Tuesday 28 October 2014

The Modern Ghost


"Perhaps the war, or possibly an increase in class consciousness, or unionization of spirits, or whatever, has greatly energized the ghost in our day and given him both ambition and strength to do more things than ever.  


 Maybe 'pep tablets' have been discovered on the other side as well!  No longer is the ghost content to be seen and not heard, to slink around in shadowy corners as apologetically as poor relations.  Wraiths now have a rambunctious vitality and self-assurance that are astonishing . . . Modern ghost are less simple and primitive than their ancestors, and are developing complexes of various kinds.  



They are more democratic than of old, and have more of a diversity of interests, so that mortals have scarcely the ghost of a chance with them.  They employ all the agencies and mechanisms known to mortals, and have in addition their own methods of transit and communication.  Whereas in the past a ghost had to stalk or glide to his haunts, now he limousines or airplanes, so that naturally he can get in more work than before.  He uses the wireless to send his messages, and he is expert in all manner of scientific lines."



Dorothy Scarborough Ph.D.
from the introduction to
Famous Modern Ghost Stories
1921
(note: all images found via Google)