“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”1 Therefore, it makes sense that if mortals cannot bear the darkness, they [should not] not go there. If man dislikes “black night and yawning chasms,”2then should he not even consider them? Shouldn’t man seek out the sunshine, instead? Theremedy is very simple: Avoid the darkness and seek the light. But, no. Mankind would neversubmit to this. He will immediately turn to the darkness. Drawn by his own cords of fear andlonging, man will imagine that he is tired of the light and his small, familiar world.3 “Noamount of rationalization... or Freudian analysis” can overcome “the thrill of the chimney-cornerwhisper or the lonely wood.”4 Why? Children will always be afraid of the dark and men willalways shudder at what they do not understand, yet everyone will continue to seek it.5 Perhaps itis because society, particularly American society because of its history, believes the final horrorsare ghosts and demons, when truly it is the hidden aspects of its own soul.6 As reflected by itsliterature, American society has always held a deep fascination with the supernatural. Evidenceof this is seen throughout American history, from the Puritan era onward.In modern society, one would think that there isn’t any place for fantasy andsuperstitions, but the United States is full of people who are convinced that psychics can predicttheir future, they have ghosts living in their houses, aliens visit the Earth in flying saucers, andeven that they can talk to the dead.7 People believe in the supernatural because they want tobelieve, because it makes them happy, even if those beliefs exist against logic or opposingevidence.8 In Detroit, “ghost-busting is back big time,” with “at least five ‘ghost hunting’ clubs”springing up in t...
