Katie Bennett (Western Kentucky University)
This paper will draw upon interviews I have conducted with Kentucky women in which they tell personal narratives of ghost encounters. My informants’ perspectives show how their particular social backgrounds have assigned ghost stories as something women share with one another, and the sharing of these stories is a form of emotional bonding based in grief, love, and trauma. This is significant because research focusing on gender and ghost stories often focuses on the players in the narratives, rather than the storytellers. My paper will consider the intersection between gender and ghost narratives, as well as the bonds between storytellers.
Part of 01-13 Scary Stories Middle America Tells in the Dark, Thursday, November 02, 8:30 am–10:00 am