The Ghost in the Machine
Around the turn
of the 20th century, spiritualists claimed to be able to use telegraph
and telephone
communication to communicate with spirits. In an up to date
version of this phenomenon, computers, as still poorly understood new
technology, are portrayed as
mediums for the spirit world in this subgenre of fantasy fiction.[37]
In The
Ghost Inside the Monitor, Sarah discovers a ghostly
presence inside her computer screen that writes its own journal entries
to communicate with her. Interaction with the ghost, Pascale, leads
Sarah into a different time where she must help Pascale find rest. [38]
In Grace Chetwin’s unusual Out of the
Dark
World, the portal to a mystical realm is the family
computer. [39]
Meg's
cousin is trapped in the computer by an AI villain, but the boy manages
to send
her a message through the computer as well as entering her dreams. To
free him, she must summon the spirit of Morgan
le Fay, as well as
harness the more worldly aspects of her personality.
Marla Harris suggests that
ghosts have reappeared in fiction with the rise in computer technology
and the idea that we can escape our bodies in the anonymity of
cyberspace.[40]
She contrasts computer fantasy novels with
realistic Internet novels such as The Worry
Website [41]
and
The
Computer Nut [42],
where the protagonist interacts with an unknown
being, but it is understood that there is a real person on the other
side.[43]
This latter type of novel is covered in the Artificial
Intelligence/Human Computer Interaction section.
"Technology
is a way of organizing the universe so that man doesn't have to
experience it."
[44]
-Max Frisch
