Feel free to move this to theology, but the reason it's here is because I think this is a little different than what that section was meant for.

I have a friend that used to go to my church, she and I have been emailing stories and ideas and stuff for awhile now. She is a gifted writer (at 11 or 12 she is a better writer than I am), and I'm hoping to continue the correspondence.

Here's my question. How do you guys feel about Christians writing ghost stories? My friend's latest story is one, and I feel like I should state my concerns about it, but I don't want to offend her or make her feel... something... I don't know.

So how should I do this? How should I state my concerns to her? I think she values my opinion... right now, and I don't want to abuse that.

What do you mean by 'ghost stories'?

Sorry about that, forgot to clarify what I meant. I simply mean any story that has someone's spirit or 'ghost' wander around here on earth instead of going to paradise or hell.

I believe that there are 'ghosts' - but let me clarify that! People see ghosts, right, I know before my Mother was a christian she saw something in her Mother in law's house, and she would never stay there after that. She said a 'ghost' or something used to be seen on the stairs at night. However, I think that these are demonic spirits - so they are not the spirit or the ghost of a dead person. Make sense?

There is no harm in telling her your opinion; just maybe put it forward as your opinion, and not as something that she is doing wrong, if that makes sense? I don't think there is anything sinful in writing a ghost story, I mean we make up fantasy, and magic, which cannot happen.

You know, my parents aren't over thrilled about the fantasy genre, and my Mother thinks that magic is wrong. She has expressed those opinions to me, and I've listened, and that's all she expects. She is not offended that I haven't 100% taken her advice, and I was not offended that she expressed them. It's different with Mother - Daughter, I know, but if you are good friends then I don't think there's any harm with you telling her your opinion.

Also if you feel she may be offended, maybe just pray for her if you don't feel the moment is right to talk to her about it; and either God will provide the right moment, or He will work in her heart through your prayers. Just a thought.


Hope this helps a little!

I don't write ghost stories. IF I ever tried writing one, I'd probably throw it away very quickly, because I'd creep myself out.

Does your friend still go to church?

Yeah, that makes sense, I think I agree with you there, demons could easily choose to creep people out for the sake of blinding them to the Truth, or driving them to do something foolish...I don't know why, but it sounds like something they'd do.



Yeah, I'm going to say something like "this is just my opinion, but..." or something to let her know I'm not trying to change her (in a manipulative way or whatever) or be a jerk, I just have a concern that I feel I need to tell her about.

I know, but there's something about using our setting, I think that when we use the real world, we need to be more careful to keep to the real rules...if that makes sense.
So to have a magic sword on earth I think would be quite strange, it would have to be simply a blessed sword. And to have ghosts (as in wandering 'human' spirits) just seems wrong.



My mom is a little bit like that...she's skeptical about it's okayness, but she tolerates it (for which I am thankful).
Yeah, I don't know how good of friends we are....I'm extremely shy in person when talking to girls, so we didn't really talk that much (part of this was because she had friends her age and gender and was more interested in them at church). But when they were moving we connected about writing and I suggested we critique over email, so that's what we've been doing...I guess I just hope she is comfortable enough that she'll take it the way I mean her to (a simple concern that can be ignored if she wants).


I think that's a good idea, I should at least pray about it before I do it, pray that he'd lead me in what to say, I think she's a great writer and I want to help her write God-honoring stuff (but at the same time I don't wanna seem arrogant about what she should write).



It does, thank you!

Me too, I'm 17 and I'm still afraid of the dark.

Yes, as a matter of fact, she's a pastor's daughter, and not old enough to avoid going pretty much every week (which isn't to say she would if she could, I have no idea how she stands as a Christian, but I have no reason to assume that she isn't solid in her faith as her parents seem to be).
In fact, they left our church to minister at another church, it was a sad and exciting thing!

I agree wholeheartedly with Elanor. My friend's house was really creepy. People were crying out in the middle of the night, getting tapped on the shoulder... All sorts of weird things.
Also there is nothing wrong with stating your opinion, however I ask that you be kind. If she is so young and insecure in her faith, you could easily hurt her.
~Ryder
P.s I will pray for you...

Wow....that's scary.

Yeah, I'll definitely do my best to be kind...but I think I have communication problems sometimes, so she might misunderstand anyway. That is a good point, I'll do my best to be careful.
Thanks, I appreciate your prayers, I am nervous about it, hoping I'll say the right thing.

Well, arguably, to a certain extent, at least, a ghost story could be no different from, say, a story with magic. You could, I think, reasonably invent a world where sometimes, for whatever reason, human spirits stick around.

While I would be inclined to agree that any case of a 'ghost' is a demon, I know of at least one case, that my Dad told me about that he heard from someone who is definitely reliable. And in that case, well, it being a demon just doesn't make sense. Actually, it doesn't fit with what I'd expect anyway, but it would make more sense if it was, in fact, at least partially connected to a human spirit. Mind you, I also think a demon was involved, but I think it's important to remember that this is an area where we really don't know much at all.

Yes, but this story is set in our world...at least there is no implication that it isn't, which should at least be rectified.



That's interesting...maybe the demon was impersonating someone? Don't know if that makes sense...

It still wouldn't bother me, but it might be a good thing to avoid, and I can see where it might bother other people.


It was more about when things stopped happening that made it seem like it wasn't just a demon. If you want, I can tell you what I remember about it, although perhaps that wouldn't really belong in this thread.

The bible says the above, so to me that says that our Spirits return to God. They don't remain on earth to wander. The bible speaks of familiar spirits. That is how when clairvoyants speak to the dead, and receive an answer, they aren't speaking to a dead person, they are speaking to a familiar spirit.

I'd be curious to hear about it, too. Why don't you PM us?

Refocusing on how to tell this girl what you think...

My first response was "ooh boy." I share your concern. I don't have problems with paranormal aspects in and of themselves, but I believe they are almost always used for the wrong purposes: to scare for the sake of scaring, showing a world without light, purposefully confusing the lines between good and evil, etc. etc. It can be very dangerous for someone as young as she is to get into paranormal.

I've a few suggestions for how to effectively communicate.

Keep it brief - maybe three sentences - so she doesn't feel like it's a sermon.

Use scripture (verses aren't coming to my head automatically, but I believe there's something about the soul going strictly to judgment once you have died) so she understands where your view comes from.

Don't condemn. But I know you already know that!

Keep what you say natural by not stressing. If you're too tense, the situation might get tense.

If she has a good, communicative relationship with her parents, suggest she talk to them.

Well, there's also the question, though, of whether or not that's a statement of 'this always happens' or if there could, perhaps, be exceptions. It also doesn't necessarily mean right away, although I think that's a little iffy.

But what are these familiar spirits? I don't remember running across them, although I guess I must have.

*edit* Well, Nemo, I went to write the PM, and then decided that there was too much I didn't remember for sure, so I'll have to wait until I can ask my dad about it to finish the PM. Apparently I was operating more off my memories of what I thought about it than my memories of the actual story...

Yeah, you've piqued my curiosity as well Arien.

Wow, thank you for that, I will refer to this when I write the message, which will probably be after I finish working on her story, when I give an overview of my thoughts on it (which is her main reason for sending it, I think). I really appreciate this, it'll help me a lot.
Yeah, I'll probably end with something like "So that's how I feel about it, but you should ask your parents how they feel, about it too."

So another question is, if she doesn't take my advice, should I still review her stories (if they're ghost stories)?





Though the verse above doesn't specifically say that every single human soul either goes to paradise or hell right away, it does imply such, in my view.
Also, it seems very unlikely that God would let someone escape judgement by staying on earth without a body, and if it was a form of judgement it would make sense for the Bible to warn about it.



Yeah, what are those?



Oops, didn't see this before I asked you for the PM too, so don't worry about it, you can take your time.

Well... there's also some indication that judgement is at the end, so it wouldn't necessarily be immediate. And I don't think it'd be a way of avoiding judgement, anyway, as it'd be temporary at best, and I suspect that it's not something that can be deliberately done, either, although there's no way to know. Assuming it can ever happen.

And I just went ahead and sent the unfinished PM anyway. Just don't go and make assumptions based off of it until I confirm some things. I'm usually pretty good with what I remember, I think, but...

Interesting, hmmm....

I think that's really up to you and what you're comfortable with. If you're fine with reviewing them, then keep at it! But if you're not, then you can simply say, "Hey, although I understand you're comfortable with writing this type of story, I'm not very comfortable reading it. I'd be happy to review anything else, but I'd prefer to stay away from this subject," or something like that. She should understand.

Depending on how she's portraying it, I would not mind it so much, like in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Judge it by other things you have felt comfortable reading, too, I'd say.

Yeah, I think I had vague thoughts like that, thanks! I'll probably keep doing it then, I just hope that she writes other things too, because I don't see ghost stories being the most substantial sort of thing to write about as a Christian author looking to make a positive impact. (if this offends anyone, I'm sorry, this is just my feeling on the subject, if you feel called to write this sort of story, just ignore me)

Yeah, that will have some to do with it, I'll just have to finish reading the story to find out how she portrays it... I'll probably not prefer it though, no matter how she portrays it. *shrugs*

You're welcome. Very glad I could help. Wasn't sure if I was being useful or not!

That depends. If you are uncomfortable with delving into the stories or feel like you can't encourage her with her pursuit of this subject - I would feel both - then don't. That would be compromising your values. Tell her you aren't comfortable with ghost stories, and can only help with her other stories.

Well...when you put it that way, I probably will not edit any more ghost stories for her, if I don't think she should pursue that genre, then I shouldn't help her do it! Thanks for that well-thought out response...*feels lame for not figuring that out...* I'll just say I'm uncomfortable with editing any more such stories I guess.

You're welcome again.
There's nothing lame in asking for advice! You are obviously trying to be careful!

One thing: you don't need to tell her you can't help her with more ghost stories until the issue comes up. She may follow your advice. She may, on her own, not ask you to edit another ghost story out of politeness.

Ah, well, thanks.



Yeah, that makes sense...I don't wanna accidentally act manipulative or anything. Thanks! You've been a lot of help to a person that has trouble communicating properly.

*beams* So glad I could help!