ghost story

ghost story
a tale in which such elements as ghostly visitations and supernatural intervention are used to further the plot and a chilling, suspenseful atmosphere.
[1810-20]

* * *

▪ narrative genre
      a tale about ghosts. More generally, the phrase may refer to a tale based on imagination rather than fact. Ghost stories exist in all kinds of literature, from folktales to religious works to modern horror stories, and in most cultures. They can be used as isolated episodes or interpolated stories within a larger narrative, as in Lucius Apuleius's The Golden Ass, Geoffrey Chaucer's “The Nun's Priest's Tale,” William Shakespeare's Hamlet, and many Renaissance plays and gothic novels, or they can be the main focus of a work, such as the stories of Sheridan Le Fanu's In a Glass Darkly, Henry James's novella The Turn of the Screw, and Kingsley Amis's novel The Green Man.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • ghost story — ghost stories N COUNT A ghost story is a story about ghosts …   English dictionary

  • ghost story — ghost .story n a story about ghosts that is intended to frighten people …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • ghost story — ghost ,story noun count a frightening story about GHOSTS …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Ghost story — A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or the belief of some character(s) in them. In that sense The Tale of Genji contains ghost stories, and Shakespeare …   Wikipedia

  • Ghost Story — A ghost story is a story or tale involving ghosts.Ghost Story may also refer to:* Ghost Story (Straub novel), a 1979 horror novel by Peter Straub * Ghost Story (film), a 1981 film adaptation of the Peter Straub novel * Ghost Story (Phideaux… …   Wikipedia

  • Ghost Story — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Zurück bleibt die Angst Originaltitel: Ghost Story Produktionsland: USA Erscheinungsjahr: 1981 Länge: 107 Minuten Originalsprache: Englisch …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ghost Story — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Ghost Story est une série télévisée américaine créée en 1972. Ghost Story est un téléfilm américain réalisé par John Llewellyn Moxey en 1972. Ghost Story… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ghost story — noun 1. : a story about ghosts 2. : a tale based on imagination rather than fact * * * noun, pl ⋯ ries [count] : a frightening story about ghosts * * * ˈghost story [ghost story ghost stories] …   Useful english dictionary

  • ghost story — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms ghost story : singular ghost story plural ghost stories a frightening story about ghosts …   English dictionary

  • Ghost Story (Straub novel) — Ghost Story is a horror novel by Peter Straub that was published in 1979 by Coward, McCann and Geoghegan. It was adapted into a film in 1981.PlotThe novel begins with a man named Donald Wanderley traveling throughout the U.S. south with a young… …   Wikipedia

  • ghost story — story about ghosts, story about spirits, imaginative story …   English contemporary dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”