Event Title
Unrested Souls: A Look at Fear, Ghost Stories, and Hauntings in Premodern London
Location
Diamond 344
Start Date
30-4-2015 2:10 PM
End Date
30-4-2015 2:55 PM
Project Type
Presentation
Description
Ghost stories and tales of hauntings have been powerful conjurers of fear for centuries, and demonstrate the human fascination and horror with the undead. The belief or interest in the idea of ghosts and their chilling nature highlights many significant aspects of humans, which include their draw to the frightening and morbid, as well as their constant need to answer the question of what happens to people after they die. Perhaps the most driving force behind fear is the unknown, so it comes as no surprise the hair-raising and captivating appeal of ghosts, death, and the undead, as some of the most interesting yet unanswerable mysteries of the world. By exploring the evolution of the ghost story from the Middle Ages to the Victorian Age, with a specific focus on London, as well as navigating accounts of ghost sightings with regard to the power of fear and the human imagination, this paper will attempt to pinpoint why ghosts are so frightening to humans. Studying ghosts can perhaps shine some light on why human fear and interest are so closely linked, and why humans are so drawn to the unknown, and the undead.
Faculty Sponsor
Larissa Taylor
Sponsoring Department
Colby College. History Dept.
CLAS Field of Study
Social Sciences
Event Website
http://www.colby.edu/clas
ID
1316
Unrested Souls: A Look at Fear, Ghost Stories, and Hauntings in Premodern London
Diamond 344
Ghost stories and tales of hauntings have been powerful conjurers of fear for centuries, and demonstrate the human fascination and horror with the undead. The belief or interest in the idea of ghosts and their chilling nature highlights many significant aspects of humans, which include their draw to the frightening and morbid, as well as their constant need to answer the question of what happens to people after they die. Perhaps the most driving force behind fear is the unknown, so it comes as no surprise the hair-raising and captivating appeal of ghosts, death, and the undead, as some of the most interesting yet unanswerable mysteries of the world. By exploring the evolution of the ghost story from the Middle Ages to the Victorian Age, with a specific focus on London, as well as navigating accounts of ghost sightings with regard to the power of fear and the human imagination, this paper will attempt to pinpoint why ghosts are so frightening to humans. Studying ghosts can perhaps shine some light on why human fear and interest are so closely linked, and why humans are so drawn to the unknown, and the undead.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/320