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Ghosts: Spirits of the Dead

Ghosts: Spirits of the Dead

What are Ghosts?

Read, Watch, or Listen for more about Ghosts

link to sing unburied, sing by Jesmyn Ward in the catalog
Link to Shirley Jackson a rather haunted life by ruth Franklin in the catalog
link to hamlet by william shakespeare in the catalog
link to ghosted by Brian Laythe in the catalog
link to the shining by stephen king in the catalog
link to beloved by toni morrison in the catalog
link to a head full of ghost by paul tremblay in the catalog
link to woman in black by susan hill in the catalog
link to ghostland an american history of haunted places by colin dickey in the catalog
link to the dead romantics by ashley poston in the catalog

Ghosts Through History

 

Since ancient times, ghost stories—tales of spirits who return from the dead to haunt the places they left behind—have figured prominently in the folklore of many cultures around the world.

A rich subset of these tales involve historical figures ranging from queens and politicians to writers and gangsters, many of whom died early, violent or mysterious deaths.

The concept of a ghost, also known as a specter, is based on the ancient idea that a person’s spirit exists separately from his or her body, and may continue to exist after that person dies. Because of this idea, many societies began to use funeral rituals as a way of ensuring that the dead person’s spirit would not return to “haunt” the living.

Places that are haunted are usually believed to be associated with some occurrence or emotion in the ghost’s past; they are often a former home or the place where he or she died.

Aside from actual ghostly apparitions, traditional signs of haunting range from strange noises, lights, odors or breezes to the displacement of objects, bells that ring spontaneously or musical instruments that seem to play on their own. 

In the first century A.D., the great Roman author and statesman Pliny the Younger recorded one of the first notable ghost stories in his letters, which became famous for their vivid account of life during the heyday of the Roman Empire. Pliny reported that the specter of an old man with a long beard, rattling chains, was haunting his house in Athens. The Greek writer Lucian and Pliny’s fellow Roman Plautus also wrote memorable ghost stories. Continue reading from The History Channel

Link to Monsters in Literature Resource Guide