Springtime Ghost Stories

Skydwellers often celebrate the turn of seasons. Even if they don't quite remember why that's important to them, it's been a part of their culture since before the skyshattering, and these celebrations often include week-long festivals that turn the City nodes into a hub of festivities as soon as work gets out. At almost every single one of these jubilees is a myriad of storytellers and theatre troupes looking to enthrall audiences with their tales.

Funnily enough, a good number of these tales are stories on the creepier side. Ghost stories, dark fairy tales, legends of curses, or any fable that borders on the spooky or supernaturally arcane were and are still popular, especially during the autumn and winter months.
What's odd about this is that ghost stories were previously predominantly told during springtime, and very rarely whispered about during autumn and (especially) winter. Instead, those months featured comforting stories of family, friends, and legendary expeditions. But no ghosts. No vengeful spirits. Not even a hint of a curse.
This was likely due to the fact that once, nighttime spirits that haunted the darker seasons were feared. Mentioning them could get you in a lot of trouble - basically anything that drew their attention will rarely end well for you. So, during the times when those spirits were more powerful, people avoided telling their stories.
But who doesn't love a good ghost story?
Storytellers still relished in the creepy tales, and so, as a celebration of the changing from winter into spring, the regular festivities were accompanied by tales of dark creatures, chaotic spirits, and haunted ruins. The ghost stories were often told around huge, crackling bonfires. The juxtaposition of blooming life and tales of the undead made for an interesting festival, but a good one at that. The stories were celebrations of the new freedoms people held, of the new life that was in the air. They just happened to celebrate by talking about supernatural events.

Mom, Dad, can I sleep with you tonight?

-small child who picked the wrong campfire tale to listen to

Famous Stories

There are a number of popular ghost stories in the sky. Forests haunted by vengeful wood or water sprites. Cursed necklaces. Ancient, maze-like ruins that make people go mad and turn against each other as they try to escape. Any story that features the Reaper. The lists go on.
But perhaps one of the most famous stories is that of the Careless Man. A carpenter who made weapons to be wielded by humans and dragons alike. In accident after accident he would lose pieces of himself - fingers, limbs, even an ear. Then, one day, as he was chopping down trees for lumber, an accident sliced up the remaining pieces of himself. Torso, feet, even a decapitated head.
But, somehow, he didn't die. Not completely. A portion of his soul lingered on, stitching together the pieces of himself through sheer force of will.
Except for one. His pinky finger. That was lost in the accident. To this day, the Careless Man roams not just that forest, but the entirety of the sky, searching for his lost digit. Anyone he meets is interrogated and, if found lacking the finger, disposed of. Even dragons. But he doesn't have any teleportation powers, or soul-harvesting technology. Instead, his touch is enough to kill you, so stories that include the Careless Man often feature desperate chase scenes that will very rarely end well.
His lost finger is probably gone by now. After all, stories based on this concept have been around for over three hundred years. So he's doomed to wander the sky, searching for the last piece of himself. And everyone who gets in his way is doomed to die horribly or become permanently cursed. Just be careful out there...

Spooky Shenanigans by Haly, the Moonlight Bard

Old-Fashioned? Psh, never!

With the skyshattering and the loss of culture came the forgetting of why telling ghost stories in autumn and winter was a bad idea. Slowly but surely, the time of year spooky stories were told shifted from spring to summer to fall, even bleeding into the Yuletide  festivals of wintertime. Nowadays, it's considered old-fashioned to tell ghost stories at the turn of the year; something only done by old centenarians who want to commemorate their vague childhood memories.

Campfire Tales

Regardless of what time of year they're told, the most quintessential part of ghost stories is that they're to be told around a campfire. Whether it's a pit of coals, a three feet tall flicker of flames, or a blazing bonfire, it captures the essence and soul of spooky stories - they're meant not just to warn, scare, or capture the imagination, but create shared memories and bring people together.