The Reveal of A Ghost
So I wrote a short story about a character of mine, Prince Dorian, and his three friends, Percival (Percy), Maximilian (Max), and Antony, who are all college students. Antony and Max, who are from the country, are rather superstitious. On the other hand, Prince Dorian and Percy grew up in the city and think all that sort of thing is silly. They're all sitting around studying--or at least they're supposed to be--but they're really telling each other ghost stories. Then Dorian and Percy go upstairs to get something. While they're upstairs, they decide to pretend to be a ghost to play a prank on their friends (Dorian has a somewhat off-beat sense of humor). Antony and Max think the ghost is real, until Antony throws water on it (in his part of the country, that's a charm against ghosts), and its revealed to be Dorian. Percy was providing the sound effects.
So my question is: should it be obvious to the reader that the ghost is a fake, or should I lead the reader on to think its real, until the POV character (Antony) finds out that it's not? I'm afraid that the whole "see, its not a real ghost!" thing would be a bit lame and clichéd. I was thinking about dropping hints to the reader that perhaps the ghost isn't what it seems to be, and then following through on them--maybe Dorian and Percy exchange some conspiratorial glances that their friends don't see? I'm thinking about trying to publish this sometime, so I'd appreciate a second opinion. Thank you.
(And yes, Prince Dorian does have some very understanding friends! He tends to avoid responsibility and roams around having adventures with them. That makes for some nice short stories).
So my question is: should it be obvious to the reader that the ghost is a fake, or should I lead the reader on to think its real, until the POV character (Antony) finds out that it's not? I'm afraid that the whole "see, its not a real ghost!" thing would be a bit lame and clichéd. I was thinking about dropping hints to the reader that perhaps the ghost isn't what it seems to be, and then following through on them--maybe Dorian and Percy exchange some conspiratorial glances that their friends don't see? I'm thinking about trying to publish this sometime, so I'd appreciate a second opinion. Thank you.
(And yes, Prince Dorian does have some very understanding friends! He tends to avoid responsibility and roams around having adventures with them. That makes for some nice short stories).