right|thumb|250px|''Brown Lady of Raynham Hall'' ghost photograph, Captain Hubert C. Provand. First published in Countrylife magazine, 1936 In traditional belief, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or wispy shapes, to realistic, life-like visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a ''séance''.

The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to appease the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of the phantom armies, ghost trains, phantom ships, and even ghost animals have also been recounted.

Terminology

The English word ''ghost'' continues Old English ''gást'', from a hypothetical Common Germanic ''*gaistaz''. It is common to West Germanic, but lacking in North and East Germanic (the equivalent word in Gothic is ''ahma'', Old Norse has ''andi'' m., ''önd'' f.). The pre-Germanic form was '''', apparently from a root denoting "fury, anger" reflected in Old Norse ''geisa'' "to rage". The Germanic word is recorded as masculine only, but likely continues a neuter ''s''-stem. The original meaning of the Germanic word would thus have been an animating principle of the mind, in particular capable of excitation and fury (compare ''óðr''). In Germanic paganism, "Germanic Mercury", and the later Odin, was at the same time the conductor of the dead and the "lord of fury" leading the Wild Hunt.

Besides denoting the human spirit or soul, both of the living and the deceased, the Old English word is used as a synonym of Latin ''spiritus'' also in the meaning of "breath" or "blast" from the earliest attestations (9th century). It could also denote any good or evil spirit, i.e. angels and demons; the Anglo-Saxon gospel refers to the demonic possession of Matthew 12:43 as ''se unclæna gast''. Also from the Old English period, the word could denote the spirit of God, viz. the "Holy Ghost". The now prevailing sense of "the soul of a deceased person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form" only emerges in Middle English (14th century). The modern noun does, however, retain a wider field of application, extending on one hand to "soul", "spirit", "vital principle", "mind" or "psyche", the seat of feeling, thought and moral judgement; on the other hand used figuratively of any shadowy outline, fuzzy or unsubstantial image, in optics, photography and cinematography especially a flare, secondary image or spurious signal.

The synonym ''spook'' is a Dutch loanword, akin to Low German ''spôk'' (of uncertain etymology); it entered the English language via the United States in the 19th century. Alternative words in modern usage include ''spectre'' (from Latin ''spectrum''), the Scottish ''wraith'' (of obscure origin), ''phantom'' (via French ultimately from Greek ''phantasma'', compare ''fantasy'') and ''apparition''. The term ''shade'' in classical mythology translates Greek σκιά, or Latin ''umbra'', in reference to the notion of spirits in the Greek underworld. "Haint" is a synonym for ghost used in regional English of the southern United States, and the "haint tale" is a common feature of southern oral and literary tradition. The term ''poltergeist'' is a German word, literally a "noisy ghost", for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects.

''Wraith'' is a Scottish dialectal word for "ghost", "spectre" or "apparition". It came to be used in Scottish Romanticist literature, and acquired the more general or figurative sense of "portent" or "omen". In 18th- to 19th-century Scottish literature, it was also applied to aquatic spirits. The word has no commonly accepted etymology; OED notes "of obscure origin" only. An association with the verb ''writhe'' was the etymology favored by J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien's use of the word in the naming of the creatures known as the Ringwraiths has influenced later usage in fantasy literature. ''Bogie'' is an Ulster Scots term for a ghost, and appears in Scottish poet John Mayne's ''Hallowe'en'' in 1780.

A ''revenant'' is a deceased person returning from the dead to haunt the living, either as a disembodied ghost or alternatively as an animated ("undead") corpse. Also related is the concept of a fetch, the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive.

Typology

Anthropological context

A notion of the transcendent, supernatural or numinous, usually involving entities like ghosts, demons or deities, is a cultural universal. In pre-literate folk religions, these beliefs are often summarized under animism and ancestor worship.

In many cultures malignant, restless ghosts are distinguished from the more benign spirits involved in ancestor worship.

Ancestor worship typically involves rites intended to prevent revenants, vengeful spirits of the dead, imagined as starving and envious of the living. Strategies for preventing revenants may either include sacrifice, i.e., giving the dead food and drink to pacify them, or magical banishment of the deceased to force them not to return. Ritual feeding of the dead is performed in traditions like the Chinese Ghost Festival or the Western All Souls' Day. Magical banishment of the dead is present in many of the world's burial customs. The bodies found in many tumuli (kurgan) had been ritually bound before burial, and the custom of binding the dead persists, for example, in rural Anatolia.

Nineteenth-century anthropologist James Frazer stated in his classic work, ''The Golden Bough'', that souls were seen as the creature within that animated the body.

Additional

Ghosts and the afterlife

Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it appears to have been widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to clothing the person wore. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the ''Egyptian Book of the Dead'', which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress.

Common attributes

Another widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Anthropologists link this idea to early beliefs that ghosts were the person within the person (the person's spirit), most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as a white mist. This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of "breath" in certain languages, such as the Latin ''spiritus'' and the Greek ''pneuma'', which by analogy became extended to mean the soul. In the Bible, God is depicted as animating Adam with a breath.

In many traditional accounts, ghosts were often thought to be deceased people looking for vengeance, or imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life. The appearance of a ghost has often been regarded as an omen or portent of death. Seeing one's own ghostly double or "fetch" is a related omen of death.

White ladies were reported to appear in many rural areas, and supposed to have died tragically or suffered trauma in life. White Lady legends are found around the world. Common to many of them is the theme of losing or being betrayed by a husband or fiancé. They are often associated with an individual family line or regarded as a harbinger of death similar to a banshee.

Legends of ghost ships have existed since the 18th century; most notable of these is the ''Flying Dutchman''. This theme has been used in literature in ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' by Coleridge.

Locale

A place where ghosts are reported is described as haunted, and often seen as being inhabited by spirits of deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property. Supernatural activity inside homes is said to be mainly associated with violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide — sometimes in the recent or ancient past. But not all hauntings are at a place of a violent death, or even on violent grounds. Many cultures and religions believe the essence of a being, such as the 'soul', continues to exist. Some philosophical and religious views argue that the 'spirits' of those who have died have not 'passed over' and are trapped inside the property where their memories and energy are strong.

History

Antiquity

Mesopotamia

There are many references to ghosts in Mesopotamian religions - the religions of Sumer, Babylon, Assyria and other early states in Mesopotamia. Traces of these beliefs survive in the later Abrahamic religions that came to dominate the region. Ghosts were thought to be created at time of death, taking on the memory and personality of the dead person. They traveled to the netherworld, where they were assigned a position, and led an existence similar in some ways to that of the living. Relatives of the dead were expected to make offerings of food and drink to the dead to ease their conditions. If they did not, the ghosts could inflict misfortune and illness on the living. Traditional healing practices ascribed a variety of illnesses to the action of ghosts, while others were caused by gods or demons.

Ancient Egypt

thumb|Egyptian Akh glyph - The soul and spirit re-united after death There was widespread belief in ghosts in ancient Egyptian culture in the sense of the continued existence of the soul and spirit after death, with the ability to assist or harm the living, and the possibility of a second death. Over a period of more than 2,500 years, Egyptian beliefs about the nature of the afterlife evolved constantly. Many of these beliefs were recorded in inscriptions, papyrus scrolls and tomb paintings. The Egyptian Book of the Dead compiles some of the beliefs from different periods of ancient Egyptian history. In modern times, the fanciful concept of a mummy coming back to life and wreaking vengeance when disturbed has spawned a whole genre of horror stories and movies.

Biblical references & Judæo–Christian belief

The Hebrew Torah and the Bible contain few references to ghosts, associating spiritism with forbidden occult activities cf. Deuteronomy 18:11. The most notable reference is in the First Book of Samuel (I Samuel 28:3-19 KJV), in which a disguised King Saul has the Witch of Endor summon the spirit/ghost of Samuel.

In the New Testament, Jesus has to persuade the Disciples that he is not a ghost following the resurrection, Luke 24:37-39 (note that some versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NKJV, use the term "spirit"). In a similar vein, Jesus' followers at first believe him to be a ghost (spirit) when they see him walking on water.

As such, much of the Christian Church considers ghosts as beings who while tied to earth, no longer live on the material plane. Furthermore, some Christian denominations teach that ghosts are beings who linger in an interim state before continuing their journey to heaven. On occasion, God would allow the souls in this state to return to earth to warn the living of the need for repentance. Nevertheless, Jews and Christians are taught that it is sinful to attempt to conjure or control spirits, in accordance with Deuteronomy XVIII: 9–12.

Accepting, but moving beyond this position, some ghosts are actually said to be demons in disguise, who the Church teaches, in accordance with I Timothy 4:1, that they "come to deceive people and draw them away from God and into bondage." As a result, attempts to contact the dead may lead to unwanted contact with a demon or an unclean spirit, as was said to occur in the case of Robbie Mannheim, a fourteen year old Maryland youth.

According to one Christian source, appearances of orbs of light, a common paranormal phenomenon attributed to ghosts, can be explained by II Corinthians 11:14, which states that "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (NRSV).

Classical Greece

Ghosts appeared in Homer's ''Odyssey'' and ''Iliad'', in which they were described as vanishing "as a vapor, gibbering and whining into the earth". Homer’s ghosts had little interaction with the world of the living. Periodically they were called upon to provide advice or prophecy, but they do not appear to be particularly feared. Ghosts in the classical world often appeared in the form of vapor or smoke, but at other times they were described as being substantial, appearing as they had been at the time of death, complete with the wounds that killed them.

By the 5th century BC, classical Greek ghosts had become haunting, frightening creatures who could work to either good or evil purposes. The spirit of the dead was believed to hover near the resting place of the corpse, and cemeteries were places the living avoided. The dead were to be ritually mourned through public ceremony, sacrifice and libations, or they might return to haunt their families. The ancient Greeks held annual feasts to honor and placate the spirits of the dead, to which the family ghosts were invited, and after which they were “firmly invited to leave until the same time next year”.

The 5th century BC play ''Oresteia'' contains one of the first ghosts to appear in a work of fiction.

Roman Empire

The ancient Romans believed a ghost could be used to exact revenge on an enemy by scratching a curse on a piece of lead or pottery and placing it into a grave.

Plutarch, in the 1st century AD, described the haunting of the baths at Chaeronea by the ghost of a murdered man. The ghost’s loud and frightful groans caused the people of the town to seal up the doors of the building. Another celebrated account of a haunted house from the ancient classical world is given by Pliny the Younger (c. 50 AD). Pliny describes the haunting of a house in Athens by a ghost bound in chains. The hauntings ceased when the ghost's shackled skeleton was unearthed, and given a proper reburial. The writers Plautus and Lucian also wrote stories about haunted houses.

One of the first persons to express disbelief in ghosts was Lucian of Samosata in the 2nd century AD. In his tale "The Doubter" (circa 150 AD) he relates how Democritus "the learned man from Abdera in Thrace" lived in a tomb outside the city gates to prove that cemeteries were not haunted by the spirits of the departed. Lucian relates how he persisted in his disbelief despite practical jokes perpetrated by "some young men of Abdera" who dressed up in black robes with skull masks to frighten him. This account by Lucian notes something about the popular classical expectation of how a ghost should look.

In the 5th century AD, the Christian priest Constantius of Lyon recorded an instance of the recurring theme of the improperly buried dead who come back to haunt the living, and who can only cease their haunting when their bones have been discovered and properly reburied.

European Middle Ages

Ghosts reported in medieval Europe tended to fall into two categories: the souls of the dead, or demons. The souls of the dead returned for a specific purpose. Demonic ghosts existed only to torment or tempt the living. The living could tell them apart by demanding their purpose in the name of Jesus Christ. The soul of a dead person divulged their mission, while a demonic ghost was banished at the sound of the Holy Name.

Most ghosts were souls assigned to Purgatory, condemned for a specific period to atone for their transgressions in life. Their penance was generally related to their sin. For example, the ghost of a man who had been abusive to his servants was condemned to tear off and swallow bits of his own tongue; the ghost of another man, who had neglected to leave his cloak to the poor, was condemned to wear the cloak, now "heavy as a church tower". These ghosts appeared to the living to ask for prayers to end their suffering. Other dead souls returned to urge the living to confess their sins before their own deaths.

Medieval European ghosts were more substantial than ghosts described in the Victorian age, and there are accounts of ghosts being wrestled with and physically restrained until a priest could arrive to hear its confession. Some were less solid, and could move through walls. Often they were described as paler and sadder versions of the person they had been while alive, and dressed in tattered gray rags. The vast majority of reported sightings were male.

There were some reported cases of ghostly armies, fighting battles at night in the forest, or in the remains of an Iron Age hillfort, as at Wandlebury, near Cambridge, England. Living knights were sometimes challenged to single combat by phantom knights, which vanished when defeated.

From the medieval period an apparition of a ghost is recorded from 1211, at the time of the Albigensian Crusade. Gervase of Tilbury, Marshal of Arles, wrote that the image of Guilhem, a boy recently murdered in the forest, appeared in his cousin's home in Beaucaire, near Avignon. This series of "visits" lasted all of the summer. Through his cousin, who spoke for him, the boy allegedly held conversations with anyone who wished, until the local priest requested to speak to the boy directly, leading to an extended disquisition on theology. The boy narrated the trauma of death and the unhappiness of his fellow souls in Purgatory, and reported that God was most pleased with the ongoing Crusade against the Cathar heretics, launched three years earlier. The time of the Albigensian Crusade in southern France was marked by intense and prolonged warfare, this constant bloodshed and dislocation of populations being the context for these reported visits by the murdered boy.

Arabian Nights

Haunted houses are featured in the 9th century ''Arabian Nights'' (such as the tale of ''Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad'').

European Renaissance to Romanticism

Renaissance magic took a revived interest in the occult, including necromancy. In the era of the Reformation and Counter Reformation, there was frequently a backlash against unwholesome interest in the dark arts, typified by writers such as Thomas Erastus. The Swiss Reformed pastor Ludwig Lavater supplied one of the most frequently reprinted books of the period with his ''Of Ghosts and Spirits Walking By Night.''

The Child ballad ''Sweet William's Ghost'' (1868) recounts the story of a ghost returning to beg a woman to free him from his promise to marry her, as he obviously cannot being dead. Her refusal would mean his damnation. This reflects a popular British belief that the dead haunted their lovers if they took up with a new love without some formal release. ''The Unquiet Grave'' expresses a belief even more widespread, found in various locations over Europe: ghosts can stem from the excessive grief of the living, whose mourning interferes with the dead's peaceful rest. In many folktales from around the world, the hero arranges for the burial of a dead man. Soon after, he gains a companion who aids him and, in the end, the hero's companion reveals that he is in fact the dead man. Instances of this include the Italian fairy tale ''Fair Brow'' and the Swedish ''The Bird 'Grip'''.

Modern period of western culture

Spiritualist movement

thumb|left|By 1853, when the popular song ''Spirit Rappings'' was published, Spiritualism was an object of intense curiosity. Spiritualism is a monotheistic belief system or religion, postulating a belief in God, but with a distinguishing feature of belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world can be contacted by "mediums", who can then provide information about the afterlife.

Spiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-language countries, By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes, while the corresponding movement in continental Europe and Latin America is known as Spiritism.

The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums. Many prominent Spiritualists were women. Most followers supported causes such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage. By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear. Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational Spiritualist Churches in the United States and United Kingdom.

Spiritism

Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on the five books of the Spiritist Codification written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that he attributed to incorporeal intelligence (spirits). His assumption of spirit communication was validated by many contemporaries, among them many scientists and philosophers who attended séances and studied the phenomena. His work was later extended by writers like Leon Denis, Arthur Conan Doyle, Camille Flammarion, Ernesto Bozzano, Chico Xavier, Divaldo Pereira Franco, Waldo Vieira, Johannes Greber and others.

Spiritism has adherents in many countries throughout the world, including Spain, United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, England, Argentina, Portugal and especially Brazil, which has the largest proportion and greatest number of followers.

Scientific skepticism

Joe Nickell of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, wrote that there was no credible scientific evidence that any location was inhabited by spirits of the dead. Limitations of human perception and ordinary physical explanations can account for ghost 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, is what some skeptics believe causes people to believe that 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 Nickell, peripheral vision can easily mislead, especially late at night when the brain is tired and more likely to misinterpret sights and sounds."

Some researchers, such as Michael Persinger of 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. Sound is thought to be another cause of supposed sightings. Richard Lord and Richard Wiseman have concluded that infrasound can cause humans to experience bizarre feelings in a room, such as anxiety, extreme sorrow, a feeling of being watched, or even the chills. Carbon monoxide poisoning, which can cause changes in perception of the visual and auditory systems, was speculated upon as a possible explanation for haunted houses as early as 1921.

By culture

Austronesia

There are many Malay ghost myths, remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by later Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim influences in the modern states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires Pontianak and Penanggalan are shared throughout the region. Ghosts are a popular theme in modern Malaysian and Indonesian movies. There are also many references to Ghosts in Filipino culture, ranging from ancient legendary creatures such as the Manananggal and Tiyanak to more modern urban legends and horror movies. The beliefs, legends and stories are as diverse as the people of the Philippines.

There was widespread belief in ghosts in Polynesian culture, some of which persists today. After death, a person's ghost normally traveled to the sky world or the underworld, but some could stay on earth. In many Polynesian legends, ghosts were often actively involved in the affairs of the living. Ghosts might also cause sickness or even invade the body of ordinary people, to be driven out through strong medicines.

China

There are many references to ghosts in Chinese culture. Even Confucius said, "Respect ghosts and gods, but keep away from them."

The ghosts take many forms, depending on how the person died, and are often harmful. Many Chinese ghost beliefs have been accepted by neighboring cultures, notably Japan and south-east Asia. Ghost beliefs are closely associated with traditional Chinese religion based on ancestor worship, many of which were incorporated in Taoism. Later beliefs were influenced by Buddhism, and in turn influenced and created uniquely Chinese Buddhist beliefs.

Many Chinese today believe it possible to contact the spirits of their ancestors through a medium, and that ancestors can help descendants if properly respected and rewarded. The annual ghost festival is celebrated by Chinese around the world. On this day, ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Ghosts are described in classical Chinese texts as well as modern literature and movies.

European folklore

Belief in ghosts in European folklore is characterized by the recurring fear of "returning" or ''revenant'' deceased who may harm the living. This includes the Scandinavian ''gjenganger'', the Romanian ''strigoi'', the Serbian ''vampir'', the Greek ''vrykolakas'', etc. British folklore is particularly notable for its numerous haunted locations.

Belief in the soul and an afterlife remained near universal until the emergence of atheism in the 18th century. In the 19th century, spiritism resurrected "belief in ghosts" as the object of systematic inquiry, and popular opinion in Western culture remains divided.

Japan

thumb|250px|[[Maruyama Ōkyo|Maruyama Ōkyo's "The Ghost of Oyuki"]] are figures in Japanese folklore, analogous to Western legends of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, 幽 (''yū''), meaning "faint" or "dim" and 霊 (''rei''), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include 亡霊 (Bōrei) meaning ruined or departed spirit, 死霊 (Shiryō) meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing 妖怪 (Yōkai) or お化け (Obake).

Like their Chinese and Western counterparts, they are thought to be spirits kept from a peaceful afterlife.

India

A ''bhoot'' or ''bhut'' (भूत, ભૂત, or بهوت) is a supernatural creature, usually the ghost of a deceased person, in the popular culture, literature and some ancient texts of the Indian subcontinent. Interpretations of how ''bhoot''s come into existence vary by region and community, but they are usually considered to be perturbed and restless due to some factor that prevents them from moving on (to transmigration, non-being, nirvana, or heaven or hell, depending on tradition). This could be a violent death, unsettled matters in their lives, or simply the failure of their survivors to perform proper funerals.

In Central and Northern Asia, Shaman spirit guides play a central role.. Other types of spirits in Hindu Mythology include Baital, an evil spirit who haunts cemeteries and takes demonic possession of corpses, and Pishacha, a type of flesh-eating demon.

Mexico

thumb|left|200px|[[La Calavera Catrina|Catrinas, one of the most popular figures of the ''Day of the Dead'' celebrations in Mexico]] There is extensive and varied belief in ghosts in Mexican culture. The modern state of Mexico before the Spanish conquest was inhabited by diverse peoples such as the Maya and Aztec, and their beliefs have survived and evolved, combined with the beliefs of the Spanish colonists. The Day of the Dead incorporates pre-Columbian beliefs with Christian elements. Mexican literature and movies include many stories of ghosts interacting with the living.

Tibet

There is widespread belief in ghosts in Tibetan culture. Ghosts are explicitly recognized in the Tibetan Buddhist religion as they were in Indian Buddhism, occupying a distinct but overlapping world to the human one, and feature in many traditional legends. When a human dies, after a period of uncertainty they may enter the ghost world. A hungry ghost (Tibetan: ''yidag'', ''yi-dvags''; Sanskrit: ''preta'', प्रेत) has a tiny throat and huge stomach, and so can never be satisfied. Ghosts may be killed with a ritual dagger or caught in a spirit trap and burnt, thus releasing them to be reborn. Ghosts may also be exorcised, and an annual festival is held throughout Tibet for this purpose. Some say that Dorje Shugden, the ghost of a powerful 17th-century monk, is a deity, but the Dalai Lama asserts that he is an evil spirit, which has caused a split in the Tibetan exile community.

United States

According to the Gallup Poll News Service, belief in haunted houses, ghosts, communication with the dead, and witches had an especially steep increase over the 1990s. A 2005 Gallup poll found that about 32 percent of Americans believe in ghosts.

Depiction in the arts

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.

Renaissance to Romanticism (1500 to 1840)

One of the more recognizable ghosts in English literature is the shade of Hamlet's murdered father in Shakespeare’s ''The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark''. In ''Hamlet'', it is the ghost who demands that Prince Hamlet investigate his "murder most foul" and seek revenge upon his usurping uncle, King Claudius. In Shakespeare’s ''Macbeth'', the murdered Banquo returns as a ghost to the dismay of the title character.

In English Renaissance theater, ghosts were often depicted in the garb of the living and even in armor, as with the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Armor, being out-of-date by the time of the Rennaissance, gave the stage ghost a sense of antiquity. But the sheeted ghost began to gain ground on stage in the 19th century because an armored ghost could not satisfactorily convey the requisite spookiness: it clanked and creaked, and had to be moved about by complicated pulley systems or elevators. These clanking ghosts being hoisted about the stage became objects of ridicule as they became clichéd stage elements. Ann Jones and Peter Stallybrass, in ''Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory'', point out, "In fact, it is as laughter increasingly threatens the Ghost that he starts to be staged not in armor but in some form of 'spirit drapery'." An interesting observation by Jones and Stallybrass is that

Ghosts figured prominently in traditional British ballads of the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly the “Border Ballads” of the turbulent border country between England and Scotland. Ballads of this type include ''The Unquiet Grave'', ''The Wife of Usher's Well'', and ''Sweet William's Ghost'', which feature the recurring theme of returning dead lovers or children. In the ballad ''King Henry'', a particularly ravenous ghost devours the king’s horse and hounds before forcing the king into bed. The king then awakens to find the ghost transformed into a beautiful woman.

One of the key early appearances by ghosts in a gothic tale was ''The Castle of Otranto'' by Horace Walpole in 1764.

Washington Irving's short story ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' (1820), based on an earlier German folktale, features a Headless Horseman. It has been adapted for film and television many times, such as ''Sleepy Hollow'', a successful 1999 feature film.

Victorian/Edwardian (1840 to 1920)

The "classic" ghost story arose during the Victorian period, and included authors such as M. R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu, Violet Hunt, and Henry James. Classic ghost stories were influenced by the gothic fiction tradition, and contain elements of folklore and psychology. M. R. James summed up the essential elements of a ghost story as, “Malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, ‘the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded...”

Famous literary apparitions from this period are the ghosts of ''A Christmas Carol'', in which Ebenezer Scrooge is helped to see the error of his ways by the ghost of his former colleague Jacob Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come.

Oscar Wilde's comedy ''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''.

Oscar Telgmann's opera ''Leo, the Royal Cadet'' (1885) includes ''Judge's Song'' about a ghost at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.

''Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things'' is a 1904 collection of Japanese ghost stories collected by Lafcadio Hearn, and later made into a film.

In the United States, prior to and during the First World War, folklorists Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil Sharp collected ballads from the people of the Appalachian Mountains, which included ghostly themes such as ''The Wife of Usher's Well'', ''The Suffolk Miracle'', ''The Unquiet Grave'', and ''The Cruel Ship's Carpenter''. The theme of these ballads was often the return of a dead lover. These songs were variants of traditional British ballads handed down by generations of mountaineers descended from the people of the Anglo-Scottish border region.

Modern Era (1920 to 1970)

Professional parapsychologists and “ghosts hunters”, such as Harry Price, active in the 1920s and 1930s, and Peter Underwood, active in the 1940s and 1950s, published accounts of their experiences with ostensibly true ghost stories such as Price's ''The Most Haunted House in England'', and Underwood's ''Ghosts of Borley''.

Children’s benevolent ghost stories became popular, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, created in the 1930s and appearing in comics, animated cartoons, and eventually a 1995 feature film.

Noël Coward's play ''Blithe Spirit'', later made into a film, places a more humorous slant on the phenomenon of haunting of individuals and specific locations.

With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres; the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions. Novel-length tales have been difficult to adapt to cinema, although that of ''The Haunting of Hill House'' to ''The Haunting'' in 1963 is an exception. Genuine psychological horror films from this period include 1944's ''The Uninvited'', and 1945's ''Dead of Night''.

The 1949 ''Mahal'' (Hindi: महल; Urdu: محل; ) was a groundbreaking Hindi language movie directed by Kamal Amrohi and starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala, one of the earliest known Bollywood films dealing with reincarnation. ''Mahal'' became one of the biggest box office hits of 1949 in India. The movie paved the way for Indian gothic fiction.

Post-modern (1970-present)

The 1970s saw screen depictions of ghosts diverge into distinct genres of the romantic and horror. A common theme in the romantic genre from this period is the ghost as a benign guide or messenger, often with unfinished business, such as 1989's ''Field of Dreams'', the 1990 film ''Ghost'', and the 1993 comedy ''Heart and Souls''. In the horror genre, 1980's ''The Fog'', and the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' series of films from the 1980s and 1990s are notable examples of the trend for the merging of ghost stories with scenes of physical violence. Indian ghost movies are popular not just in India, but in the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and other parts of the world. Some Indian ghost movies such as the comedy / horror film ''Chandramukhi'' have been commercial successes, dubbed into several languages. Generally the movies are based on the experiences of modern people who are unexpectedly exposed to ghosts. They usually draw on traditional Indian literature or folklore, but in some cases are remakes of western movies, such as ''Anjaane'', based on Alejandro Amenábar's ghost story ''The Others''.

In fictional television programming, ghosts have been explored in series such as ''Supernatural'', ''Ghost Whisperer'' and ''Medium''.

See also

Demonic possession

Ethereal being

Ghost hunting

Haunted house

Intelligent haunting

List of ghosts

List of reportedly haunted locations

Paranormal

Poltergeist

Residual haunting

Shadow people

Spirit possession

References

Further reading

Fairly, John & Welfare, Simon, ''Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers'', Putnam: New York, 1985.

Felton, D., ''Haunted Greece and Rome: Ghost Stories From Classical Antiquity'', University of Texas Press, 1999.

Finucane, R. C., ''Appearances of the Dead: A Cultural History of Ghosts'', Prometheus Books, 1984.

Johnston, Sarah Iles, ''Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece'', University of California Press, 1999.

Hole, Christina, ''Haunted England'', Batsford: London, 1950. At Google Books

MacKenzie, Andrew, ''Apparitions and Ghosts'', Arthur Barker, 1971.

Moreman, Christopher, ''Beyond the Threshold: Afterlife Beliefs and Experiences in World Religions'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.

Newman, Kim, ed. ''BFI Companion to Horror'', Cassell: London, 1996.

External links

"Ghost Theory" of 18th century German theologian Johan Ernst Schubert and a list of vernacular house spirits and ghosts

Historical Ghost Stories

Ghost accounts from a haunted castle in Wales

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Laura Marling
Background	solo_singer
Birth date	February 01, 1990
Origin	Eversley, Hampshire, England
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass, piano
Genre	Contemporary folk, folk rock, Bluegrass music
Occupation	Singer/songwriter
Years active	2006–present
Label	WayOutWest, Virgin
Website	LauraMarling.com
Associated acts	Noah and the Whale, The Rakes, Mystery Jets, Johnny Flynn, Mumford & Sons }}

Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.

Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her sound is characterised by striking melodies and poetic lyricism. Her debut album ''Alas, I Cannot Swim'' and her second album ''I Speak Because I Can'' were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008 and 2010 respectively. She won Best Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards.

Early years

Marling was born in Hampshire, England and learned guitar at an early age. Her father, who ran a recording studio, introduced her to folk music. She was educated at Leighton Park School, a private Quaker school in Reading, Berkshire. She has said that during this time she felt uneasy around other people and had a fear of death.

Marling was part of the original line-up of indie folk band Noah and the Whale and was romantically linked with singer/guitarist Charlie Fink. She is featured as a background vocalist on their debut album ''Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down''; however, she left the group before the album's 2008 release and split up with Fink that same year. She also appeared on The Rakes track "Suspicious Eyes", from the band's 2007 album ''Ten New Messages'', credited as 'Laura Marlin'. Marling would later collaborate with Mystery Jets, contributing guest vocals to the single "Young Love", released 10 March 2008.

''Alas I Cannot Swim''

She was personally invited to tour with Jamie T after he attended her second-ever solo gig. She has also toured with a number of other musicians from the UK and beyond, including Adam Green from the anti-folk band The Moldy Peaches. She performed at the 2007 O₂ Wireless Festival and also performed at the first Underage Festival in August 2007 at Victoria Park, East London, before releasing her debut EP "London Town" on WayOutWest Records.

Her debut album ''Alas, I Cannot Swim'' was released on 4 February 2008, and later nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize. The album, as well as subsequent singles, were released on Virgin Records. The third and final single from her album, "Night Terror" was released on 27 October 2008, coinciding with a 6-date "Night Terror tour".

Marling's television appearances include ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' and ''Later With Jools Holland'', performing "Ghosts" and "New Romantic" respectively. In 2008 she appeared on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show alongside her sister. She once chose to perform on the street after being denied entry to one of her own performances for being underage.

''I Speak Because I Can''

The follow-up to ''Alas I Cannot Swim'', titled ''I Speak Because I Can'', was released on 22 March 2010. Produced by Ethan Johns, the album has a more mature sound and lyricism, dealing with "responsibility, particularly the responsibility of womanhood." The album is preceded by the singles "Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)", released on iTunes in December 2009 and "Devil's Spoke" on 15 March 2010. On 28 March 2010, ''I Speak Because I Can'' entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 4. It was also nominated for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize.

''A Creature I Don't Know''

In 2010, Marling announced that she would release two albums in 2010, the first of which being ''I Speak Because I Can''. She later announced that there was a change of plan and that she wouldn't be releasing a second album that year. She did, however, add that the album would be better due to the delay, and that she hoped to have it finished for February 2011. In June 2011, the new album's title was revealed to be ''A Creature I Don't Know'' and a release date of 12 September 2011 was given.

Discography

''Alas, I Cannot Swim'' (2008)

''I Speak Because I Can'' (2010)

''A Creature I Don't Know'' (2011)

Laura Marling also has recorded various songs such as "Soulless Child", "Candlelight", "Karma" and "Mexico" (all of which can be heard on YouTube but are not yet for sale) as well as "She's Changed" (of which a live version is for sale, but not a pre-recorded version) and "Such A Shame" (which is neither for sale nor available on youtube).

Awards and nominations

Year	Organisation	Nominated work	Award	Result
		''Alas, I Cannot Swim''
RTÉ Radio 1	Album of the Year
	BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards	"Rambling Man"	Best Original Song
		Best British Female
NME Awards		Best Solo Artist

References

External links

Official Website

Category:English female singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English female guitarists Category:Living people Category:1990 births Category:Old Leightonians Category:English agnostics Category:English folk musicians

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