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A ghost is defined as the apparition of a deceased person, frequently similar in appearance to that person, and usually encountered in places she or he frequented, or in association with the person's former belongings. The word "ghost" may also refer to the spirit or soul of a deceased person, or to any spirit or demon. Ghosts are often associated with hauntings, which is, according to the Parapsychological Association, "the more or less regular occurrence of paranormal phenomena associated with a particular locality (especially a building) and usually attributed to the activities of a discarnate entity; the phenomena may include apparitions, poltergeist disturbances, cold drafts, sounds of footsteps and voices, and various odours."

Ghosts are a controversial anomalous phenomenon. According to a poll conducted in 2005 by the Gallup Organization, about 32% of Americans believe in the existence of ghosts. The term ghost has been replaced by apparition in parapsychology, because the word ghost is deemed insufficiently precise.

Trell Michael is one of the most scariest ghosts around. He died 8-26-2007. He was only 15.

Skeptical analysis

Critics of "eyewitness ghost sightings" suggest that limitations of human perception and ordinary physical explanations can account for such sightings; for example, air pressure changes in a home causing doors to slam, or lights from a passing car reflected through a window at night. Pareidolia, an innate tendency to recognize patterns in random perceptions, can cause people to believe they have seen ghosts. Reports of ghosts "seen out of the corner of the eye" may be accounted for by the sensitivity of human peripheral vision. According to skeptical investigator Joe Nickell:

...peripheral vision is very sensitive and can easily mislead, especially late at night, when the brain is tired and more likely to misinterpret sights and sounds.

Nickell also states that a person's belief that a house is haunted may cause them to describe mundane events as confirmations of a haunting:

Once the idea of a ghost disappears in a household . . . no longer is an object merely mislaid. . . . There gets to be a dynamic in a place where the idea that it's haunted takes on a life of its own. One-of-a-kind quirks that could never be repeated all become further evidence of the haunting.

Sound is thought to be another cause of ghost sightings. Frequencies lower than 20 hertz are called infrasound and are normally inaudible, but British scientists Richard Lord and Richard Wiseman have concluded that infrasound can cause humans to feel a "presence" in the room, or unexplained feelings of anxiety,and/or dread. Additionally, the symphonic resonance of the eye is around 18 hertz, which may interfere with the eye's normal functions and cause a person to see things that aren't there.

Carbon monoxide poisoning, which can cause powerful auditory and visual hallucinations, depression, and a generalized sensation of illness and dread,was recognized as a possible explanation for haunted houses as early as 1921.

Another potential explanation of apparitions is that they are hypnagogic hallucinations.

The traditional perception of ghosts wearing clothing is considered illogical, given the supposed spiritual nature of ghosts, suggesting that the basis of what a ghost is said to look like and consist of is quite dependent on preconceptions made by society. Skeptics also say that, to date, there is no credible scientific evidence that any location is inhabited by spirits of the dead.

Some researchers, such as Professor Michael Persinger (Laurentian University, Canada), have speculated that changes in geomagnetic fields (created, e.g., by tectonic stresses in the Earth's crust or solar activity) could stimulate the brain's temporal lobes and produce many of the experiences associated with hauntings. This theory has been tested in various ways. Some scientists have examined the relationship between the time of onset of unusual phenomena in allegedly haunted locations and any sudden increases in global geomagnetic activity. Others have investigated whether the location of alleged hauntings is associated with certain types of magnetic activity. Finally, a third strand of work has involved laboratory studies in which stimulation of the temporal lobe with transcerebral magnetic fields has elicited subjective experiences that strongly parallel phenomena associated with hauntings. All of this work is controversial and thus has attracted a large amount of debate and disagreement.

Popular culture

Ghosts are prominent in the popular cultures of various nations. The ghost story is ubiquitous across all cultures from oral folktales to works of literature.

Perhaps the most recognizable ghost in English literature is the shade of Hamlet's father in the play The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In Hamlet, it is the ghost that encourages the title character to investigate his "murder most foul" and seek revenge upon King Claudius, the suspected murderer of Hamlet's father.

Possibly the next most famous apparitions are the ghosts of A Christmas Carol, where the ghost of Jacob Marley, The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come help Ebeneezer Scrooge see the error of his ways.

Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost has been adapted for film and television on several occasions. Henry James's The Turn of the Screw has also appeared in a number of adaptations, notably the film The Innocents and Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw.

Films including or centering on ghosts are common, and span a variety of genres. American films focused primarily on ghosts include Ghost, Ghostbusters, Ghost Dad, and Casper the Friendly Ghost. Several ghosts appeared in the film and television adaptations of the Stephen King novel The Shining. The Abbott and Costello film The Time of Their Lives featured Lou Costello as an eighteenth century ghost. The 1963 original and 1999 remake of The Haunting suggests ghosts but they are never seen.

For many, recent Japanese cinema represents a high-water mark of the modern ghost story in cinema. A sub-genre of J-Horror, examples include Ju-on: The Grudge (and other Ju-on films), Ring and sequels, and Loft. Such has been the influence of these films that Hollywood remade a number of them, often within a few years of the original. Thai cinema has also produced several notable ghost stories, including Dek hor, Buppah Rahtree and Nang Nak.

Ghosts can also be found in various television programs that focus on the paranormal, such as the children's animated series Danny Phantom, Ghost Trackers, Truth or Scare, Mystery Hunters and Scooby Doo, although the 'ghosts' here are invariably found out to be very-much-alive villains. Ghostfreak from Ben 10 is another example of a ghost in an animated series. In the Harry Potter series of books and movies, Hogwarts is occupied by several ghosts. The characters of the television show Supernatural fight ghosts and other cryptids. The 1970s British children's series The Ghosts of Motley Hall featured a group of ghosts drawn from several centuries who lived in a decaying manor house. During that decade also began the BBC programme Rentaghost, about an employment agency for spirits. This children's serial remained popular in Britain for many years. 1960s British series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and 2000 remake Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) concerns two private detectives, one of whom is a ghost. In 2000 and 2001/2 a BBC children's hit series called The Ghost Hunter turned the usual conventions of the ghost story around by allowing two ordinary children to help a child-ghost in his fight against a ghost hunter who wanted to bottle him and steal his spectral energy.

The ghost hunting theme has also become prevalent in reality television series such as Ghost Hunters, Most Haunted, A Haunting, and many others. It is also represented in children's television by such programmes as The Ghost Hunter.

The Grateful Dead adopted their name and iconography from a series of traditional ghost stories known as Grateful Dead (folktale).

One of the odder manifestations in recent years has been a so-called "Ghost in a Bottle" which turned up on Ebay and which, it was reported, singer Michael Jackson wanted to bid on.

Another example of a television program that has a few episodes featuring ghosts is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with the episode "Conversations With Dead People", in Season 7, where the First Evil appears to members of the Scooby Gang in the forms of their beloved deceased.

See also

(In alphabetical order)

• Electronic voice phenomenon
• Ghost Hunters
• Ghostbusters
• Hoax
• Holy Spirit
• List of haunted locations
• Parapsychology
• Poltergeist
• Raynham Hall
• Stambovsky v. Ackley
• Stigmatized property
• The Bell Witch
• The Canterville Ghost
• Yūrei

References

1. ^ http://www.parapsych.org/glossary_e_k.html#g Parapsychological Association, glossary of key words frequently used in parapsychology, Retrieved December 13 2006
2. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ghost Retrieved December 13 2006
3. Musella, David park (Sept-Oct 2005). "Gallup poll shows that Americans' belief in the paranormal persists". Skeptical Inquirer. Retrieved 2007-09-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. http://parapsych.org/glossary_a_d.html Parapsychological Association, Glossary of key words frequently used in parapsychology, Retrieved December 13 2006, see entries on ghost and apparition
5. ^ Weinstein, Larry (June 2001). "The Visit". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
6. Carroll, Robert Todd (June 2001). "pareidolia". skepdic.com. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
7. "Sounds like terror in the air". Reuters. smh.com.au. 2003-09-09. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
8. Choi IS (2001). "Carbon monoxide poisoning: systemic manifestations and complications". J. Korean Med. Sci. 16 (3): 253–61. PMID 11410684.
9. Nickell, Joe (December 2006). "Headless Ghosts I Have Known". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
10. Nickell, Joe (Sept-Oct 2000). "Haunted Inns Tales of Spectral Guests". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 2007-09-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. Wiseman, Richard (0). "Research of Professor Richard Wiseman". Society for Psychical Research. Retrieved 2007-09-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. "Jackson 'bid to buy ghost'". BBC News. 2004-10-08. Retrieved 2007-09-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

• How Stuff Works - Ghosts
• Ghosts and Legends of Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Public Library (Ont.)
• Real UK Ghost Hunts - Paranormal Nights
• Ghost Investigations by Spiritualist author Craig Hamilton-Parker
• The Vengeance of Japanese Ghosts
• Paranormal articles and photographs
• Your Ghost Stories People sharing their ghost experiences

• Ghosts
• Paranormal