5 spooktacular classic ghost stories to tell on Halloween

The premise of Sir Walter Scott’s “Wandering Willie’s Tale” is simple. A blind fiddler by the name of Willie Steenson encounters Darsie Latimer while traveling the Scottish countryside.

Spoiler alert! Along the way, one of the characters have a chance meeting with a ghost. A significant part of the rest of the story is working out the conflict between the rational and the supernatural.

“Wandering Willie’s Tale” is not the only ghost story Scott wrote. He also penned “The Tapestried Chamber.” In some ways, Scott’s stories laid the ground work for the “Golden Age of the Ghost Story,” which was during the Victorian period (after Scott’s time — he was part of the Romantic movement).

What are some good Halloween stories?

From Violet Hunt to Charles Dickens, ghost stories took over literature and have become household names in legend, folklore and literature today. Here’s a look at five classic ghost stories that have had cultural staying power (spoiler alert).

‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’

Author: Washington Irving.

Plot details: Schoolteacher Ichabod Crane moves to the the town of Sleepy Hollow. He falls in love with Katrina Van Tassel and competes against suitors like Brom Van Brunt for her hand. At the same time, Crane becomes enthralled with local folktales like that of the Headless Horseman (a soldier who lost his head during the Revolutionary War) and after listening to ghost stories at a Van Tassel party, Crane heads on home. But he never makes it home and all that is found of him is a hat, horse tracks and a smashed up pumpkin.

‘The Turn of the Screw’

Author: Henry James.

Plot details: It’s a meta story. Douglas and his friends read a story together of a governess who travels to a home in Bly, Essex, to care for two children, Miles and Flora, who have been orphaned. As the governess starts her duties, she quickly learns that two ghosts haunt the home. She doesn’t initially think the children know about the ghosts, but as time goes on, she thinks the ghosts may have some sway on the children.

‘Pomegranate Seed’

Author: Edith Wharton.

Plot details: Charlotte Ashby, married to widower Kenneth Ashby, noticed something peculiar: a letter in a gray envelope. Letters continued to appear in the home and Charlotte confronted Kenneth about the letters, but he denies anything going on. As the story later reveals, the letters are from Elsie, Kenneth’s former wife who had died. Kenneth eventually disappears and Charlotte only has one clue as to where he went.

‘A Christmas Carol’

Author: Charles Dickens.

Plot details: Miser Ebenezer Scrooge wants nothing to do with joy or Christmas. He begrudgingly allows his clerk Bob Cratchit the day off and refuses to give to the poor. Then, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts: the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After seeing his impending fate as a forgotten man whose death a couple expresses joy over, he pledges to change his ways — especially when he sees the Cratchit family mourn the death of Tiny Tim in the future. Scrooge gives Bob Cratchit a raise, becomes close with Tiny Tim and gives to the poor.

‘The Masque of the Red Death’

Author: Edgar Allan Poe.

Plot details: Prince Prospero and others in the upper-crust of society hide away in an abbey to escape the Red Death, which is a gruesome plague. One night Prospero holds a ball with seven rooms, each one with a different color theme. Guests fear entering the red room, which progressively gets spookier. The Red Death appears as a ghost and plagues everyone in the room with the illness from which they hid.