G is for Ghosts

by Karen Michelle Nutt
It is the seventh day of the A to Z Challenge.

G is for Ghosts

What is a ghost? Some believe it is a soul or spirit of a dead person or animal. The entity may appear as wisps of fog-like mist, a transparent figure, a Girl and Ghost harpcroppedpartially visible spirit, or a lifelike versions of what the person once looked like.

Ghosts have been known to haunt a location or even an object. People and animals are not all that have made ghostly appearances. There have been reports of ghost trains and phantom ships.

There are many theories and documented experiences throughout history to explain ghosts, but even now they remain a mystery. Below is a list of the different types of spirits one may come across.

The Intelligent Ghost

A more traditional view of ghosts is that they are spirits of the dead who are ‘stuck’ between this plane of existence and the next. These ghosts are in limbo and may haunt the place of their death, or a location where they felt safe and happy. The intelligent ghost will interact with the living, and you may be able to communicate with them.

Poltergeist-Therese_Selles
A 14-year-old domestic servant, Therese Selles, experienced a poltergeist. (1911)

 

The Residual Hauntings

These are the ghosts that seem to repeat the same action. Like a ghost ship appearing at the same location where it sunk, or when a ghost materializes in the same place, repeats the same movements, and does not interact with a ‘live’ person. It could simply be footfalls in the same hallway or stairs with no visual apparition. These sightings or ghostly sounds are similar to a recording. The residual energy plays over and over again. The traumatic moment leaves an impression, causing the event to play in a continual loop.

Poltergeist

A poltergeist is a noisy ghost. They tend to move or throw objects, hide trinkets, and make persistent rapping sounds. Generally poltergeists are harmless pranksters.

Vortexes

orbPoolRoom
Queen Mary (Orb)
Poolroomvictoriandress
Queen Mary (Vortex)

Vortexes or vortices are wisps of light that appear in photos. They may look like swirling spiral light or look like an opaque shape. They are thought to be spiritual energies trying to manifest into a more human-like form. Others believe vortexes are just reflections of light from breath or cigarette smoke.

Orbs

Orbs are round particles of light appearing in photos. Some believe they are many ghosts in a ball of light. Others explain them away as dust particles.

Interesting Ghost Sightings

Rudolph Valentino’kabars Dog Kabar died in 1929 and is buried in Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park in California. Kabar has appeared by his grave and likes to lick every passerby.

Blackbeard's_headIt is said on moonlit nights Blackbeard’s headless shade can be seen swimming in Ocracoke Island cover where he died. On November 1718, after a battling the British navy, Blackbeard succumbed to five bullets and over twenty sword wounds. The British hung his head on their ship and tossed his body overboard. It is rumored his headless body swam around the boat three times before sinking beneath the ocean’s surface.

Tombigbee_River_below_Moscow_Landing_in_1888
Tombigbee River

The Eliza Battle, a paddle steamer burned in 1858 on the Tombigbee River in Alabama. There are reports of this paddle steamer appearing fully aflame as a warning of impending disaster.

THE SPIRIT OF LOVE is a ghostly tale aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

Ebook: Kindle

Blurb:

A tragic accident leaves Brynna and Travis devastated. Instead of turning to each other for comfort, they drift apart. However, they must complete one more assignment—set on an old ship, The Queen Mary, during Yule, one of the most haunted times in the Celtic calendar. It is believed souls of the dead prevail and anam cara—soul friends can visit.

Will Travis and Brynna confront the spirit of love, allowing them a chance to heal and find their way back to each other?

So my questions to you: Do you believe in Ghosts? Have you ever seen one?

I hope you enjoyed the post and will stop by tomorrow for H is for Haunted Places. 🙂

Here's the list to the other A to Z Challenge participants.

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18 thoughts on “G is for Ghosts”

  1. Great info Karen. The answer to your question is I’m not entirely sure. I’ll keep an open mind but don’t necessarily want my house to be populated with them.

  2. Hmm … interesting info. Based on what you’ve provided, I think the barn ghost is an intelligent ghost, though his ghost/human interactions have been klepto pursuits.

  3. I believe in ghosts, but I’ve never seen one. I have heard one on several occasions, including the old lady who used to live in our house. She used to turn the lights on and off when we had the new switch for upstairs in the same place as the old switch for the kitchen had been. It stopped after we had new lights put in and moved the switch. One day, just after he son had cycled past and chatted to my husband she got very excited and said ‘hello’. 🙂

    1. Tasha,
      Wow, she reached out to communicate.
      I had one experience with a ghost where she was solid and she also said hello. At the time we lived in an apartment with stairs that led up to our front door and one for our neighbor across the from us. It was a narrow stairway and only one way up or down. My eldest was only 2 years old and I needed to help her climb the stairs. I glanced up and this woman is just standing there at the top landing. Because the stairway structure is inclosed there is no sunlight shining on these steps, so the woman was in the shadows, but I could still see her clearly. She’s no one I recognize, but I don’t feel threatened. I called her with a hello, and she returned the greeting. I glanced down to help my daughter take the first step onto the stairs and when I glanced up again, she was gone. No kidding, in the time it takes for you to blink, she vanished. Who was she? I have no idea. I never saw her again. Now, I wish I had taken in more detail about her like what she was wearing and such, but at the time, I didn’t think I was talking to a ghost. lol Her clothing couldn’t have been too outdated for the time or else I would have thought it strange. All I remember is shoulder length, dark wavy hair. She appeared to be in her twenties or so.

  5. Enjoyable post – I do love your site. I believe in ghosts, but will deny i when asked by my 7 year old. The orbs and votices have always seemed a bit of a stretch, but I have had spooky experiences with some of the rest.

  8. Do believe in ghosts? You bet. My husband and I saw something one night in our room hard to explain, some sort of light, not of this world for sure.

    Great post Karen.

  9. Yes, I believe! I’ve had too many odd, unexplainable experiences – sounds, things that have been moved, lights turning themselves on. And once I did see something, but when I blinked it was gone. I put it down to maybe having a fever since I wasn’t feeling well. But other people in the house admitted later that they’d seen the exact same thing!

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