There is a saying that goes ‘Don’t be afraid of the dark,’ but the question is why should you be afraid? One reason why this saying came about is because people believe that something non-human exists out there. People believe that witches, shapeshifters, hellhounds, ghosts, angels, demons, jinns, and many more supernatural creatures exist. “Only 21 percent of Americans say they don’t believe in the supernatural at all (“Paranormal Poll: Americans…”).” Although many people may not voice or express their belief in the supernatural; they tend to be curious and question the existence of the supernatural at least once in their life. There is a surprising amount of literature, lore and real life accounts that prove the existence of supernatural beings; or at least prove that something unknown does lie somewhere hidden in the dark.
Many people believe that sometimes when a person dies their spirit may not move on. Usually if this happens, the spirit tends to haunt a certain place known as a residential hauntings where it may re-live its death or certain moments in its life. A spirit may also haunt an object, because the object meant a lot to them in their life, and they may not bear to part with it. Some spirits tend to stay on earth and not move on, because they may have unfinished business or unresolved feelings about their life/death, they may not know they are dead, or may not want to move on (“20 Ghostly Facts…”). Spirits tend to not be harmful, and actually enjoy laughter and the occasional prank (“Facts about Ghosts...”). Occasionally certain spirits will be angry or have harsh unresolved feelings from their lives and take it out on certain people or places around them resulting in poltergeists.
In order to tell if a spirit is...
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I was told a story about one of Cloudcroft's more famous ghosts when casually lounging in the undergraduate student physics lounge at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a group of students during a lunch break before class. This occurred during early April, 2005. I inquired whether anyone knew any ghost stories or folklore. A friend of mine volunteered that she knew several ghost stories from her travels. The storyteller was a 23-year-old Caucasian female from an upper-middle class family in Baltimore. She currently lives in Crofton, MD, and is a physics and astronomy major.
...hinese. The Chinese see ghosts as haunting spirits, either dead or alive. The live ghosts in Chinese culture represents all of the odd and uncomfortable people who are unusual or have been disrespectful. Americans perceive ghosts as the haunting spirits of the dead. Americans also believe there are good ghosts' spirits of people who come to help or protect. Both cultures question the real definition of ghost. To each culture it has a new meaning. The ghosts represent the cultural divide of Chinese and Americans.
Hauntings are sometimes believed to be a contributing factor of people acting insane. The spirits could control what the person's mind thinks and hear and make them appear to be crazy. Haunting may make people appear to be crazy but this presence is actually there. It is real and could interact with you. Physical evidence, and others who believe could help prove a ghost is there. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, Jane, the narrator, becomes infatuated with her yellow wallpaper. Jane is being haunted because of the things she saw in the wallpaper, like the dark figure, which becomes a woman and the fact that her husband John and Jennie, the housemade are well aware of the mysterious factors of
Paranormal activity is simply the activity dealing with spirits and the strange phenomena that cannot be explained by what the scientist know about nature and the world (Merriam-Webster, 2014). There are several different types of paranormal entities such as Poltergeist, spirits, hauntings, and etc. Hauntings appear in most places and they appeal to every sense except taste. Hauntings can be from anything dealing with the life form that was once alive (MPI, 2009-2014). Poltergeists are “noisy ghosts” but really distinguishes them is they are attracted to one person, epicenter. Epicenter is usually a person, usually a female, which is going through puberty and sometimes emotionally stressed (MPI, 2009-2014).
An astonishing estimate of three out of four Americans believe in the paranormal. That’s approximately two hundred and thirty four billion out of three hundred and twelve billion Americans. The rising paranormal interest negatively affects a community. The economic influence of the paranormal can destroy a town and its reputation. In addition, the belief in the paranormal can leave a person mentally disturbed and cause learned helplessness. This, which affects the people, can hurt a community if a person affected by either is put into a position of power. Also, as seen in the late Victorian era, belief in the supernatural can cause people to turn against one another in large numbers and in turn disrupt their community.
A ghost is a soul that appears as a dead person or is against a living person. Most people still believe in ghosts even though they have not seen one. The first sightings of ghosts date back to 856 A.D (Stories, 2014). Ghosts mostly make loud noises and disturbances to let people know that they are in the midst. In the first century A.D., the great Roman author and statesman Pliny the Younger recorded one of the first seen ghost stories in his letters, which became noticeable for their bright story of life during the peak of the Roman Empire. The world around us has become more technical with the findings and history of ghosts not cited correctly (Stories, 2014)). The place ghosts come from or occupy varies depending on their spiritual abilities. Ghosts feel more comfortable in a place that is unrestrained and enables them to move freely (Zamora, 2014).
As long as one can remember, paranormal beliefs have always existed in human society. They are living in every man’s childhood and in every corner of human’s life. From the burning belief about Santa Claus’s gifts under a Christmas’s tree in the morning to a scary game about Bloody Mary and her coming back from the dead, it seems that people cannot help but draw themselves to these stories. Even when these beliefs fade, there would be a new one that eventually shows up. No matter how much science has progressed, the belief in paranormal phenomena still remains in society. Eventually, the question about paranormal phenomena seems pale in comparison to the human’s undying belief about such things. It is really hard to pinpoint an exact cause for human’s belief in the paranormal for only one cause is not enough; however, it is sure that psychological, sociological, and biological factors play an enormous role that contributes to this belief.
Through the years there has been many ideas to what goes bump in the night. Mysterious, unsolved happenings blamed on the so-called supernatural. There are many myths, legends and lore based on these so called mysterious happenings. Through this research paper I am going to help to explain the biggest threats, conspiracies, and misunderstandings of aforementioned legends, myths, and lore.
Ghosts, as with any other misunderstood group or people, have been preyed upon by others without understanding. The lack of knowledge about ghosts and haunting activity has led people astray as to what they really are. What Hollywood and television portrays is very inaccurate and cannot be relied upon as truthful. They show these spirits of the dead as being evil in nature, filled with malice and harmful intent. But that this is not the case. The field of paranormal activity is amazing. It has caught the imagination of people from every walk of life. It has always interested me and has influenced me to pick this as the topic for my research. Through this research I wish to uncover the truth about the existence of ghosts. I also wish to correct the wrong notions that people have about ghosts and enlighten non-believers.
Are ghosts real? That is the question that most of society deliberates day after day. The true definition of a ghost is a soul or spirit of a deceased individual that can appear in visible form or other manifestations to the living. Ghosts are of the most common paranormal belief in the world. Most people believe in ghosts because of a personal experience, whether that was seeing or sensing an unexplained presence. Who wouldn’t want to believe that our beloved family members are looking for us?
Throughout the ages, mankind’s fascination with the unknown has resulted in the beliefs of different theories of magic, sorcery and other supernatural activities. While it is a natural trait for humans to be curious of what they do not know, there is something to be said for the mass conviction in these paranormal topics. It’s a mystery in itself how groups of people of all ethnicities and nationalities can have the same beliefs and interest in these topics. From witchcraft to UFO’s, it can be seen all throughout history that humans have been attracted to the unexplained.
For many years, people have debated whether or not spirits are real. Some people get scared at the fact that there might be something unknown lurking in their house in the middle of the night making their footsteps known to everyone in it. Maybe that person feels watched upon or feel some kind of presence in their home, or even sees shadows moving their way through rooms. Different people around the world have their own opinions based on religion and experiences when talking about angels, demons, and the spirits that have life after death. New technology is getting closer to detecting these energies happening in the world today. The history of haunting dates back many years, and more people want to get involved because of the new technology.
century, ghost hunting is almost as scientific as physics. Ghosts are now normally categorized into one of three groups: a residual haunting, a spirit that lived as a human , or a spirit that never lived as a human (Killen, 1).
The paranormal is not what most people believe it is, “ghosts”. There is a wide range in
Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore. Ed. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2007.