Why are ghosts almost always portrayed as evil?

[Xterrian]

A few days late, but I'm a lazy bum with a slay the spire addiction.

Anyway, that thread the other day about the portrayal of clowns got me thinking about other horror staples. How vampires and werewolves are romanticized, how skeletons are often used for comedic purposes (tbf they do tickle my funny bone, haha)....

Well, then I got to ghosts. Sure you have those like featured in The Sixth Sense, or the amazing episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark that directly inspired it. But let's be honest: most people view them as inherently malevolent. From enemies in everything from Mario to Dark Souls, "ghost hunters" acting like they're putting themselves in danger, being "haunted" becoming synonymous with cursed, ghosts are commonly viewed by most from coast to coast as something to avoid if possible (inb4 that's ez bc they're not real)

But, I ask you denizens of ERA, why? Most people aren't particularly evil or murderous in life, so why would their revenants be? You could come up with the answer that they're bitter/seeking revenge after being murdered, or maybe even hold some jealousy and hatred toward the living. Or maybe even they have turned bitter, being stuck on this planet and not fully moving on to the afterlife.

TL;DR This topic is mostly made in jest, but I am curious as to what era thinks. Personally, if ghosts do exist, I would think it's far more likely that they only wish to communicate, or pay the living a visit. Even if they do linger due to any unfortunate accident/event, I don't think they would take it out on whatever living human comes by.

That's all. Hopefully this topic can inspire others to think about why we have certain perceptions. Even if it's something relatively silly, it's still neat and interesting to look into, at least for me.

 

[EvilChameleon]

Casper is in shambles reading this thread.

 

[Squirrel09]

My immediate thought is because normally ghost stories revolve around an individual who was mistreated in their life, and now they have the means to mistreat others. idk... lol

 

[Aurongel]

Look at you massacred my boy Casper.

 

[Heynongman!]

They say ghosts are the souls of people with unfinished business, and that unfinished business is apparently to make creaky sounds in their houses

 

[Sanka]

Christianity is somehow responsible for this.

 

[Septimus Prime]

All the souls that don't have some unfinished grudge already left the world, so the ones still around are presumably just the assholes.

 

[Lkr]

They have to put "friendly" in casper's title to let you know he's not an evil ghost

 

[Finaika]

Because they want to eat you.

 

[Imperfected]

Ghosts are evil because if your "ghost story" is "the old lady who used to live in my house is still there and sometimes she ghost-bakes cookies" then frankly nobody's interested. Like I'm sure there's plenty of off-their-nut people who try to convince their neighbors their attic is haunted by the ghost of a squirrel that got trapped up there, but come on, who even cares?

You gotta sex your ghost stories up with some murder and terror if you're gonna make primetime, kid.

 

[SnakeXs]

Casp

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[Enduin]

Ghost are generally those who won't/can't move on fully to the afterlife since they're generally the exception rather than the rule for those who died. For most religions that's either a no-no or at the very least a big red flag. So not surprising they would largely be seen as malevolent or at least antagonistic.

 

[platocplx]

Have you forgotten the the beautiful love story of the movie ghost m,the sixth man and field of dreams!

 

[Ryuelli]

Nearly Headless Nick and Casper are the GOATs.

 

[skeezx]

if ghosts were good they wouldn't be dead [/thread

 

[gforguava]

A ghost is a scar on the psychosphere, it is an echo of trauma, and thus it must always be negative. If it it wasn't, it wouldn't be there at all.


edit: And there are numerous ghost stories that portray them more tragically than malevolently.

 

[Doggg]

Scary stories with ghosts terrorizing people are more fun. I don't want to hear about ghosts having tea or some shit.

 

[N64Controller]

Adult

 

[mbpm]

All the good people went to heaven. We get stuck with the assholes.

That's my theory of popular ghosts anyway

 

[Fiction]

I like the explanation that Supernatural gives: ghosts are just normal people who refuse to go with the reaper. But the years alone and untethered from reality drive them insane and they start seeking vengeance on the living.

 

[N64Controller]

I like the explanation that Supernatural gives: ghosts are just normal people who refuse to go with the reaper. But the years alone and untethered from reality drive them insane and they start seeking vengeance on the living.

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Yeah, I loved the Supernatural mythos surrounding Ghosts. Easily the strongest episodes in the series.

 

[amoy]

All the souls that don't have some unfinished grudge already left the world, so the ones still around are presumably just the assholes.

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This pretty much.

Tormented or cursed souls who lost their minds? I'm not religious or anything, but isn't there a concept of body, mind and soul being distinct thing?

I imagine losing your mind would send you down to a warped and twisted path.

 

[Fiction]

Yeah, I loved the Supernatural mythos surrounding Ghosts. Easily the strongest episodes in the series.

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The one episode in season one, I think it was called Road Kill? Where the ghost killer is actually the ghost that killed the "victim" they were helping (who was a ghost too of course) was awesome.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Because the unknown is always frightening to us and we ascribe evil intentions to things that frighten us.

Ever thought that ghosts are afraid of us and want to scare us away to protect themselves?

 

[Hattoto]

Ghosts represent the unknown. And we tend to villainize the unknown.

 

[Chubnasty]

Imagine if you're a ghost and your "unfinished business" was unfinished dishes?

I'd be pissed too.

 

[iAmPossum]

Nice and cordial ghosts are no fun.

 

[chuckddd]

 

[fontguy]

Because it's rude to show up in my house uninvited when I'm trying to masturbate.

 

[FreezePeach]

They aren't. Demonic spirits and demons are evil, and they get mixed up with ghosts. Ghosts almost always are portrayed as scary motherfuckers until the twist at the end where they just want to be heard and have you solve their plight. Now look behind you.

 

[Shining Star]

I don't know OP! You could just as easily meet a cute lovely ghost who just wants a girlfriend.

 

[Lost Lemurian]

The modern day concept of ghosts seem to have been conflated with the idea of mischievous or malevolent spirits and sprites from older folklore.

 

[Xterrian]

I don't know OP! You could just as easily meet a cute lovely ghost who just wants a girlfriend.

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I did not expect this thread to give me this. Could you tell me what it's from?

 

[ProtomanNeo]

People fear or ridicule what they don't immediately comprehend.

 

[Kernel]

Patrick Swayze begs to differ.

 

[Shining Star]

I did not expect this thread to give me this. Could you tell me what it's from?

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That's Heart of the Woods, an amazing supernatural yuri visual novel.

 

[KtSlime]

I don't think they are, but if they are hanging around earth, it's probably not good.

 

[PBalfredo]

I feel the same way, OP. The ratio of evil ghosts is way out of whack. Even factoring in those with lingering regrets, most ghosts would want to just say good bye to loved ones much more than murdering anyone who set foot in their old house.

And since anime has been brought up, that reminds me of one that I really enjoyed because it's all about a non-evil ghost. Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. What's nice is that just because the ghost isn't evil it isn't totally vanilla like old Casper; it still mixes in plenty of spookiness with its mix of genres.

 

[Kurtikeya]

A ghost is a scar on the psychosphere, it is an echo of trauma, and thus it must always be negative. If it it wasn't, it wouldn't be there at all.

edit: And there are numerous ghost stories that portray them more tragically than malevolently.

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Nailed it.

Christianity is somehow responsible for this.

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Nope. Greco-Roman stories have always featured an underworld haunted by "pitiful, terrifying, bloodless shades". The Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Orpheus all take time to describe ghosts/shades/shadows/specters who have become irritable or even hostile in their sorrows.

A Christian work that follows this tradition is, of course, Dante's Commedia, and he dedicates an entire book to his own underworld, the Inferno. What he does different from the authors before him is that he extends the unhappiness of his shades from lacking progress to lacking salvation, but that's already neither here nor there.

Since Freud, ghosts have almost always been characterized by trauma and repression. Japanese malevolent ghosts (so yurei, not yokai) are usually sentiments about their post-war trauma, with onryo (like Sadako) and ubume being about Japan's anxieties about the postwar woman and postwar gender reconstruction in general.

Still, artists today have tried to reconfigure what ghosts mean or what trauma means or what repression means. Jordan Peele played with in Get Out to explore Black abduction and systemic racism. Bong Joon-ho played with the classic "ghost from the underworld" in Parasite and made it just as literal as it is symbolic. In either case, the dread is there, but they also question why we find it dreadful in the first place.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Thats actually something I loved about The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Spoiler

Some ghosts are good, some bad, a lot of them are indifferent.
In Hill House the creepy old lady ghost actually warns them about another ghost being bad and a liar.
In Bly Manor you have a plague doctor and WW era soldier ghost just watching the people throughout the series from the shadows.

Japanese "ghosts" on the other hand are very annoying,
you'll have shit where innocent victims get involved, do the right thing, solve an issue, get justice, etc but that spirit don't care and still seems to always get them in the end.

 

[Lotto]

 

[Deleted member 14377]

Phantom Dennis from Angel

 

[Strings]

Ghosts are evil because if your "ghost story" is "the old lady who used to live in my house is still there and sometimes she ghost-bakes cookies" then frankly nobody's interested. Like I'm sure there's plenty of off-their-nut people who try to convince their neighbors their attic is haunted by the ghost of a squirrel that got trapped up there, but come on, who even cares?

You gotta sex your ghost stories up with some murder and terror if you're gonna make primetime, kid.

Click to shrink...

What if my Ghost Story stars Casey Affleck?




Fab flick about a non-malevolent ghost :P

 

[TheChuggernaut]

Adult

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Behind

 

[Charismagik]

And why are ghosts always something that comes out at night or in some darkened area? Like, has there ever been a ghost that just showed up in the middle of the day and tried their spooky shit?

 

[Fliesen]

If you're somehow stuck in the afterlife, not able to move on to your place in Heaven or whatever, that must be incredibly frustrating. I can see how that leads to many of them becoming cynical and mean-spirited (pun intended)...

 

[Pixels]

Are you a Ghost?

 

[RedSonja]

You've asked a loaded question, OP. We need to investigate ghostly phenomena further to get to the bottom of it. We all have limited experiences of ghosties and stuff and it's all fake news.

 

[R0b1n]

When people claim they encounter ghosts, the ghost tend to be less malicious than ghosts portrayed in media. As for why ghosts are often shown as malicious in media, it's obvious isn't it? More entertaining

 

[Version 3.0]

I don't think ghosts are any more vilified than vampires or werewolves, especially historically. Vampires and werewolves were evil by definition, for hundreds of years. Almost like demons. It's only in relatively recent media that they were turned into protagonists, or even superheroes. Witches, too; once evil by definition, then writers started to use them as protagonists, like Bewitched, Witches of Eastwick, Sabrina, etc.

Ghosts were never evil by definition, to my recollection. They were often victims, trapped by some circumstance. Not necessarily evil, even if they were dangerous. And I think harmless or friendly ghosts, many of which have already been posted (ahem, Casper), have been around at least as long, and I think longer, than friendly vampires and werewolves.

If ghosts are currently portrayed more often as evil than vampires are (a big if), it's probably only because it's easier to make a superhero out of a vampire.