Our Ghosts Are Different: Difference between revisions

** Sadako Yamamura seeks vengeance upon all of mankind. Her manifestation is {{spoiler|originally}} psychically anchored to the well where she died, whereupon it projects abstract thoughts and images that can be conveniently recorded by electronic equipment. Anyone who experiences this is cursed to die in seven days, and experiences both psychic projections as well as prophetic dreams (whether they're awake or asleep.) Her appearance is similar to the clothes she died in ([[Stringy Haired Ghost Girl|a white dress]].)

** Samara Morgan, in addition to Sadako's attributes above, also has full control of her psychic abilities --telekinesis, psychography, possession of electronic equipment-- and can also possess people. Not only does her appearance resemble her condition upon death, but her final manifestation displays the ''decay and rot'' of her corpse inside the well. Not a pretty sight.

* Although ''[[What Dreams May Come]]'' is primarily about the afterlife, its protagonist does hang around in the living world as an invisible, intangible ghost for a bit, unwilling to bear leaving his home or wife. When he tries to touch her, she's immediately overwhelmed by her grief and wails miserably, which convinces him he should move on and spare her from the pain of his unseen, unreachable presence.

* [[Lake Mungo]]: Alice's ghost is pretty standard with the exception that {{spoiler|she saw her own ghost before she died.}}

* In one ''[[Goosebumps]]'' book that had a girl suspect that her new neighbours were ghosts only to find out that that [[Tomato in the Mirror|she was actually the ghost]], having died when her house burnt down. She proceeds to save her neighbour girl from ending the same way she did.

* Invoked in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Sylvie and Bruno]]''

"I think not," the lady readily replied--quite as if she had thought it out, long ago. "It has to be something thick. For instance, you might welter in bread-sauce. That, being white, would be more suitable for a Ghost, supposing it wished to welter!"'' }}

** Central to his poem "Phantasmagoria"

* In the [[Night Huntress]] series, sentient ghosts are rare and are created when a person felt an usually strong emotion at their time of death. They can only be seen by the undead. They cannot possess humans but they can experience sensations such as drinking alcohol by passing through the human's body.

* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s ''The Hour of the Dragon'', [[Conan the Barbarian]] surprises a follower who thinks he's this.

** In "The Phoenix on the Sword", Conan is surprised at the [[Dead Person Conversation]] because although tales tell that his ghosts helps the country, he's a foreigner.

* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Kull]] story "The Shadow Kingdom", the Snakeman control the ghost of a long dead king.

* In the short stories of the book ''Women and Ghosts'' by Alison Lurie, ghosts can be [[Living Memory|projections of people still alive]], ex-employers seeking for a Revenge, a strange chest of drawers, a jealous dead lover, [[Hindu Mythology|an incarnation of Laksmi]], fat people who seem to be supernatural apparitions, [[Creepy Child|the ghost of a little girl]], or even an [[Evil Twin]].

* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Prospero's Daughter|Prospero Lost]]'', Mephisto's [[Familiar]] was hit by a car. He still, however, can summon it, and it looks like there ought to be a cat there, but there isn't one.

* In Teresa Frohock's ''[[Miserere: An Autumn Tale|Miserere an Autumn Tale]]'', Lucian hears Matthew Kellogg speak to him after his death, and later, when the horse refuses to go down any path but one, sees him wink before he fades away.

* In ''[[Magic for Beginners]]'', a collection of short stories by Kelly Link, there is a story called "The Great Divorce" wherein [[Mundane Fantastic|the existence of ghosts is common knowledge]]. Living people and ghosts can marry and are even able to have children together (the offspring of the coupling are usually born dead). Predictably, marrying a ghost is not without its complications. The story is probably one big metaphor, but the events and descriptions are played straight enough.

 

 

** There's also Ghost Widow, one of [[Big Bad]] Lord Recluse's lieutenants, the Ghost Ship, the ghosts haunting [[Thriving Ghost Town]] Croatoa, the Pirate Ghosts in Fort Hades...it has a lot of ghosts, really.

** Also worth a mention: the Ghost of Scrapyard. His character description contains a lampshade:

* [[Ghost Master]] has many types of spirits, some are formally living people and animals, while others are natural entities and even the collective will of hundreds of dead chickens. Interestingly some seem to have been 'born' ghosts.

* [[Dragon Age|Dragon Age: Origins]] has a few ghosts that appear (along with [[Our Demons Are Different|demons]]) in places that The Veil (the border between the mortal realm and the [[Spirit World|The Fade]]) is thin. They don't seem to have any special powers, and do nothing but harass the party (either by attacking them or just [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|speaking nonsense]] and then running away faster than you can catch up). Some also speak intelligibly, either replaying scenes from their lives (usually having to do with their deaths) or singing creepy songs.