Reported by: Emon CRWE Newswire Middle East correspondent

Mysterious stories about the supernatural have always been a source of enjoyment. That is why the literature of all countries is full of such tales.

A question may arise about why, when most of us are sure that ghosts don’t exist, we fall prey to these stories. The answer is hidden in our own nature. Man is naturally greedy for power, wealth, love and the amenities of life. Of course, most of us cannot have all these things in our everyday existence. So we have built in an imaginary world of our own in which ghosts exist

Ghosts can be quite useful, as they may be used to destroy our enemies in the twinkle of an eye, which is quite impossible for us to do in our day-to-day life. No doubt, the very idea of ghosts is a nonsense relief. But as this idea arouses wonder and surprise in us, it is welcome as a way to satisfy our unfulfilled desires. There is, however one harmful aspect - it is the element of fear that the concept of ghosts arouses in us.

Many famous writers and poets have written stories and poems about ghosts. In England, Shakespeare, Coleridge, Chaucer, Shaw and Ibsen wrote several poems, stories and plays about ghosts. In the Arabic language, One Thousand and One Nights Tales is a marvelous work in which many ghosts come and go. Poe wrote many ghosts stories as did Charles Dickens.

Ghosts have been, at all places and at all times, a favorite subject for writers. There are stories, novels, dramas and fiction written in all languages that are full of ghosts. One may think about the literary background of ghosts, i.e. how ghosts entered our literature as real beings. The answer is that it is the nature of man to believe in supernatural elements.

Man easily becomes afraid of anything that seems to be more powerful and mighty than him. In earlier ages, man worshipped anything that produced feelings of awe and fear in him. The idea of the unknown always gives birth to fear in man’s mind. Ghosts entered human life as a symbol of the unknown and thus, became a symbol of terror. As life and literature are linked with one another quite closely, ghosts have found their place in literature as well.

Some people tell us that they have actually seen one ghost or another at a certain time. But when they give details about their experience, invariably all of them saw a ghost when they were all alone. That means that they saw embodiment of their own fear in the form of a ghost. In psychology, such experiences are called hallucinations, which mean to see something out of our own mental compulsion when there is no actual presence of the object or we are faced with fearful circumstances. In our day to day life in cities and towns, we never see ghosts.

There are thousands of stories about ghosts. One is as follows: Once, two persons were traveling in a railway booth. One of them asked the other, “Do you believe in ghosts?” The other replied, “No.” The former smiled and disappeared into the air.

Ghosts are as common in our literature as they are uncommon in the actual world. There are many stories of ghosts throughout the world and each one of them has its own educational value. Ghost’s stories are, in fact, the most enjoyable part of literature.

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