In the past, ghost stories were a form of entertainment for Appalachian mountain folk, during the evenings, after farm work.  However, I wonder if there was more to it than that.  Why were their so many ghost stories?  Did it possibly help verify an afterlife in the eyes of the individuals?  Most of these individuals led hard lives filled from daylight to dusk with manual labor; the only time for rest that was known was on your deathbed.  Were the ghost stories the validation of the existence of an afterlife for the families? A knowledge of an eternal life that was easier than their physical one?  But why were they meant to be creepy or scary?  Religious teaching is meant to teach the rewards of an afterlife, but when looking at it in perspective, it is also scary.  Especially preachers who preach fire and brimstone.  But why do they need to use fear?  Was it to scare the masses into doing what is right?  It is possible that ghost stories were a form of social engineering for the communities to teach what happens to people who stray from the ’accepted’ traditional path?    
           Why was it necessary to use the supernatural as a tool of mental intimidation?  It was a use of power.  These stories were used to cause people to act and do as the culture desired.  The leaders used them to explain human existence, scientific occurrences, and the existence of an afterlife.  It was a tool to supercede logic and fortify a belief system that was above a limited system of cultural knowledge.  These stories were, beyond questioning, they spoke to the specific community.  Their narratives were localized, but their search to control was immortal.  

           However, when examining, I believe there is a difference between religious organizations and these ghost stories.  They both are belief systems, however, approached differently in their structure.  I believe religion is what Paul Heelas refers to as a Life-as institution.  “ The underlying belief is that God- and The Bible or the church- thinks they know what is best for us better than we know ourselves, and better than our subjectivities might tell us” ( Heelas, pg4).  In other words the teachings of religion effect our external environment.  The churches believe we must adapt ourselves to the well being of Christian life.  On the other hand, you have these ghost stories which remind me of primitive forms of spirituality.  They become what is referred to as subjective-life belief systems.  “ The key value for the mode of subjective-life is authentic connection with the inner depths of one’s unique life-in-relation” (Heelas, pg4).  Therefore, these ghost stories become the personal religious experience of that culture, not a culture adapted to walk the footsteps of religious figures such as Jesus Christ.