Whether you believe in spirits or not, I’m certain that you’ve found yourself, at least once, captivated by a ghost story. Halloween is just a few days away, and ghosts during Spooky Season, you know it, are main protagonists.
Nearly half of the world believes in spirits. The other half may be sceptical, but I firmly believe that most people are somewhat intrigued by them, even if the idea of a spectre may terrify them. Ghosts can be found in everything from classic literature to more contemporary artworks, because, for as long as humans have existed, it seems that the idea of spirits has as well. The concept of ghosts and ghost stories dates, in fact, so far back in human history that it’s impossible to state precisely when it started. Spirits have mystified us for so long, making us question whether the supernatural and life after death do indeed exist, that it’s actually kind of crazy that we have yet to find an answer.
That is because, as humanity grew and developed throughout history, not only did ghost beliefs become even more popular, but so did science. Improvements in the last centuries in the scientific fields have indeed allowed us to investigate better the nature of ghosts, spirits, and the supernatural in general. While some scientists and investigators sought new ways to prove the existence of the paranormal or expose it as a lie, others turned their attention to the ‘human brain’ and the non-supernatural explanation for ghosts, such as mental illness, trauma, the state between sleeping and being awake, hallucinations, and many more, even if a single clear answer has yet to be found.
So, if we really think about it, ghosts have been neither proven false nor true, making this topic even more fascinating. But if there’s anything you must know about me, dear reader, it’s that when it comes to believing or not in something, I always choose to believe. After all, if they’re really not real, why are spirit encounters so similar? Why do they take the same form of a foggy human shape? And why are they so frightening?
Surely, it cannot be just a coincidence. Ghosts have appeared countless times in mythology, religion, and literature across the globe. Just think about Mexico’s Día de los Muertos, China’s Hungry Ghost Festival, or even The Odyssey by Homer.
But before we go even further, let’s take a step back and first ask ourselves the most important question of all: What is a ghost?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a ghost is ‘an animating or vital principle; a person’s spirit or soul’. However, it’s also a good spirit, an evil spirit, a mirage, a reflection, a blast of strong wind, the breath of a god, an incorporeal, supernatural, rational being, and even the soul of a deceased person or animal, conceived as continuing to exist in an afterlife, apart from the physical world.
Quite complicated.
It seems surprisingly difficult to define what a ghost is. But if we do not take into consideration the dictionary, then what would our answer be?
Something translucent? The spirit of someone who has died? A terrifying phantom?
Perhaps none of them, or perhaps all of them at the same time. Up until the 1590s the word ‘ghost’ referred to the essence of life, rather than the survival after death, although poets and authors such as William Shakespeare (1564-1616) had already begun using it with more of a modern significance. In each culture, however, no matter how similar the concept of a spirit is, sometimes it differs to such an extent that the noun ‘ghost’ acts more like an umbrella term rather than a word with a single meaning. Let’s think about all the Yokai from Japanese folklore (an ineffable phenomenon that can only be explained with the supernatural), or the Bhūta in Indian beliefs (a demon and the spirit of someone who was malicious in life), or even the ghost of Azzurrina in my home country of Italy (a young girl who disappeared mysteriously on the summer solstice in 1375). All—if you look them up—rather different from one another. It was due to the rise of Spiritualism in the 19th and early 20th centuries (like I explained better in my From the Beyond article), particularly during the Victorian Era, that made the idea surrounding ghosts more cohesive and unified, taking by storm Europe and America with the belief that the dead could interact with the living and vice versa. It is from that period that most of our ideas about the supernatural come from. Yes, they were all inspired by folklore, mythology, and legends from all over the world; however, let’s just say that the Victorians played a major role in what became the picture of horror and ghosts we have today. In my article about the Séance, I delve even further into this topic, but let’s go on.
With the subject of phantoms, we must necessarily talk about ghost stories as well.
Ghost stories are anything but a contemporary phenomenon. Passed down from generation to generation, either orally or through the written word, these tales exist and continue to do so because many ancient civilisations and cultures believed that a human soul or spirit could continue to live without their physical form in what they called ‘the afterlife’. However, they also thought that a spirit could cross over into the living world and meddle in earthly affairs, typically for something traumatic, unfinished business, or even revenge. That’s also why funeral rituals were considered extremely important and were practised to prevent the spirit from remaining in the mortal world and haunting the living.
One of the first ghost stories ever registered is the Oresteia by Aeschylus, a trilogy of Greek tragedy first performed in 458 BC, with the spectre of Clytemnestra, a character who seeks vengeance against her own son, Orestes, for killing her. Another famous, ancient phantom is the one that appears in the tale from Pliny the Younger (61-113 AD) of a ghostly old man with rattling chains who haunts a large house in Athens. Then we have William Shakespeare, who—whether he believed in the paranormal or not—made ghosts an integral part of his plays, differing their importance based on their role and interaction with the living. Like in Macbeth (1606), for example, the ghost of Banquo appears only to the protagonist, reinforcing that the burden of his death lies on Macbeth only. Then, of course, we have Hamlet, written between 1599 and 1602, one of the most famous ghost stories around the world, where Hamlet’s late father’s spectre appears only three times throughout the story, acting as a catalyst for Prince Hamlet’s actions. Or the most known ghost story of all time, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843), which follows Ebeneezer Scrooge and his redemption from a life of greed to one filled with love and kindness, who is saved not only by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future but mostly by the spectre of his friend and former business partner, Jacob Marley. But apart from these four, there are so many more ghost stories, ancient or more contemporary, that it would be utterly impossible to list them all.
However, they all have one thing or two in common: firstly, and obviously, the presence of a phantom; secondly, it doesn’t matter whether the spirits are malevolent or benevolent, they’re all a bit frightening.
Now, dear reader, before I salute you, let’s conclude this article with the most asked questions about spectres.
How many types of ghosts are there? The classification of ghosts may vary, as there isn’t an official one; however, we can list them as residual ghosts, intelligent ghosts, poltergeists, shadow people, apparitions, doppelgängers, wraiths, banshees, lady spirits (and their range in colours), orbs, demonic entities, and others.
Do ghosts wear white sheets? No, not really. Although I think it makes them really cute. The root of this depiction comes from the fact that up until the 19th century, corpses were almost always wrapped in sheets rather than placed in coffins.
Do ghosts say ‘Boo!’? No, but that would be adorable! Once again, this characteristic about phantoms comes from the 19th century and the Victorians, though the exclamation had been used to frighten English-speaking children for at least a century before that. There are different variations of the word ‘boo’, like ‘bo’, but even though there are similarities with other words in both Latin and Greek, it is uncertain where it comes from.
And lastly, can ghosts see and hear us too? I’d like to take some liberty here, dear reader, and give you my point of view. I don’t remember exactly when or from whom, but a few months ago I heard about the theory that we’re all ghosts. Einstein said that time is relative and that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. Supposedly, they’re all happening at the same time, and, supposedly, if they are indeed happening at the same time, it only means that we’re also ghosts to our ghosts, as they are to us. I don’t know if it makes sense for you, but for me it does.
Now, I can’t seem to be able to write a short article these days, so let’s put an end to this before it gets too long. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, I like to think they’re real, because, after all, the idea of spirits lingering in our world is kind of comforting. Funnily enough, it says way more about the living than the dead. And if we can make our lives a little bit more interesting, like the tales I talked about up above, why not?
After all, what’s a good story if it doesn’t leave behind a ghost of its own?
Up, Ghost Illustration by my amazing twin Soul
Sources:
Ghosts: A Haunted History by Lisa Morton (2015)
The ghost story: 1840 – 1920: A Cultural History by Andrew Smith (2013)
A Concise History of Ghosts and Famous Accounts in Literature
When did Ghosts start saying “Boo”?
Why Ghosts Wear White Sheets (And Other Spectral Silliness)
Exploring the Different Types of Ghosts and Their Haunting Characteristics
The Library of the Unseen 
Penny for your thoughts…