For all hallows day – a ‘haunting’ experience or a fascinating word?

I looked up the word ‘haunting’ in my dictionary and found it could refer to many different things. For instance, the most obvious is a ghost-type haunting, which, I guess, we have all heard of even if we don’t believe in that sort of thing.

Then there is the disturbing, provocative meaning of the word, such as in a ‘haunting melody’. Another meaning is when we say someone is possessed or jinxed – they may be ‘haunted by’ someone or something. Then again there is the expression we use when someone looks very worried or troubled by something – they may look ‘haunted’. My last offering is to use the word haunt when we mean a hideaway or den or even a normal place that we regularly return to.

All these words say ‘creepy’ to me - at least in the context of writing thrillers. Especially supernatural thrillers…

Even the notion of a haunting, sorrowful tune can be pretty sinister if it’s used in the right scenario. As for ghost haunting – well, we all know that can be scary, if handled properly… Haunting by other supernatural beings such as a demon/devil can be made to be pretty Spine-chilling too – witness the terrifying ‘Exorcist’ (for its time a brilliant movie) but these stories can equally be a lot like an old ‘b movie’ and they can be steeped in stereotypes and cliché.

Even the ‘haunt’ as a familiar place can be made to feel eerie with the addition of one or two strange and unfamiliar things. Even as I am writing this a few ideas have tickled my imagination and I am a little excited at the prospect of getting to my regular haunt ( in front of my PC) to jot a few words down!

So it’s all Hallows Day… An appropriate day, I think, for pondering haunting words and themes??

 

So do you ever pause to think of intriguing words and allow them to whisper in the ears of your muse?