Reading Sarah R. New’s excellent article “How Ghost Stories Are Really Love Stories” via Interstellar Flight Magazine via Medium. The article, which provides an analysis of the 2024 horror/psychological film Presence, begins with this quote from 2021 TV miniseries WandaVision: “What is grief, if not love persevering?”
I don’t know much about the characters Wanda and Vision from Marvel Comics, and am even less familiar with the many streaming platforms out there. Neither have I seen Presence, but I know not to confuse it with the 2010 film The Presence.
But it is the article that gets me. The author highlights the uniqueness of the film, as it is shot completely from the perspective of the ghost, “allowing us to not only see from the ghost’s point of view but also experience their feelings”. In turn, this “allows us to explore this trope [grief as love in the horror genre] in a different setting, emphasising how grief can be felt on both sides”.
The author points out: “In many narratives…once grief is resolved or accepted, the ghost is able to move on.” In the case of Presence, it is the love between siblings and their desire to protect each other. It reminds me of the 1990 movie Ghost, where Sam leaves after making sure Molly is safe and sound. But, in many other narratives, it is not grief but grievance that keeps the ghost lingering/lurking around. I am thinking about Susan Hill’s 1983 novel The Woman in Black, as well as the 1998 Japanese film Ring and the Ju-On horror franchise.
BTW, this has led me to Koji Suzuki’s 1991 novel Ring, which I have downloaded as an ebook. It is followed by Spiral (1995) and Loop (1998). Looking forward to reading them.
(Day 79 #WarmWinterRead #WWR25 via @librarieschangelives)
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 