ghost, soul or spectre of a dead person, usually believed to inhabit the netherworld and to be capable of returning in some form to the world of the living. According to descriptions or depictions provided by believers, a ghost may appear as a living being or as a nebulous likeness of the deceased or, occasionally, in other forms. Belief in ghosts is based on the ancient notion that a human spirit is separable from the body and may maintain its existence after the body’s death. In many societies, funeral rituals are believed to prevent the ghost from haunting the living.
A place that is haunted is thought to be associated by the haunting spirit with some strong emotion of the past—remorse, fear, or the terror of a violent death. Individuals who are haunted are believed to be responsible for, or associated with, the ghost’s unhappy past experience (compare possession). The traditional visual manifestations of haunting include ghostly apparitions, the displacement of objects, or the appearance of strange lights; auditory signs include disembodied laughter and screams, footsteps, ringing bells, and the spontaneous emanation of sounds from musical instruments.
Tales of specific ghosts are still common in living folklore worldwide. The telling of elaborate grisly ghost stories, often in a setting enhanced by darkness or a thunderstorm, is a popular pastime in many groups, particularly among children. See also ghoul; kobold; poltergeist.