Scary Tales: Nepalese Ghost Stories from Classic Texts to Social Media and Horror Movies

Abstract

The pan-Indic themes of the ghost and ghost stories are explored here in relation to their pervasive and haunting presence in Nepalese social mediascape and film industry, which appear to be the spaces where classical and folkloric materials converge, in order to be re-contextualized, re-framed, and adapted to new languages to meet and feed fears and desires of the new generations, while at the same time underlining areas of potential conflicts and areas of critical engagement and debate within the society. Through a careful analysis of contemporary motifs, whose origin derives from Hindu and Buddhist classic texts, and Nepalese indigenous (adivasi) oral folkloric traditions, it will appear that the ghost is not only a persistent figure linked to the religious/ritual sphere (i.e. an obnoxious spirit to be appeased or exorcised), a  character in cautionary tales, or a mediatic pop icon in contemporary consumers’ culture, but also a relevant voice reflecting on and engaging with issues related to structural violence and power asymmetries within Nepalese society.