini lupus. But if man made it, man can unmake it. Though some of that unmaking requires crazy preparation.

No lie there. I can handle your average haunted house by myself, but something with centuries of misery soaked into the walls such as a prison, or a hospital...? That takes team (coven) effort; which includes personal purification (and armoring) of each member before even stepping on the grounds to deal with the 'problem.'

Fortunately, in these cases, knowledge is power. And at least we keep records.

Agreed. If you know what you're dealing with, and how it got there, you know what tools are needed to clean up the mess.

So while these man-made presences may seem really bad, they mostly are because we can relate to their origins. In a way, we have a weakness to those sorts of toxic presence because we know that sort of suffering. But that affinity is also the reason why we're able to deal with them.

Agreed. Human-made presences very often simply need human responses to let go. (Acknowledgment, forgiveness, understanding, sympathy...)

With the other presences (and they sometimes WILL be lurking inside man-made buildings after man has left), there is no such affinity. And trying to attain knowledge about them is suicidal. If you try to find them, they will come to find you.

I have only encountered One of those; a non-human...thing occupying a human body that was for all intents and purposes, a Corpse. It was creepy as hell too. It did not act, or even move, like a normal human. I swear, it was like watching a puppet on strings. Also, it radiated Cold, like it was sucking the warmth out of the very air, and it smelled like old dirt. Seriously!

When I realized that I was dealing with something non-human... (It was hunting in a stripper-club, of all places!) I didn't ask it questions, I just told it: "I know what you are, and you are Not Welcome Here." It left immediately -- at speed. (Some of those legends are right on the money about certain things needing 'permission' to enter a building!)

That is something I have no idea how to deal with. I can drive them away, but that's all I can do -- and that won't even work if it has a direct invitation from the owner of the property (or apartment). I have no clue how to 'dislodge' something like that once it's already 'in possession.'