Word Of The Day: Ectoplasm

Ectoplasm –

1: the outer relatively rigid granule-free layer of the cytoplasm usually held to be a gel reversibly convertible to a sol

2: a substance held to produce spirit materialization and telekinesis

(Definition from Merriam-Webster)

My Connection

My first encounter with the word ectoplasm, like so many other children of the 80s, was in the movie, Ghostbusters. Being but a wee child at the time, I had no idea what the word meant, but it sure sounded cool! Between that and the proton packs, what more could a little kid want?

I remember my whole family dancing without reserve in my parents’ living room to the Ghostbusters theme song. In fact, a video of that particular night is one of the few remaining home videos I still have from my childhood. Someday I need to find a way to transfer that from its current home on an old VHS tape to an online format, and probably copy it to a DVD as well, just in case. But I digress!

Later in my life, I was surprised to discover that Ghostbusters was not actually the first movie to use the term ectoplasm in relation to ghosts (see Topper, with Cary Grant, for that particular honor), and later still, that the word really was used in relation to ghosts in real-world lingo (or spirits, if you prefer). Who knew?

And so, in honor of those days of yore, I have composed the following poem:

Ghost Busters

Silently, I sleuth within the house;

Quieter than any mouse,

I slip from wall to wall

Unseen

**********

Now and then a trinket falls,

Inside those darkened, silent halls,

Making those asleep within –

Scream

**********

And though they’ve sheltered here so long,

They really truly want me gone

And so they dial the number on the

Screen

**********

The boys walk in with proton packs,

And try so hard to send me back,

To a place I’ve never really

Been

**********

But I just laugh and run away,

Ghosting them another day,

For they cannot perceive this

Phantasm

**********

But wait! This cannot be!

It seems that now they do see me!

I’ve been spotted by my

Ectoplasm!

Author's Note: I wrote this story as a contest entry for the Part E: The A-Z of Unusual Words contest. I hope you enjoyed the read. I'd love to hear what you think, so please feel free to leave a comment, click the heart, and subscribe!