Question

Now that you have shared a ghost story/anecdote as well as completed a guided story in the class, create your own ghost story on the basis of the starters given below:

a) Stephen knew he would never sleep. The noises, those horrid sounds, would keep him awake...

b) Tap, tap, tap. Was it the branches of the nearby tree, or fingernails against the window?

c) People often say, 'There's no such thing as ghosts....

You are familiar with the key elements of a short story viz setting, plot, conflict, character and point of view. Given below are specifics to be kept in mind while writing a ghost story. Also make use of the vocabulary that you have learnt from the story ‘A
Shady Plot’.

• Colours, sounds, feeling words
• Strong definite characters
• Creating suspense
• Setting the scene and the atmosphere

• Describing the weather
• Clear opening line
• Personal feelings
• Clear ending
• Describing the sounds
• Adding a dramatic element
• Mystery

Answer 1

(a) Stephen had to shift to a villa btplt in a lonely part of the countryside with his parents. His father worked as a forest ranger in one of the parts of India. There were stories about the place that an apparition haunted the area. The people of the village also believed in this witchcraft. The atmosphere, Stephen found around the place, was uncanny and mysterious. His parents did not believe in all these things. In the evenings they used to hear horrifying sounds and cries from the village. They were told that it was the witch doctor who performed all sorts of things to keep away evil spirits at night.

(b) ....

(c) ....