20 Ghost Romance Plot Ideas & Writing Prompts

'Tis the season for Ghosts, and I'm in the mood for some Christmas Spirits. How about you?
The days are shorter and the nights longer, colder and the perfect time to cuddle up with a ghost story.

Nothing rends my heart than that of love stories, a love that transcends everything even death. The euphoria of falling in love and being consumed by it only to find out you can't be with that person you love because of a myriad of ghostly reasons; they're a ghost, you're a ghost, a ghost doesn't want you to be together and might kill if you are. Let the devastation and heartache ensue. I'm talking about Ghost Romance.

Ghost Romance usually falls under the genre Paranormal Romance, but also could be Gothic Romance. Which means that the story needs to follow the Romance genre's conventions and not written with the main intent to scare, as it is in horror. That is not to say your story can't be creepy or scary. I much prefer the ones that are. But the driving force of a Ghost Romance should be the love story. You know, two people meet, they fall in love and ain't love a bitch. The one hard and fast rule for romance is the HEA, or the happily ever after ending and therein lies the challenge for the author, finding a way for it all to work out and making the HEA believable. Sometimes it truly takes a Christmas miracle. 

So, Night Writer, if you up for the challenge here are some Ghost Romance Plot Ideas and Writing Prompts for some inspiration.

1. Her marriage is on the rocks and while preparing to put her childhood vacation home up for sale she is visited by her old dead flame.
2. As a medium, she is no stranger to ghosts but there is one who has visited her on and off throughout her life. Like a guardian angel, he’s gotten her out of some sticky situations. Then one day he comes with news that she is going to be murdered or some other evil is going to befall her and he doesn’t know if he can save her this time. 
3. She’s finally committed to him and said yes to marriage, but she may not make it down the aisle because of his dead ex-girlfriend.
4. She’s been dead for decades and no one has ever seen her until now and he isn’t easily spooked. But their romance might be short-lived when an exorcist is brought in. 
5. He has a reoccurring dream of a woman’s demise only to find evidence that it really happened and now she’s come to him for help.
6. After surviving a catastrophic event, i.e. train wreck, airplane, a couple find solace in each other only to find out that one of them didn’t actually survive.
7. She died from a seeming accident, and now she must warn her boyfriend before he comes to same fate.
8. She’s loved that old house for years and finally buys it only to find it already inhabited by a gentleman who says he’s been waiting for her return.
9. An evil curse keeps his soul trapped inside that house but she may be the one that can set him free.
10. He’s given a second chance at life only to be haunted by the one that gave it to him.
11. Attending an addiction recovery group in the basement of an old church, she becomes drawn to and connects with another member only to find he died years prior from an overdose.
12. On a business trip, he acquires a 100-year-old antique watch, ring, etc. and its original owner has returned to reclaim it. 
13. Cleaning out the attic she comes across centuries-old letters or journals. As she falls in love with the words, the man who wrote them comes for a visit.
14. A deal with the devil or a spell can bring the one he loves back but at what cost and how she has changed.
15. He’s made the ultimate sacrifice, but as a ghost, he regrets it until he meets a descendant of one he’s saved.
16. An archaeologist digs up a long-forgotten tomb to find it inhabited by a ghost who now feels indebted/resentful.
17. The angry residences of a ghost town are out for the developer who is determined to bring it back to its glory days, but one dead cowboy comes to her rescue or is he just a distraction.
18. She was saved at high sea by a swashbuckling pirate, but when the ship ports she was the only one alive on board.
19. Stuck in the Underworld he finds one who can help him escape, but now he’s not sure if he wants to if it will mean he’ll have to leave her behind.
20. While visiting a fountain, mirror, painting, etc. she hears a voice call to her through it. Is it possessed or is it something else?

Read any good Ghost Romance stories lately? Leave me your recommendations in the comments, I'd love to hear about them if you have. 

Wishing you the best this Holiday Season!🌟

Stay Beautifully Haunted!

♥ Shadow.

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Dark Fiction.

Dark Fiction, let's define. Fiction that is dark in both setting and themes which explore the more grim side of humanity. It may contain elements of Horror, but it isn't written with the sole purpose of scaring the reader. Since Dark refers more to a story's mood and themes it can be applied to a variety of different genres. Herein lies the confusion, for me anyway.

So, if you write Dark Fiction and have a difficult time deciding which genre your story falls into, know you are not alone. Several genres have similar elements, and then there are like a bajillion sub-genres and sub-sub-genres that it is hard to decipher. Okay, I might be over-exaggerating, but still, there is a ton to wade through, and why does it matter?

Well, besides telling booksellers where to shelf your book, genres are also about readers expectations. Each genre has its own set of conventions that a reader expects to find when they pick up that book and if it doesn't meet those expectations, then you can expect some scathing reviews and a myriad of other unfavorable things could happen. Needless to say, it behooves an author to do their research and pick a suitable genre for their work. A good place to start researching genres, in general, is at Book-Genres.com. They also have examples of books for each category which is very useful.

To help decipher the different Dark Fiction genres, I created this cheat sheet which focuses on the main element/s that drives a particular story. While it by no means covers every possible genre and sub-genre it focuses on those which tend to cross elements and can be the most confusing.

What do you think, Night Writers, are there other Dark Fiction genres that have crossover elements you find hard to determine? Are there any other unique identifiers that should be added to these genres? Let me know what think in the comments.

As always, Night Writers, stay beautifully haunted!

❤ Shadow.