The ghost of a woman. (Art by Andrew Sonea)
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal who can appear in visible form or other manifestation to the living.
Description[]
Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely: the mode of manifestation can range from an invisible presence to translucent or wispy shapes, to realistic, life-like visions.
The most common ghosts are described as similar in appearance, if not identical, to the person they once were, at their time of death, though not all retain the wounds or signs of their death. However, not all hauntings involve apparitions, they may simply appear as auditory (relating to the sense of hearing) or olfactory (relating to the sense of smell) sensations, types of phenomena most frequently reported in poltergeist cases.
Ghosts are often bound to an object or a place, normally the building they died or lived in or the area they died at, as such their movements are restricted. This, however, is not universal and some very powerful ghosts can move over larger distances, but unless they can move what they're bound to, they can never be totally free. They are also sometimes bound to their bodies, unless their bodies have been put to rest. In relation to this interesting attribute, is often ghosts bring more or other things from their lives, as well as their spirit. An object that is very closely linked to ghost during their life, or linked strongly to their death, are sometimes recreated for their ghosts. This is the reason why ghosts of cars, and ships exist.
Overview[]
Ghosts are said to be the lingering emotions of those who have perished. It is said that when a person dies, the last emotions they ever felt takes shape and form and then itself becomes the ghost of the deceased person. Ultimately, this particular emotion is condemned to repeat itself time and time again, explaining why ghosts often reenact their deaths and would have their last emotions centered on the last thing they saw in life.
Legal injustices were another reason for the dead to return. Perhaps the most dramatic motif for a haunting was that of revenge, the ghost often taking the form of the victim of a murder seeking retribution from their killer. Other hauntings were said to be caused by those whose life had been so wicked that they were condemned to wander the earth as lost, imprisoned spirits.
Other common candidates for a return from the grave were those who had died tragically, especially suicides. Some ghosts could not rest because their remains had not been buried with the correct rites, a particularly common motif in Classical tales, others due to the disturbance of their graves by some unwitting mortal.
A number of ghosts, though, were far less sensational, returning merely to continue the routine they had enjoyed on earth, perhaps visiting a favourite place or pursuing their former employment as if they had never left it.