Starting a new book
 

Im planning on starting a new book shortly. I really want to write a classic ghost story, truly frightening. I have a good base, my grandfathers house was haunted and I have tons of stories from that. But I was hoping for some suggestions. Ghost stories have been played pretty hard and I really don't want to write the same thing we have read a thousand times. Is there anything that you all would love to see in a good ghost story? Anything that your tired of reading about, stuff that's so cliché I should avoid it?

Oh, and I intend for it to be a full novel, not just a short story.

I read a book a long time ago by Graham Masterton called "Pariah" ( I think).
Long story short, his wife was killed in a car accident and he brought her back to life but she was permanently re-living the seconds before the car crashed. Its been done before but the idea of a ghost that is trapped re-living its death ( especially a horrible one) is kinda cool.

That's a cool idea, I might be able to weave it into the story. We never figured out why or what was happening at the house, we just learned to live with it. My grandpa even felt comfortable with them.

My suggestion would be to write a story entirely about your and your grand father's experience in the house or do not use it at all. Using it as inspiration might make your story come across as too false. Not as in fact, but as in a feeling of believing while reading the story. Also a lot of horror novels read as too light when it comes to emotion and relationships. I'd suggest drawing on your own emotions to use as energy to write your story.

Oh and a reference good ghost stories, try Melanie Tem's collection(tied together by theme and location) called Revenant.

Well, I have managed to get started. Im really feeling this one. Ill keep this updated as I make progress. It may be slow this time.

Per your original post, I would like to see a ghost actually attacking someone for once. Usually they just say "boo" or make noise. I want the Ashworth ghost to put some elbow grease into this haunting.

Oh it will, I have some tricks up my sleeve. What Im going for is a close telling of my grandfathers and mothers story, but I am going to exaggerate and take it on a crazy little ride. My muse has struck and in the last thirty minutes I have managed to get a damn good head start. I might post the first paragraph here when I am done just to gage the start. But man, I got the itch bad.

I was watching My Haunted House the other day and was actually thinking how cool would it be for some of these stories to be movies or books. Some of them are just so gripping and exciting. Makes you wish you were there yourself. I'd recommend giving the show a watch for ideas. 8)