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Ghosts (Folklore)

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Ghosts

Other Names

Ghosts, Spirits, Souls, Spectres, Phantoms, and Wraiths

First Appearance

Folklores and myths around the world

Created by

Unknown

Origin[]

A ghost, sometimes commonly known as a Spirit or a Soul, is the spirit of a deceased individual who haunts the area of their death, normally as the result of a violent or untimely death.

Every culture has its own particular kind of ghost lore, some, like England, have a history of phantom reports stretching back to pre-Medieval times. Generally, ‘true’ accounts of ghosts and hauntings can be dated back at least as far as Classical Greece (5th – 4th centuries BC) and the genre shows no signs of waning in the 21st century.

But what exactly is a ghost? In general, the term is used to describe the appearance of the souls or spirits of the dead before the living, while the word ‘haunting’ signifies the recurring manifestation of a ghost witnessed by someone in a certain location. A ghost is usually described as similar in appearance, if not identical, to the dead person when they were living. However, not all hauntings involve apparitions. They may be auditory (relating to the sense of hearing) or olfactory (relating to the sense of smell), types of phenomena most frequently reported in poltergeist cases.

But even with such apparently safe definitions, we are not always on sure ground. As Owen Davies points out in his authoritative The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts (2007), in the past it was fairies that were believed to haunt certain locations, which would seem to indicate an origin in folklore and legend for the idea of haunted spots. Writing in his classic work on fairy lore, The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies (1661), the Scottish antiquarian the Reverend Robert Kirk noted that it was a popular idea among some people at the time that fairies were the souls of the dead that remained on earth.

Indeed, looking at accounts of hauntings from the 16th to 18th centuries, it is notable that ghosts, fairies, angels and demons exhibit extremely similar characteristics. It was usually only the context in which they appeared which allowed them to be identified as one or the other.

Public Domain Appearances[]

All published appearances of Ghosts from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.

A list of ghost characters can be found here.

Some notable appearances are listed below:

Public Domain Literary Appearances[]

  • Triumphs of Torlough (1380)
  • The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602)
  • The Apparition of Mrs. Veal (1706)
  • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820)
  • Vanderdecken's Message Home; or, the Tenacity of Natural Affection (1821)
  • Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825)
  • Ligeia (1838)
  • The Phantom Ship (1839)
  • A Christmas Carol (1843)
  • The Flying Dutchman (1843)
  • Windsor Castle (1843)
  • The Flying Dutchman (1867)
  • The Canterville Ghost (1887)
  • The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales (1888)
  • Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, vol. 2 (1894)
  • The Turn of the Screw (1898)
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialized 1901–1902 in The Strand)
  • The Monkey's Paw" (1902)
  • The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902)
  • The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903)
  • Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904)
  • Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904)
    • The Mezzotint
    • 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'
  • They (1904)
  • The Romance of the Milky Way and Other Studies & Stories (1905)
  • The Memoirs of Ann, Lady Fanshawe (1907)
  • Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan (1908)
  • Carnacki, The Ghost Finder
    • The Gateway of the Monster (1910)
    • The Whistling Room (1910)
    • The Horse of the Invisible (1911)
    • The Searcher of the End House (1911)
    • The Thing Invisible (1913)
    • The Haunted Jarvee (1929)
  • More Ghost Stories (1911)
    • A School Story
    • The Rose Garden
    • The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
    • Martin's Close
  • The Angels of Mons: The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War (1915)
  • A Thin Ghost and Others (1919)
  • A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925)
    • The Haunted Doll's House
  • Topper (1926)
  • Eldorado (1928)

Public Domain Film Appearances[]

  • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1912)
  • Der Hund von Baskerville (1914)
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921)
  • The Headless Horseman (1922)
  • Manananggal (1927)
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles (1929)
  • The Headless Horseman (1934)
  • Murder at the Baskervilles (1937)
  • Topper Takes a Trip (1938)
  • Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
  • Topper Returns (1941)
  • The Ghost and the Guest (1943)
  • The Screaming Skull (1958)
  • Tormented (1960)
  • Carnival of Souls (1962)

Public Domain Animated Appearances[]

  • Alice's Spooky Adventure (1924)
  • Pantry Panic (1941)
  • The Haunted Mouse (1941)
  • The Friendly Ghost (1945)
  • There's Good Boos To-Night (1948)
  • A Haunting We Will Go (1949)
  • Boo Moon (1954)
  • Spooking About Africa (1957)
  • Spooky Swabs (1957)
  • Boo Berry TV Commercial (1973)

Public Domain Advertising Appearances[]

  • Boo Berry Cereal Box (1973)

Public Domain Art Appearances[]

  • Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro by Sekien Toriyama
  • One Hundred Ghost Stories by Katsushika Hokusai
  • Kamiya Iemon Oiwa no Bōkon by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Public Domain Theatrical Appearances[]

  • Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan (1825)
  • Kasane ga Fuchi Satemo Sono Nochi (1825)
  • The Phantom Ship, or The Accursed of the Sea (1842)
  • The Flying Dutchman (1843)

Public Domain Comic Appearances[]

  • A Treasury of Horses
  • Adventures into the Unknown #2-3,8,11,41
  • America's Best Comics #15,22-23,25-26
  • America's Greatest Comics #3
  • Apache Trail #1
  • Atomic Bomb Comics
  • Beware! Terror Tales #8
  • Blue Bolt #1-100
  • Blue Ribbon Comics #9-22
  • Bomber Comics #2
  • Captain Marvel Adventures #2, 8, 12, 23, 41
  • Captain Marvel Jr. #1
  • Casper (1949) #1-5
  • Casper the Friendly Ghost #7–53
  • Complete Book of Comics and Funnies #1
  • Crack Comics #27-62
  • Crime Does Not Pay #24, 26-32, 35, 38-39, 43-45, 47-51, 54-55, 57-59, 61, 63-66, 69-87, 90-91, 105, 107, 112
    • Annual (1953)
  • Dark Shadows vol.1 #2
  • Dick Cole (Novelty) #1
  • Double Comics
  • Eerie Tales #10
  • Fantastic Comics #11
  • Fantastic Fears #3
  • Feature Comics #42-48
  • Four Favorites #21-29
  • Haunted Thrills #3
  • Giggle Comics #21-99
  • Hit Comics #25-60
  • Jackpot Comic #1-9
  • Jumbo Comics #35
  • Kid Eternity #1-18
  • K-O Komics
  • Li'l Ghost #1-3
  • Master Comics #23 (cover only), 28, 97, 123
  • Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #7,10
  • Mystery Men Comics #27-31
  • Nickel Comics #1
  • O.K. Comics #1-2
  • Pep Comics #24
  • Spencer Spook #100-101
  • Spook Comics #22
  • Star-Studded Comics #1
  • Startling Comics #24, 28, 30, 34, 43, 48
  • Strange #2-3
  • Super Mystery Comics vol. 7 #4-6; vol. 8 #1-6
  • The Fighting Yank #1, 5, 10, 14-15, 19, 21-22, 25, 27-29
  • The Hand of Fate #8-25B
  • The Unseen #6
  • The Thing #4
  • This Magazine is Haunted vol. 2 #12-16
  • Top Spot Comics
  • Triple Threat Comics
  • War Victory Adventures #3
  • Weird Thrillers #5
  • Whiz Comics #2, 25-27, 30, 47
  • Witches Tales vol. 1 #7
  • Wonder Comics #18, 20
  • Wow Comics #9

Notes[]

  • Sigmund Freud once described ghosts as, “a projection of mental entities into the external world.” However, today we know that a ghost is a dead person who once walked the earth. So, it only makes sense that they have their own motives based on their experiences. A ghost’s motives are specific to their needs:
    • Some spirits simply want to be acknowledged.
    • Others will encourage you to take action to help them move on.
    • Certain entities and ghosts intend to cause harm, which is when you have disturbing paranormal experiences.
    • Other ghosts are just happy to haunt a building or home.

See Also[]

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