spookeryn.
colloquial.
Spookiness, eeriness; also, something spooky.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [noun] > appearance of or haunting
apparitionc1522
walking1606
haunting1674
spookery1893
spooking1961
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [noun] > pleasure mixed with horror
frisson1777
spookery1893
1893 Athenæum 18 Feb. 214/1 The writer drags in sundry ‘hauntings’ and ‘spookeries’ of a mild nature.
1894 Contemp. Rev. 66 651 The spookery business could not have saved him.
1927 Observer 2 Oct. 7 The story of his magic and his mysticism is good, but it is not half such satisfying spookery as is going out..from the offices of the S.P.R.
1935 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Jan. 10/4 The author does not exclude provincial and foreign spookeries.
1960 Times 20 Aug. 3/7 Der Freischütz ..the quintessence of early romanticism with its naive spookery.
1973 E. Pace Any War will Do (1974) i. 23 Taking corners too quickly seemed to be another sign of the immaturity..that makes a man opt for the profitless thrills of ‘spookery’ in the first place.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.1893