Made-Up Ghost Stories

[Dick Turpin]

What causes people to make up Ghost stories and pass them off as genuine..?

My mother who was close to retirement and working for a well-known high street store, made up a story of the green lady of the stock room, to the young shop assistants.

My Mother retired a few months later, but now that store ( or the stock room at least ) will forever be known as being haunted by the ghost of the green lady.

When I asked her why she would make up such a tale, her answer was “ for a laugh”

I have also read of a 1970’s monthly magazine called ( I think) Myths, Monsters and Magic, where the editors made up the ghost of a Vicar haunting a derelict church on the banks of the river Thames.

The idea was to publish this story as true, and see what would happen.

After the publication went out, dozens off its readers wrote into the Magazine claiming to have actually have seen the ghost, including a retired chief Inspector the river Police.

 

[EnolaGaia]

... I have also read of a 1970’s monthly magazine called ( I think) Myths, Monsters and Magic ... .

I suspect this was a reference to Man Myth & Magic - a magazine begun in 1970, later condensed into book form.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man,_Myth_&_Magic_(encyclopedia)

 

[Dick Turpin]

I suspect this was a reference to Man Myth & Magic - a magazine begun in 1970, later condensed into book form.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man,_Myth_&_Magic_(encyclopedia)

Could well be Enola, thanks Mate
I'm at work at the moment, but the book that made reference to the magazine is in my bookcase at home, so I’ll check later.

 

[EnolaGaia]

The ghost story was a 1975 fabrication by Man Myth & Magic staff writer Frank Smyth, who didn't reveal the hoax for 5 years after the initial publication. It's usually cited as 'The Phantom Vicar of Ratcliff Wharf' or 'Phantom Vicar'.

See:

https://www.spookyisles.com/2015/07/the-evil-ghost-vicar-of-ratcliff-wharf/

 

[Dick Turpin]

The ghost story was a 1975 fabrication by Man Myth & Magic staff writer Frank Smyth, who didn't reveal the hoax for 5 years after the initial publication. It's usually cited as 'The Phantom Vicar of Ratcliff Wharf' or 'Phantom Vicar'.

See:

https://www.spookyisles.com/2015/07/the-evil-ghost-vicar-of-ratcliff-wharf/

That’s the very article I was referring to.
What did the magazine’s reader’s hope to achieve, in writing in to say they had seen a fake ghost, especially a very senior retired copper..?

 

[EnolaGaia]

... What did the magazine’s reader’s hope to achieve, in writing in to say they had seen a fake ghost, especially a very senior retired copper..?

I'm not clear on the context for the hoax story's origin or the particulars of all the immediate and eventual responses. I've seen claims (years ago) to the effect it was a deliberate experiment in folklore creation and UL dissemination, like you mentioned. However, I've never found any reasonably authoritative account supporting that claim.

As to readers and others jumping on the Phantom Vicar bandwagon ... It's akin to the sort of progressively florid word-of-mouth process Brunvand and other UL researchers have described, as well as the sort of 'inflation' or 'amplification' effects sometimes noted in studies of meme propagation.

 

[escargot]

We had a troll on'ere who posted stories about supernatural experiences. People chatted about them for a while before he posted 'hAHAhahAHa got you, I MADE IT ALL UP!'

He really thought he'd made fools of everyone. It was rather sad attention-seeking, and creepy.

 

[Ringo]

Not ghosts but still...During the 1990's, Metro FM's late-night talk show host Alan Robson made up a story on-air about an ongoing UFO sighting over the North East of England. He did it as a sort of pseudo-experiment IIRC. People called in from all over the region to say that they had seen it too or that they were still currently watching it, with someone even saying (again, IIRC) that it was "hovering outside their window". It seems people want to believe.

 

[Coal]

Not ghosts but still...During the 1990's, Metro FM's late-night talk show host Alan Robson made up a story on-air about an ongoing UFO sighting over the North East of England. He did it as a sort of pseudo-experiment IIRC. People called in from all over the region to say that they had seen it too or that they were still currently watching it, with someone even saying (again, IIRC) that it was "hovering outside their window". It seems people want to believe.

...and then also see what they are expecting or wanting to see.

The ghost story was a 1975 fabrication by Man Myth & Magic staff writer Frank Smyth, who didn't reveal the hoax for 5 years after the initial publication. It's usually cited as 'The Phantom Vicar of Ratcliff Wharf' or 'Phantom Vicar'.

The 1970 and early 80's was a good time for paranormal writings, and I suspect one or two of our standard tropes and mysteries owe something to stuff that sold well at the time but was just made up copy to sell books or magazines.

 

[Vardoger]

I suspect there are a few who tests their stories on us in the It Happened to Me forum. Once in a while we do catch them in the act of trying to fool us, like in this story.

 

[Coastaljames]

To create and tell stories is to be human.

We are the story-telling animal.

 

[James_H]

I don't know but so-called true paranormal boards on Reddit are full of them.