J. Elliott presents “The Classic Ghost Story Tradition”

Many of the ghost stories that thrilled Victorian and Edwardian audiences were lost and forgotten. But the classic ghost-story tradition has recently enjoyed a resurgence, thanks to dedicated anthologists and publishing houses. Hundreds have been republished.

Supernatural tales are often dismissed as pulp fiction–not considered literature. But did you know that Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Virginia Woolf, and Agatha Christie penned ghost stories? Or that Thomas Hardy penned a zombie poem? Did you know that Freud wrote a thesis on the uncanny?

What exactly does uncanny mean, anyway? It’s deep and fascinating! Far beyond a tingle or a jump scare, there are psychological, historical, and sociological layers to a solid ghost story.

Come to the Millhopper branch of the Alachua County Library on October 9 (just before Halloween!) for a talk by ghost-story author J. Elliott. She will present an entertaining and panoramic view of this genre while discussing these topics:

• • • •      Fear of death
      •      Desire for safety
      •      The uncanny
      •      The haunted house
      •      The ghost wants justice, acknowledgment, or revenge (It’s about POWER.)
      •      Leave the relics alone