The Impact of Stories, Labels, Suggestions on Perception

The author illustrates how easy it is to impact the way an object or person is perceived with a story, a label, or even a suggestion made by another person. Maggie’s perception of Dane, for instance, is changed in an instant when Tess tells her than Dane is an ex-convict. As a result of Ewan’s book, horror addicts continue to insist Baneberry Hall is haunted even after Maggie has proven it is not. In another example, Maggie had never thought of her father as a womanizer or murderer, but she starts to consider both possibilities after Brian suggests that things are too coincidental.

Maggie had no qualms about Dane working for her, even though she knew little about him, until Tess told Maggie that Dane had spent time in jail. Maggie narrates that when Tess told her...