Storytelling set
As mentioned previously, I will be telling ghost stories at Marcon, and I'm having the hardest time coming up with the set. I certainly have over an hour's worth of ghost stories, and easily over two hours of children's stories. I just am not confident that the ghost stories I know are appropriate for children. How scary is too scary for children ages 7 and up?
Here are some of my ideas:
1) The Rag Doll
2) The Ghost Catcher
3) The Superstitious Ghost
These three are all fine.
4) Old Man Presser - A new story for me, reasonably appropriate (although it does involve someone dying)
5) The World's Shortest Ghost Story - Appropriate, but a bit of cheat.
6) The Ghost of Helen Peabody - this one is fine.
7) The Madman in Kuhmler Chapel - This might be a bit scary. No one dies, but it frightens college students.
8) The Man who knew no stories - Appropriate and entertaining, but a cheat. It's not really a ghost story.
9) The Adventure of Nera - An ancient Irish tale. Nothing inappropriate, but it might be too complex and boring for kids.
10) Little Red Riding Hood - in the medieval version, grandma dies, Red Riding Hood eats her, and the wolf forces Red Riding Hood to strip. To keep it scary, at least some of these elements need to be retained. What should be kept, and what dropped? Can the non-Disney version be told to today's children?
11) Macbeth - I have successfully told this as a bedtime story to a nine-year-old. But I suspect it would be too complex and boring for young children.
12) La llorona - a common bedtime story for Mexican children, it involves a mother who drowns her two kids. Ok to tell or not?
13) I've got the keys OR The Hook - standard couple in stranded car meet insane killer. Very traditional, but is it too scary for the seven and up set?
14) My own UFO encounter. I thought it was harmless, but I scared my young cousins with it.
Then there are a number of seeming ghost stories that are really puns, but they should be fine.
So which stories should I not tell?
Here are some of my ideas:
1) The Rag Doll
2) The Ghost Catcher
3) The Superstitious Ghost
These three are all fine.
4) Old Man Presser - A new story for me, reasonably appropriate (although it does involve someone dying)
5) The World's Shortest Ghost Story - Appropriate, but a bit of cheat.
6) The Ghost of Helen Peabody - this one is fine.
7) The Madman in Kuhmler Chapel - This might be a bit scary. No one dies, but it frightens college students.
8) The Man who knew no stories - Appropriate and entertaining, but a cheat. It's not really a ghost story.
9) The Adventure of Nera - An ancient Irish tale. Nothing inappropriate, but it might be too complex and boring for kids.
10) Little Red Riding Hood - in the medieval version, grandma dies, Red Riding Hood eats her, and the wolf forces Red Riding Hood to strip. To keep it scary, at least some of these elements need to be retained. What should be kept, and what dropped? Can the non-Disney version be told to today's children?
11) Macbeth - I have successfully told this as a bedtime story to a nine-year-old. But I suspect it would be too complex and boring for young children.
12) La llorona - a common bedtime story for Mexican children, it involves a mother who drowns her two kids. Ok to tell or not?
13) I've got the keys OR The Hook - standard couple in stranded car meet insane killer. Very traditional, but is it too scary for the seven and up set?
14) My own UFO encounter. I thought it was harmless, but I scared my young cousins with it.
Then there are a number of seeming ghost stories that are really puns, but they should be fine.
So which stories should I not tell?