What are the elements that make famous scary ghost stories so frightening in famous scary ghost stories?

Isolation is often present. Take 'The Woman in Black'. The main character is often alone in that spooky old house. Being alone with the possible presence of a ghost makes it scarier. Also, the atmosphere in these stories, like in 'The Haunting of Hill House', is usually dark, cold, and full of strange noises. This combination of elements makes the ghost story really scary.

Well, for starters, the isolation that often comes with midnight. Most people are asleep, so the protagonist in the story is alone. Then there's the idea of the afterlife and the supernatural. Ghosts represent something that defies our understanding of the natural world. Also, the use of sound effects in these stories, like creaking doors or howling winds, adds to the overall scariness. It makes our imagination run wild and fills us with dread.

In the Flying Dutchman story, the superstition around ships and the sea plays a big role. Sailors are already in a dangerous environment, and the thought of a ghost ship that brings bad luck is really scary. With Bloody Mary, it's the interactive aspect. The fact that you can supposedly summon her by doing a simple action in a place that's usually private and a bit spooky like a bathroom. For the Grey Lady, it's the mystery of who she was in life and why she haunts. The idea of an old building having a long - forgotten spirit wandering around gives a sense of unease. The same goes for the Headless Horseman. The setting of a quiet town like Sleepy Hollow being invaded by this terrifying figure at night is very frightening.

The unknown makes really scary true ghost stories frightening. When things happen that can't be explained by normal means, like objects moving on their own or strange noises in an empty house. It plays on our fear of the unseen.

The unknown is a big factor. We don't know what ghosts are really like, so when we hear about encounters, it scares us. For example, in those stories where people see strange figures in the dark.

The unknown. In true ghost stories, we don't really know what the entity is. It could be a lost soul or something more malevolent. For example, in many stories, people see just a shape or a figure in the dark, and not knowing what it is makes it scarier.

Scary true ghost stories are frightening because they often involve the unknown. We don't fully understand the afterlife or the existence of spirits. When we hear about things like objects moving on their own, voices being heard, or apparitions being seen in a place where there should be no such phenomena, it scares us. It challenges our understanding of the world around us. Also, these stories sometimes involve elements of danger, like in the Bell Witch story where the entity was harming people in the family.

The unknown factor makes seriously scary ghost stories so frightening. We don't know what ghosts really are or what they're capable of. In these stories, they often defy the laws of nature, like passing through walls or appearing out of thin air.

One reason real scary ghost stories are so scary is that they often seem to break the laws of nature. Ghosts can pass through walls, appear and disappear suddenly, and interact with the physical world in ways that are impossible for living beings. Take a story where a family's furniture moves on its own. There's no logical explanation for it in our normal understanding of the world. This violation of what we consider normal and possible makes these stories truly terrifying. Also, the psychological aspect of it, how it makes us question our own beliefs and safety, adds to the fear.

The unknown factor. In personal ghost stories, we don't know what the entity really is. It could be a spirit from the past or something we can't explain. That mystery creates fear.