{
  "id": 14164537,
  "title": "Bonnie Jo Campbell Recommends Her Favorite Literary Ghost Stories",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/bonnie-jo-campbell-recommends-her-favorite-literary-ghost-stories",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-13T09:08:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Literary Hub",
    "slug": "literary-hub",
    "url": "https://lithub.com/bonnie-jo-campbell-recommends-her-favorite-literary-ghost-stories/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Bonnie Jo Campbell, a writer, once had a penchant for ghost stories. As a child, spooky sounds from the nearby woods and a haunting folksong her mother sang stirred her fear of the supernatural. However, she grew up to become a skeptic, convinced that most dangers originate from living humans, not ghosts. Instead, she pursued fiction writing and created a story titled \"The Spirits\" about a young farmgirl named Sister Whitby, responsible for her father's violent death. The story takes place on Christmas Eve, the ninth anniversary of a traumatic event, which the Whitby family recalls differently. Despite knowing the event, Sister's memories are muddled, and her father is dead. Campbell faced a dilemma about incorporating ghosts into the story. While she initially resisted supernatural elements, she soon found her characters becoming haunted by a ghostly presence. She then researched other literary ghosts to gain insight. Hamlet's ghost, for instance, demands action from the protagonist but could be seen as a manifestation of his conscience. Banquo's ghost, in Shakespeare's Macbeth, haunts the guilty party without their intervention, emphasizing the impact of fear and guilt. Marley's ghost in A Christmas Carol, a stern yet truthful figure, guides Scrooge towards redemption. Similarly, the ghost of Beloved in Toni Morrison's novel haunts a wronged and powerful woman, demanding revenge. Lastly, the mysterious thumping in Poe's \"The Tell-Tale Heart\" suggests the presence of a haunting force driving the protagonist to confess. Campbell learned that ghosts could serve various narrative purposes, from driving plot to reflecting characters' inner turmoil.",
  "summary": "As a kid, I got easily spooked. We lived on the edge of a creaking, bubbling, swampy-dark woods; at night, my mom sang “The Unquiet Grave,” a haunting folksong where a young woman begs her dead lover to speak to",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}