What are the common themes in the first malevolent ghost story?

Often, greed is a central theme in malevolent true stories. Greed can drive people to act in extremely malevolent ways, such as embezzling funds from charities or defrauding the elderly out of their life savings. It's a sad reality that these things happen in the real world and they often make for disturbing but true stories.

One of the early malevolent ghost stories might be from ancient Japanese folklore. There are tales of vengeful spirits known as onryō. These ghosts were often created by the wrongdoings against a person in their lifetime. They would return to exact revenge, causing harm to those who had wronged them or even to innocent bystanders. For example, the story of Okiku, a maid who was wronged and became an onryō, haunting those around her.

Well, one of the early malevolent ghost stories might be related to the idea of a banshee in Irish folklore. The banshee is a female spirit whose wailing is said to be a sign of impending death in a family. It's a very spooky concept. People believe that if you hear her cry, someone in your family will die soon, and she was often seen as a malevolent presence, bringing fear and dread.

Fear is a common element. Since it's a malevolent ghost story, the purpose is to scare. So there are often spooky settings like old, abandoned houses or dark forests. Another element is the unknown. The ghost's origin or its motives are usually left a bit of a mystery. For example, in many stories, the ghost just appears without a clear explanation.

One famous malevolent ghost story is 'The Bell Witch'. It's about a witch's spirit that haunted a family in Tennessee. The spirit would cause all sorts of chaos like making strange noises, physically harming family members, and even causing objects to move on their own.

Not all of them. There could be friendly ghosts in the stories. For instance, a ghost that protects a place or a family. It might be the spirit of a former owner who still cares about the property and its inhabitants. However, there are also likely to be malevolent ones that create fear and chaos.

No, Malevolent is not a true story. It's a fictional creation for entertainment purposes.

It depends on the individual stories. Some ghosts might be friendly, like a benevolent spirit that is just lingering around to protect a place or its former loved ones. However, there are probably also malevolent ones that are out to scare or even harm people who cross their paths.

No. Some ghosts in these stories are just lost souls. They might be lingering because they have unfinished business, not necessarily to cause harm.

No, it isn't. 'Malevolent' is a fictional creation and not based on any real events or people.