Friday, May 29, 2009

Fantasy Friday - Ghosts




As Fridays are the day the Cybrarian (from my kids – young adult book review blog) posts reviews of books from the realm of fantasy, science fiction, and the paranormal, I have decided to use Friday as a day to talk about one the beings from the fantasy guidebook The Destineers Journal of Fantasy Nations that is featured in the book being reviewed by the Cybrarian.

The fantastical beings featured by the Cybrarian this week are ghosts; the name of the book: GHOST FOR RENT. By definition ghosts are described as disembodied spirits of a deceased person trapped between the land of the living and the land of the dead. They are spellbound in limbo, unable to rest because of something they must resolve in our world before they can pass into the next plane of existence.

These ethereal beings can move through solid objects. Their appearance is usually very similar to their mortal body, only now they are translucent. They are often sited in areas that were familiar to them, places they frequented in their mortal form. Humans often refer to this as haunting the area.

Most people, at one time or another, have heard some form of a ghost story. It seems with each retelling the tale gets bigger and even more eerie. These stories are standards when gathered around a campfire, or with the kids when they are huddled under the covers at a sleepover. Folklore and Legends provide the foundation for many of these stories. It was a ghost story stemming from New York folklore that inspired Washington Irving's masterpiece, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. While the purpose of most of these stories is for the entertainment value of scaring those that hear the tale, many of these stories also provide lessons to be learned from the spirits (ie A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens). Some people claim to have had first-hand experiences with these ghostly entities. The characters from my novel in progress have become quite good friends with one of these spirits...it is our own beloved Cybrarian. She and her team of ghost writers weave the stories of the realms into their historical archives...when she is not busy reviewing books for us.

This week’s Cybrarian’s book review explores the adventure packed Paranormal Mystery novel, GHOST FOR RENT , by Penny Lockwood. Why not click over and check it out? Just a thought...


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11 comments:

joe doaks-Author said...

Ghosts are kinda cool. They can be mean…uh, spirited, so to speak. They can also be friendly, or sorta neutral, or harbingerish. In fact, they can have all the requirements of fully fleshed characters. So, don’t short-change your ghost characters, or,….Ta Da…they will come back to haunt you! Oh boy.

Best Regards, Galen.
GalenKindley.com

N A Sharpe said...

So true Galen, LOL

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Nancy, from Just a Thought…

Helen Ginger said...

What genre is a book involving ghosts? Paranormal? Fantasy? How is it categorized?

Helen
Straight From Hel

Patricia Stoltey said...

I love ghost stories, even the scary ones. But my favorites are light: Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and the old Topper TV series. I'm now wandering off to find out more about Ghost for Rent.

Patricia

N A Sharpe said...

Hi Helen,

The story's classification is going to depend on the story line - some stories with ghosts are classified as dark fantasy. This particular story would be a paranormal mystery.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nancy, from Just a Thought…

N A Sharpe said...

Hi Patricia,

Oh! I had forgotten about Topper - I love those old movies (were they books too?)Thanks for checking out the book review too.

Have a great weekend!

Nancy, from Just a Thought…

Anonymous said...

Love ghost stories - anything to do with the paranormal and supernatural gets my interest. Good feature post!

The Old Silly from Free Spirit Blog

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Oh, I've always been a fan of ghosts. They were my favorite part of sleepovers, back in the day...

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

C. Margery Kempe said...

I have been fascinated by ghosts since childhood. I remember reading the book Fog Magic and loving the pirate ghosts. I recall reading a couple of anthologies of ghost stories while at Otsego Lake for the summer (state parks in Michigan had lending libraries then -- wonder if they still do?) and hoping all the time to see ghosts. Discovering MR James came much later. Good stuff!

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Penny's book is a good ghost story. I'm partial to ghosts. Love to read about them and to discover why they cannont rest. Last year I went to a paranormal convention. They had sounds and pictures and it was awesome. Thanks for a great post, Nancy, and a nice review.

Beverly
http://beverlystowemcclure.wordpress.com

Enid Wilson said...

Is there a handbook of ghost power? I think going through wall is the most ocmmon one I have seen, besides turning yucky to scare people off.

In Quest of Theta Magic

 
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