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Geegaw
Elaine Scarry writes that ghost stories are so convincing because ghosts are actually supposed to have that "thin, dry, filmy, two-dimensional" texture that characterizes just about anything we imagine. And having been frightened by a glimpse of Bloody Mary at midnight in the mirror, I'm inclined to agree. Likewise, in the daytime, reflections can look so insubstantial next to real objects that they take on some of the qualities of imaginary things. The afternoon sun through a dirty window may conjure up phantoms, or a reflection framed in lacquer might suggest Chinese hopping vampires. Or amidst a field of milkweed, a figure may swim up out of a mirror like a man climbing out of the underworld.
