ghost story

Definition of ghost story

1 : a story about ghosts

2 : a tale based on imagination rather than fact

Examples of ghost story in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web At once, he was touched by the notion of writing a ghost story. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "From the Archives: Dickens’ ‘Carol’ is a highlight of Christmases past and present," 25 Dec. 2020 Today James is widely hailed as the master of the classic English ghost story. — John J. Miller, WSJ, "Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas," 17 Dec. 2020 The award-winning author David Farrier gives us a sense of that answer by examining the geologic fates of our roads, plastics, cityscapes and excavations as a future ghost story. — Beth Py-lieberman, Smithsonian Magazine, "Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2020," 3 Dec. 2020 Plain Bad Heroines is a book about a movie based on a book about a curse/ghost story (not a spoiler) and, as if that wasn’t enough, the author gives us even more back story/context/random facts via footnote (after footnote, after footnote). — Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, "'Plain Bad Heroines' Is a Great Spooky Read for Winter," 1 Dec. 2020 Flanagan's version preserves James' narrative framing device of guests at an inn listening to a ghost story. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Review: The Haunting of Bly Manor is a perfectly splendid ghost story," 21 Oct. 2020 And love, as Carla Gugino's narrator says, can be just as scary as any ghost story. — Nick Romano, EW.com, "'Every love story is a ghost story': The Haunting of Bly Manor creator reveals hidden secrets of season 2," 12 Oct. 2020 Lamb House even became the star of its own fictional ghost story years later when beloved British author Joan Aitkin reimagined James' time in the manor in The Haunting of Lamb House. — refinery29.com, "There Is & There Isn’t A Real Bly Manor," 9 Oct. 2020 Irving’s ghost story is a haunting warning and a friendly chide. — Colin Fleming, WSJ, "Ichabod Crane’s Lesson: Keep Your Head," 29 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ghost story.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Jan 2021

Cite this Entry

“Ghost story.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghost%20story. Accessed 23 Jan. 2021.

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