Pacing a ghost story

cyberwraith · Jan 14, 2008

Long ago I took a screen writing course where the giant-mustached instructor taught us that you have to give the movie viewer a break between high tension scenes (good example from the film of Stephen King's Carrie: peaceful walk in cemetery, pretty day, lalala, bad stuff's all over, THE HAND THRUSTING UP FROM THE GRAVE AHHHHHHHH!). He explained that pacing in films is vital because when people's heart rates get up too high for too long they just turn off out of self preservation and hate your movie.

My question is does this sort of pacing apply in a novel? I would think yes; the characters in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House eat lunch, play chess, argue and generally do mundane things waiting for Bad Stuff to happen late at night.

A truly kind agent who looked at my YA WIP said that while she loved my characters and the premise, she felt it wasn't scary enough. I've rewritten it with higher spooky content (odd things happening, time/space disconnects, etc.) but each time I let my heroine get her bearings long enough to prepare to face the next incrementally worse horror I feel I'm becoming too matter-of-fact again. My fear is that if I don't back off and let her be an insouciant teen now and then, by the time we get to the final crisis my reader will have decided that the story is bogus out of self defense or even worse that the Truly Scariest Moment isn't that bad really because they've been so wigged out that they're numb by the time they get to the end.

What do those of you who enjoy a good ghost story think?

Pantsonfire · Jan 14, 2008

There should definitely be breaks between scary spots. The reader has to have a moment of relative calm to anticipate what will happen next and what happened previously. I personally can't stand a movie or book where the character never gets let up on. Constant pain, suffering, or fear is to high stress. If the readers care about your characters, which I am sure they will, you need to give them a break. Instead of adding more scary parts perhaps you just need to increase the scare-factor in the existing scary parts. Just my thoughts.

Finni · Jan 14, 2008

Maybe you don't have enough at stake. Even when the character is taking a break by doing 'everyday teenage stuff' there should be enough at stake or just the right amount of tension/mystery to keep it going or make the reader cringe with anticipation.

kristie911 · Jan 14, 2008

There should be some form of ebb and flow as far as the scary parts go. That doesn't mean the "down time" should be just boring day to day stuff because that wouldn't ring true. There can still be some stress, either about what happen or what is going to happen next, but the character should at least get a bit of a reprieve. The down time should still be leading to the next part though.

Let's say your character was attacked by an evil spirit, the next day she in't going to be sitting around doing laundry. Maybe she's at home, talking to a friend, doing research, something that's anything besides being attacked but it's still pushing the story forward.

katiemac · Jan 14, 2008

Finni has a good point, I think. It may not necessarily be about the amount of spookiness in the story, but the levels of tension in respect to what is at stake.

That said, films and novels will be different in terms of setup and pacing. I remember reading The Haunting of Hill House and was nearly bored to death with it. It's been a long, long time since I read it, so I can't say if my opinion would change any if I read it now. I was in the YA age group at the time, though.

JustGo · Jan 14, 2008

Breaks are critical. In Stephen King's Misery, where there is always danger, there are a few times when you and the protagonist know he isn't going to get hurt right at that moment, and it's necessary to make the tension bearable. In the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, you soon learn that the demons can and will attack anyone, at any time, even in broad daylight and in public, but there is still one place they will not do so - the court where the fate of the priest who tried to perform the exorcism is being decided, as an appearance by them would prove his innocence.
Those are the two most intense, horrifying things I've ever read and seen, and they have breaks. Make room for them - your readers will thank you.

brokenfingers · Jan 14, 2008

One way to look at it is breaking your scenes into action and reaction.

So bad things happen and there are tense, scary times and then you can have scenes where your character(s) react to what has happened and try to come to terms with it while going about their daily lives/performing some activity/propelling the story forward (all three preferably.)

JohnDavidPaxton · Jan 14, 2008

Chapter 1: Someone is getting killededed/frightened.
Chapters 2-6: Meet these people that have only a slight relationship to chapter 1. I hope they don't get killededed.
Chapter 7: Oh. That's not good.
Chapters 8 - 12: Wow. They just...they just keep getting into the thick of things with that ghost, don't they?
Chapter 13: Hey! I liked that character!
Chapters 14-17: This thing is a tireless spectre of doom.
Chapter 18: There is no way they can stop this thing with this plan/new information.
Chapter 19: Oh. Nevermind. They did.
Chapter 20: Or did they?

Yes, there needs to be breaks, ups and down. Just like any other action based novel. You don't have an entire book full of bank robberies, car chases and sky-diving sword battles.

My favorite ghost story of all time is Shutter Island. It goes something like: Creepy-break-info-info-creepy-creepy-break-info-break-info-break-creepy-creepy-creepy.

So the big questions I'd ask is, given that it's a YA, does it start off with a scare? Do you get some life threatening (and hopefully grisly murders) in the middle? Can the ghosty killededed the protag?

Death Wizard · Jan 14, 2008

I think that your original question is crucial in the success and/or failure of a ghost story. In other words, pacing is crucial.

Ghost stories, by their very nature, ask the reader to suspend belief. But they do so in another fashion, as well. In almost all good ghost stories, the action builds slowly. In other words, in scene 1 a mirror cracks. In scene 2 a door slams. In scene 3 a ghost appears. In scene 4 someone is hurt ... usually mildly .. by a ghost. And by scene 10, there are all kinds of bloody, wacky things going on -- with the entire house shaking at its foundation. In the real world, if ghosts truly existed, is there a reason why scene 10 wouldn't happen immediately? Not that I know of. But that's not the way good ghosts stories work.

So your question about pacing is hugely important.

cyberwraith · Jan 15, 2008

THANK YOU!!!

I very much appreciate all of your comments. They are excellent and have taught me a great deal. Also, it is nice to hear that my gut feeling on this was correct and sensitive to the reader's needs.

To answer some questions you asked:
Yes, spooky things start happening from the get-go but they, at first, can be confused with normal human accidents. However, as the story progresses, then not so much.

Yes, the MC does take breaks but the weird happenings are gnawing at her such that while she TRIES to lead a normal life, the worry/thing-that-has-come-to-live-with-her becomes intrusive and finally leads her to do research, exploring (uh oh) and some serious law-breaking (all in a good cause mind).
Then the horrifying end where our MC survives but is forever changed.

Finally, thanks for the reading suggestions!

And now, back to work. Page 188 and counting. Has a good sound, doesn't it?

My heartfelt best to you all,
V

Lifelongdagger · Jan 15, 2008

I agree that there should be breaks in the real scary stuff, but breaking it up with mundane, ordinary activities too much leaves a danger of breaking it up altogether.

My two favourite ghost stories are The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

In each of these truly terrifying tales, even the mundane is a little creepy . . .

Pacing a ghost story

cyberwraith

Mumbling darkly

Pantsonfire

Finni

discipula vitae

kristie911

Happy to be here

katiemac

Five by Five

JustGo

Digging through graves of giants

brokenfingers

Walkin' That Road

JohnDavidPaxton

Death Wizard

Tumhe na koci puujetha

cyberwraith

Mumbling darkly

Lifelongdagger