ghost
Sign in to savethumb|right|An engraving of the Hammersmith Ghost murder case|Hammersmith Ghost appears in Roger Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum, a magazine published in 1804. The "ghost" turned out to be an old local cobbler who used a white sheet to get back at his apprentice for scaring his children.
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The Hammersmith Ghost was a figure that appeared in early 1800s London, initially believed by locals to be a supernatural apparition but later revealed to be an old cobbler wearing a white sheet as a prank against his apprentice. The case became notable enough to be featured in Roger Kirby's 1804 magazine and demonstrates how rumors about ghosts can spread in a community before a rational explanation emerges.
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53 sectionsContents
- Terminology
- Etymology
- Usage and synonyms
- Typology
- Anthropological context
- Ghosts and the afterlife
- Fear of ghosts
- Common attributes
- Locale
- History
- Ancient Near East and Egypt
- Classical Antiquity
- Archaic and Classical Greece
- Roman Empire and Late Antiquity
- Middle Ages
- European Renaissance to Romanticism
- Modern period of western culture
- Spiritualist movement
- Spiritism
- Scientific view
- By religion
- Judaism
- Christianity
- Islam
- Hinduism
- Buddhism
- By culture
- African folklore
- European folklore
- South and Southeast Asia
- Indian subcontinent
- North India
- Bengal and East India
- Thailand
- Tibet
- Austronesia
- East and Central Asia
- China
- Japan
- Americas
- Mexico
- United States
- Depiction in the arts
- Renaissance to Romanticism (1500 to 1840)
- Victorian/Edwardian (1840 to 1920)
- Modern era (1920 to 1970)
- Post-modern (1970–present)
- Metaphorical usages
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|right|An engraving of the Hammersmith Ghost murder case|Hammersmith Ghost appears in Roger Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum, a magazine published in 1804. The "ghost" turned out to be an old local cobbler who used a white sheet to get back at his apprentice for scaring his children.
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms, whether they resemble humans or animals. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, haint, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter, spirit, spook, wraith, demon, and ghoul.