Saint John storyteller pens book of ghost stories
If anyone in Saint John knows how to tell a good ghost story, it's local storytelling legend David Goss, who has spent over four decades perfecting his craft and collecting terrifying tales from all over New Brunswick along the way.
Now, Goss, who is well-known around the city for his popular "Walk n' Talks," has written and published a book which shows readers how they, too, can sell a spooky story to an audience.
"I wanted to share with people the way I've gone about doing ghost stories, so these are my secrets, these are how I've made the stories work," says Goss.
"I've taken the stories and made them so that anybody who wants to share them with their children, or grandchildren or around the campfire, can take this story and realize 'I just have to localize this story, I just have to do it in my own words and I can be successful with this."
One of his tried and true tips that's sure to send shivers down someone's spine is to use the element of surprise.
"You have to have something in the story at the end of the story that they're not expecting," says Goss, "and at the very end of the story, the story takes a bit of a twist and gives people a bit of a scare."
For even more scares, he says that props can be very important – in the book there's a story about Lady LaTour of Fort La Tour, who has been asked to keep the hand of one of her men who have died – and once a year, on his birthday – to kiss it.
"So, when Lynn Adams does the story for me, she has the hand in a basket, and nobody sees the hand until the very end," says Goss, "then she reaches into the basket – and says this is the day I have to kiss the hand – she pulls it out – gives it a kiss and throws it out."
The book is available at Coles, Indigo and the Great Canadian Dollar Store.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.