Ghost stories do not exist solely to terrify or entertain. Many spectral tales carry themes within their spooky lore, revealing profound lessons about our human experiences.
Letting go continues to be a common theme in numerous ghost stories, whether these tales center on love, revenge, intense emotions, or worldly desires. What might these tales of spirits and spooks have to tell us about such matters?
Releasing Sorrow: Ghosts and Grief
A haunted inn in Savannah – Copyright US Ghost Adventures
Whether intentionally or not, many ghost stories can be seen as a metaphor for grief. In these instances, the spirit often lingers out of sorrow or heartbreak, stuck in an emotional limbo. Take the legend of the Haunted Partridge Inn as a prime example, where a forlorn but beautiful woman remains trapped in anguish.
Awaiting her betrothed in the Patridge Inn, Emily learned he had been involved in an altercation and shot. She sank into a debilitating state of depression, refusing to disrobe from her wedding gown, continuing to wander the Inn. It is said she wanders there still, perpetually fixed in that feeling of woe.
These haunting tales reflect how grief can trap us, freezing us in a state of purgatory. Such otherworldly legends remind us that although grief is natural, it is something that one must let go of when the time comes in order to move on, lest you remain in a purgatory of your own making.
Letting Lost Love Go
Haunted New Orleans (French Quarter) – Copyright US Ghost Adventures
Some ghost stories have a darker heartbeat, with dark romance as the focus. One such shadowy ghost story arises from New Orleans and its old French Opera House, where a woman lingers in rage and heartbreak.
This story begins with Marguerite, who supposedly fell in love with a pastry chef. Yet it seems the romance was ill-fated. After his interests switched to a younger woman, Marguerite murdered them both in their chamber. Still, it is Marguerite who lingers, haunting the route from the opera house to the place where she found the lovers.
Why so? Possibly because she failed to let her soured love go, instead transforming it into hate. Tales such as these remind us that love suffers when squeezed too tightly. In order to truly love someone, we must let them be free to make their own choices.
Holding Onto Negative Emotion
The Lizzie Borden House – Copyright US Ghost Adventures
Other ghost stories are centered around revenge. To set the ghostly stage, let’s turn to one of America’s most haunted houses: the Lizzie Borden House. Witness to one of the most infamous murders of the 19th century, the home holds the lingering presence of the two victims.
While no one knows for sure who murdered Abby and Andrew Borden with an axe in their Massachusetts home, their daughter was notoriously tried and released. Tensions had long existed between Lizzie and her father over money; and while his death freed her to purchase her dream home, the cost was high.
Lizzie Borden went on to acquire her own property, Maplecroft Mansion. Today, she is said to haunt the grand home of her dreams. But why does Lizzie linger? Perhaps the influx of negative emotion enveloping the Borden family is to blame, leaving the Borden kin to haunt their separate dwellings. When negative feelings are left to fester, ghosts are often the result.
Letting Go of Material Things
Another centerpiece of many ghostly tales is the haunted object, be it a terrifying, evil-bringing doll a la Annabelle or a cursed painting. You’ll find countless stories of doom-carrying items, be they ones with a spirit attached to them or those that inexplicably bring misfortune and death.
There are many tales of cursed objects, but one of the most ghostly is the Hope Diamond. According to legend, several people who have come into contact with this sapphire-blue gem have experienced tragedy and even death. A man who stole the diamond is said to have died of a fever. A jeweler who recut the stone was killed by his own son, while an heiress who often wore the diamond encountered a slew of seemingly random deaths, including two of her children.
Ghost stories such as these warn against the draw of precious objects, teaching us that despite their worldly value, some items are never worth the cost. Oftentimes, treasures such as these are best let go, whether the value be emotional or monetary. At the end of the day, objects are just objects and material things such as these pale in comparison to living people.
Shedding the Fear of What Comes Next
Several ghost stories are more vague in meaning, simply reinforcing that our beliefs can not account for everything. Consider such mysterious tales as haunted roads, sinister forests, and ghoul-infested graveyards.
Ghost stories of Appalachia often revolve around this theme, including eerie tales surrounding the Flatwoods Monster, Mothman, or the Cherokee legend of the moon-eyed people. Although not strictly ghost stories in the traditional sense, they serve the same purpose in many ways.
Strange stories like these remind us that not all is known. The takeaway might be to embrace the unknown and let go of preconceived notions, even if they are deeply rooted. After all, the timeless beauty of the ghost story is largely in its mystery.
Goodbye Isn’t Forever
One of the core features of the ghost story centers around hope. After all, every spooky story, in some sense or another, is about life beyond death. Almost everyone has heard some tale or another of a loved one returning after death to help their kin, whether they visit for a last goodbye or to see them through harrowing situations. In some cases, they even return to warn them.
The Greenbrier Ghost is a fascinating example of this concept. After losing her daughter, Zona, in a tragic accident, Mary Jane Heaster prayed to see her daughter again. The spectral Zona soon visited her and imparted some important news. According to the phantom, she had been murdered by her husband. Arrests were made, her body was exhumed, and the spirit was proven right! To this day, it remains the only known case where a ghost’s testimony assisted in a murder conviction.
Other stories involve grandmothers at bedsides watching over sick children, or families of ghosts continuing to haunt their cherished homes. At their root, such spooky tales reaffirm that goodbyes in death aren’t goodbye forever. As such, we do not have to fear letting our loved ones go at the end of their days, because in some sense, they live on with us. This can be taken literally in the form of specters and friendly haunts, or more metaphorically, in the sense of cherished memories we carry with us.
