Great storytellers have been revered by every society since the beginning of time. Great storytellers are rare and those who can tell a convincing ghost story are even rarer. If you want to tell a really hair-raising ghost story, you need to prepare. You must create a mood of fright. The success of your ghost story depends more on preparation than anything else.
First, you’ll need a partner to participate in this crimeÖI mean story. It’s vital that certain things happen at the appropriate time to build suspense. You should NOT let your audience know, however, that you have a partner.
There are some props that you’ll need:
* Candles
* A fan
* Sound Effects
* A flashlight
* And (f you have a place to build a fire) firewood.
The room needs to be dark and filled with eerie shadows that are cast by flickering candles burning around and room and the fire if you have a fireplace. There should be no artificial light except for the flashlight that shines on your own face. Silence is frightening all by itself.
* Gather your listeners and start your story by speaking slowly in a soft voice. All good ghost stories begin in ordinary, everyday circumstances.
* Get louder gradually as your story builds and pick up the rate of speech, but just slightly. You want to be understood.
* Have your partner turn a fan on and make the candles flicker briefly from time to time.
* Direct your partner to use sound effects at specific points in your story (a creaking door or rattling chains).
As you build toward the climax of your story, have your partner turn the flashlight off for just a few seconds and you should be silent, then have your partner turn the flashlight back onto your face as you end with a blood-curdling scream! Works every time!
