A ghost is the perceived spiritual form of a deceased human or animal, believed to continue existing among the living as an animate being. While there is no scientific evidence that ghosts are real, proving or disproving their existence is generally considered impossible.
Mentions of the living dead go back to ancient times, and ghost tales have been explored universally across cultures, continents, and periods, with rituals that still exist in efforts to connect with them and ward them off. The places most commonly reported as haunted are sites like burial grounds, asylums, hotels, castles, and buildings where tragedy struck.
The idea of the soul, immortal and separate from the body, is held across different religions. Some psychologists believe that religion evolved to soothe common anxieties related to death and the afterlife.
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The afterlife has perplexed humans across different periods, cultures, and belief systems. The desire to understand what comes next is often explored through the telling of ghost stories. Learn more about the spooky phenomena here.
It’s hard to find actual data regarding ghosts, but a survey conducted by Pew Research Group in 2023, revealed that around half of the US adult population believes ghosts can interact with the living, with most thinking that spirits can help rather than harm us.
Every culture has them—restless spirits, haunted houses, things that go bump in the night. But why do we believe in ghosts? Psychologist and skeptic Dr. Chris French joins host Sony Kassam to explore the science behind the supernatural, from sleep paralysis and hallucinations to the brain’s pattern-making instincts. Together, they uncover why our minds see meaning—and sometimes ghosts—where none exist, and what that reveals about fear, memory, and our need to believe in something beyond the grave.
An ancient Babylonian clay tablet in the British Museum presents a curious image of a ghost being led back to the afterlife. This artifact is believed to be the oldest known drawing of a spirit. According to Dr. Irving Finkel, this image is part of a guide to exorcise ghosts.
From a bat-like demon in Tanzania to a malevolent woman figure hovering above your sleeping body, the four disturbing tales outlined in this NPR article offer a glimpse into how happenings from WWII or the Aztec Empire haunt people’s memories.
Halloween, a holiday primarily popular in the US and Canada, originated 2,000 years ago with the Celtic people. The Celts interpreted this transition as when ghosts returned to the land of the living, leading to rituals like feasts, bonfires, and wearing costumes made of animal body parts on Oct. 31.
This TimeOut guide presents some of the most notorious places in the United States, profiling the creepy histories of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, the Waverly Hills Sanitorium in Louisville, Kentucky, and the lingering effects of the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts.
Instead, they're places an industry has abandoned, leaving many of the town's buildings decrepit and abandoned. That doesn't mean they're completely empty; some folks prefer the pace and look of ghost towns, which often lean into their Old West aesthetics. The Vox documentary explores ghost towns in Nevada, which is home to more than 600.
Scholar Coya Paz’s research into ghost stories indicated that people often use them to grieve and remember tragic histories. Paz notes that specters in stories almost always demand to be acknowledged. She also shares the three most common types of ghosts we hear about are either vengeful, unwelcoming, or comforting.
A number of psychologists believe religion helps subdue our fears of death by giving us a sense of what’s to come and, therefore, a sense of control over how to ensure the best possible outcome.
Art, music, sports, entertainment, movies, and many other subjects—these elements define who we are as a society and how we express ourselves as a culture. Take a deep dive into the topics shaping our shared norms, values, institutions, and more.