For tonight's countdown to Halloween post, I carry on about haunted places. On Sunday, I blogged about a haunted castle, yesterday about a haunted hotel (more precisely a haunted hotel room) in a work of fiction. So here is a picture that my wife took when she was in the bus on her way to uni. It is of a small, dingy, abandoned house... Which looks a lot like a haunted house would, if there are such things as haunted houses (which I seriously doubt). An abandoned house that is in a state of disrepair always looks a bit haunted, certainly malevolent. I blogged about haunted houses back in 2010. I am fascinated by them since childhood, but I have a problem with haunted houses as plot device: the moment ghosts start appearing, anyone can just leave the darn place. I am still wondering how I could write the story of a haunted house and make it believable. Looking at this one, this home that is no longer home sweet home, I can at least image many dangers in its narrow space: demons summoned by careless teenagers, murderous madmen, werewolves, vampires... And ghosts. At least one ghost. But why would the living go there and stay when things start getting ugly, that is the big question to answer. And you, what does this picture inspire you?
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
A haunted house?
For tonight's countdown to Halloween post, I carry on about haunted places. On Sunday, I blogged about a haunted castle, yesterday about a haunted hotel (more precisely a haunted hotel room) in a work of fiction. So here is a picture that my wife took when she was in the bus on her way to uni. It is of a small, dingy, abandoned house... Which looks a lot like a haunted house would, if there are such things as haunted houses (which I seriously doubt). An abandoned house that is in a state of disrepair always looks a bit haunted, certainly malevolent. I blogged about haunted houses back in 2010. I am fascinated by them since childhood, but I have a problem with haunted houses as plot device: the moment ghosts start appearing, anyone can just leave the darn place. I am still wondering how I could write the story of a haunted house and make it believable. Looking at this one, this home that is no longer home sweet home, I can at least image many dangers in its narrow space: demons summoned by careless teenagers, murderous madmen, werewolves, vampires... And ghosts. At least one ghost. But why would the living go there and stay when things start getting ugly, that is the big question to answer. And you, what does this picture inspire you?
Si tu l'as pas encore vu, The Haunting de 1963, pas le remake de 1999 évidemment, vaut la peine.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I've got one. What if the family moving into the house was pretty impoverished, and they just can't afford to lose their shelter?
ReplyDeleteActually I think that would be pretty compelling, trapped by their circumstances, and literally haunted by their poverty.