I know what you mean David... even if it's made up, it's still spooky for sure. Almost the same effect of a good horror movie or ghost story... sometimes even when you know it's an invented story it can really have a very scary impact! I have a somewhat overactive imagination about things like ghost stories, so I'm easily freaked out by this kind of thing. I can never go to staged haunted houses around Halloween time... I would truly be traumatized by that kind of thing. Again, even going to one of those haunted houses, knowing logically that it's all imaginary and staged, I'd still get too, too freaked out for it to be any fun for me.
I live in a very old building and there are aspects of living here (lots of creaking sounds at night, etc.) so I often find myself feeling a little bit spooked.
I keep hoping that being the pet-parent to a black cat might somehow magically off-set or cancel out any ghosts or other scary phenomenon.