According to UMass classics professor Deborah Felton, there's definitely more to Halloween then the well-known ghost stories of American culture.
In her courses on Greek Mythology and Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient World, Felton discusses the ancient ghosts, witches, vampires, werewolves and zombies of Greece and Rome with students. She has also written a novel titled "Haunted Greece and Rome: Ghost Stories from Classical Antiquity."
"My first novel is part anthology, part analysis, and focuses mainly on ghosts and apparitions. No one has really discussed ancient ghost stories to such an extent before," said Felton.
When asked how she became interested in ancient ghost stories, Felton says it was more or less by accident.
"I was a grad student at the University of North Carolina, and I had to read an ancient Roman ghost story by Italian author Pliny in my Latin Composition class. We were reading it solely for grammar purposes, but I was much more intrigued by the story," she said.
Felton began intensely researching other ancient ghost stories afterward, but says that the untitled story by Pliny has been her favorite so far. The story is of a haunted house in Athens and a philosopher named Anthendorus who comes upon it and finds a ghost inside.
"Oddly enough, pretty much all ancient ghost stories rarely have titles," said Felton.
Ancient Greek and Roman stories are quite similar to those popular in America, especially in the recurring theme that ghosts tend to haunt places in the world as a result of improper burial. This is usually a result of a murder, a hasty burial, or a person dying unnoticed.
When asked if there were any unique elements to ancient ghost stories, Felton said, "Well, I don't think they're any scarier. The settings are certainly different, and all ghost stories tend to follow the same universal narrative plotline. If you take out words like 'Athens' in the stories, they read almost exactly like traditional American stories," she said.
"I do think that ancient ghost stories have a little more humor in them, though."
Exactly where the ancient stories of Greece and Rome came from is unknown. Historians do know that they came as a result of people's beliefs. "Religion played a huge part in it. People tended to speculate about where spirits went after death, and still do today for that matter," Felton said.
She said it is hard to say whether ancient Romans and Greeks actually believed in ghosts.
"No one can really say with certainty whether the majority of ancient Romans and Greeks actually believed in ghosts. Most likely some did and some didn't, just like today."
In another interview with Eternallycool.net, Felton said there are no known haunted sites in Greece and Rome. The ancient stories don't get any more specific then mentioning "a house" or "a bath." Felton also said the tradition of creating and telling ghost stories still continues today in Greece and Rome, as well as many other countries.
"The stories tend to circulate into society over time. Stories from over 2000 years ago are still being told and retold today," she said.
Professor Felton is currently working on a second novel that will be titled "Things That Went Bump in the Night: Strange Stories from Ancient Greece and Rome."
"It's still in its early stages, but my goal is to make it a more interesting read then my first novel," she said.
The book will be more of an anthology than an analysis and will touch on more supernatural stories and expand on different creatures, such as vampires, zombies and werewolves.
Jordan Huskins can be reached at jhuskins@student.umass.edu.
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