Ghost Stories

by Cynthia Wheeler | October 3, 2018

As part of the WordPlay Cafe open mic series hosted at The Nile Cafe, guest bloggers and features have been invited to share their experiences with the month’s theme for the open mic events. For more information about WordPlay cafe, visit https://www.mesaartscenter.com/wordplaycafe.

When I think about ghosts, I picture filmy apparitions, books mysteriously falling off the shelf or a shadow in the stairwell. I love to be scared by a good ghost story but I do not like horror. Is that an impossible contradiction? There’s something intriguing about the supernatural, a voice from beyond or unexplained phenomena. My curiosity overcomes my fear and I have to hear how it ends. A tale of horror or a movie with grotesque deaths and slimy gore does not interest me. I need no help in stimulating my overactive imagination.

Ghost Stories is the perfect theme to let the imagination free. One of the stories I’ll be telling is about a time I was scared out of my 9 year old mind. Downtown Mesa has several good ghost tales circulating and I’m hoping to hear about at least one Mesa ghost at October’s WordPlay Cafe.

I’m not only excited about hearing those ghost stories, but also about leading the writing workshop for WordPlay this month. Most of my stories are humorous personal narratives drawn on experiences growing up in the Ozarks. When I write I begin with a memory that needs to be on paper. During the process, I’m asking myself for the details of how it happened and why is it important enough to remember and tell. My family rarely told a story that didn’t include a funny observation. Please join me for the workshop at 6 where I’ll be talking more about building humor and editing out the heavy elements that distract from the power of the story.