Mythic Writers Blog

I love ghost stories. Especially gothic type ghost stories with spooky mansions on a cliff above the sea, complete with hidden passages and ancient ancestral paintings. So I’ve been thinking about ghost stories lately, trying to decide if I think they fit into the mythic fiction category.

I think they do. Some people will claim that ghost stories belong in the horror genre. They do. Some people will say they belong in the supernatural sub-category. They do. Some people will say that the type of ghost story I’m particularly fond of belongs in the new paranormal romance category. They do (well, some of them do).

I don’t think fitting into those other categories keeps a story from being mythic fiction. I think mythic fiction is a sort of vesica pisces, the place where multiple genres cross over. It is the common ground between horror and fantasy and sci-fi and all the sub-genres we might find in those categories.

How do ghosts fit into mythic fiction? I know that often when we think of myths, we think of stories of gods and nymphs and dragons and unicorns—the traditional stuff of legend. But ghost stories have been around for millennia, too. The ancient Greeks traveled to the underworld to speak with shades. There are ghosts in Beowulf. Gilgamesh has at least one ghost that I can remember. There are even ghosts in the Bible. So I think ghosts have at least as long a connection with myth and folklore as dragons or unicorns do.

None of this has much to do with anything else right now. I have just been thinking of ghost stories lately, and I have obviously been thinking about mythic fiction, and I thought I’d share my musings even if they haven’t reached any sort of conclusion. I am toying with a ghost story idea which might be why ghosts are on my mind a bit more than usual lately. Or maybe it’s because tonight is “Ghost Hunters” night. Or maybe I don’t need a reason.

For now, those are my thoughts.  But there will assuredly be more later–don’t say I didn’t warn you!