21 Ghosts That Would Send the Ghostbusters Running

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Ghost stories have existed since the written word. What makes them so frightening is that they evolve with us. A good ghost story can bring our deepest anxieties and fears to the surface in a way few other tales can.

What makes a genuinely terrifying ghost is subjective. That being said, some ghosts have more horrifying stories than others. Digging through popular horror films, we have cultivated a list of the spookiest ghosts we could find. So settle in. Things are about to get creepy.   

1. Daniel Robitaille, Candyman (1992)

Daniel Robitaille lived his life as a talented painter. While Robiraile was creating a portrait for a local white woman, the two fell madly in love. However, Robitaille’s being a black man made their love forbidden. Because of this, the town members tortured and released a swarm of bees upon him.

He is now known only as The Candyman. His vengeful spirit lives on in the streets of Chicago. He maintains his strength through the frightened whispers of the people who live there. The Candyman can be summoned by anyone foolish enough to say his name in a mirror five times.

2. Sadako, Ringu (1998)

Not much is known about the origins of Sadako Yamamura. As a young girl, she developed a set of unique gifts. She could use her mind to influence and harm those around her. Fearful of this power, her father threw her down a well and left her to die.

However, this would not be the end of Sadako. The young girl managed to channel her vengeful spirit into a videotape distributed to the masses. Anyone who watches this recording will experience Sadako’s horrible death within seven days.

3. Kayako, The Grudge (2004)

Kayako Saeki was once a young housewife, living with her son and husband. While attending college, Kayako developed a crush on one of her professors. Upon discovering this, her husband stabbed her to death before drowning their son and hanging himself. Kayako is now eternally bound to her home and kills anyone who dares to enter.

4. The Jackal, Thirteen Ghosts (2001)

Ryan Kuhn was born to a prostitute in the 1880s. As he grew older, he developed an uncontrollable desire to commit violence against women. After years of torturing and murdering prostitutes, he committed himself to Borinwood Asylum.

However, his violence made it impossible to treat him. The asylum wrapped him in a straight jacket and placed his head in a cage before locking him in the basement of the asylum until his death. He now wanders the earth in search of deviant violence.

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5. Delbert Grady, The Shining (1980)

Delbert Grady, the previous caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, now serves as its bartender. Grady originally came to the hotel with his wife and two daughters to tend to the hotel over the long winter. Unfortunately, he was no match for the building’s sinister desires, and he killed his family with an ax before taking his own life.

He now serves the Overlook and its goals. When new caretakers arrive, he lulls them into the hotel’s embrace and tells them to kill their families. Being tied to the Overlook Hotel, Grady can only be defeated if the hotel is destroyed.

6. Freddy Krueger, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Born to a nun, Freddy Krueger would go on to become one of Springwood’s most infamous killers. Labeled as the Springwood Slasher, Krueger killed at least four children before he was caught. However, he was released because of a clerical error.

This information didn’t sit well with the townspeople. Forming an angry mob, they marched to Krueger’s home and burned him alive. However, Krueger swore revenge on the town and returned to prey upon their children in their sleep. After toying with the children, he kills them and collects their souls to increase his otherworldly powers.

7. Annabelle, Annabelle (2014)

Annabelle, the doll, is believed to have been possessed by the demon Malthus. Samuel Mullins created the doll to give to his daughter, Annabelle Mullins. After the young girl was killed in a car crash, Samuel and his wife prayed to anything that would listen to bring their daughter back.

This resulted in the demon Malthus invading the doll and dwelling inside it. Annabelle is the center of generations of harm and destruction. She is eventually controlled by Ed and Laurain Warren, who were able to place the doll in their home to protect the world from its influence.

8. The Headless Horseman, Sleepy Hollow (1999)

A Hessian mercenary, The Headless Horseman, was sent to the American settlements to destroy soldiers and claim land for his master. Along with his vicious steed, Daredevil, he would decapitate his victims in a brutal display of violence.

When he was finally captured and killed, the American soldiers cut off his head for retribution. However, Mary Van Tassel had plans for the once glorious killer. She dug up his head and used magic to rip his soul from the planes of hell. He now haunts the town of Sleepy Hollow, killing whoever his master wishes, just as he did so many years ago.

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9. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (1988)

The ghost with the most, Beetlejuice, is a bio-exorcist, meaning that he dispels the living from buildings by any means necessary. Once the assistant of Juno, a caseworker of the underworld, Beetlejuice became disillusioned with the bureaucratic nature of death and set out to handle things his way.

Because of his actions, Beetlejuice was banished to the Netherworld’s Lost Souls Room for eternity. However, those who wish to use his skillset to remove some pesky humans have to say his name three times, and he will appear in the mortal world.

10. Alice Palmer, Lake Mungo (2008)

Following the death of their daughter Alice Palmer, the Palmer family begins an investigation into her life to try to uncover the mystery surrounding her death. But once they start digging, they find a horrifying tale that will never be the same.

Alice Palmer drowns in a lake shortly after witnessing her own ghost. She now haunts her family, invading their dreams and stalking their home from the shadows. The Palmer family eventually leaves the house, but Alice’s ghost stays at home, waiting for those who come looking for her.

11. Stephanie Stevenson, Sinister (2012)

Originally believed to be missing, Stephanie Stevenson now serves the demon Bughuul. This ancient Babylonian creature feasts on the souls of children. However, he enlists some of them in his service to help him slay more families.

Stevenson works as Bughuul’s representative to children. Her spirit talks to the youngest child in a family and convinces them to murder their parents in elaborate, childlike ways. Eternally bound to her master, Stevenson cannot be stopped unless Bughuul bids it so.

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12. Bathsheba Sherman, The Conjuring (2013)

Born in 1812, Bathsheba Sherman was a witch who devoted her life to Satan. She eventually settled down and married Jedson Sherman, having one son together. On the child’s first birthday, Jedson caught Bathsheba sacrificing their only child to her dark lord.

Knowing she would soon be killed, she ran into her front yard and climbed the highest tree she could find. She placed a curse on anyone who would try to claim her land and jumped from the tree, hanging herself in the process. True to her word, Sherman now haunts the land, causing any mother who moves in to kill her children and then herself.

13. Ghost Patients, Grave Encounters (2011)

Nestled in the heart of Riverview Hospital, Dr Arthur Friedkin treats his patients. However, Dr. Friedkin has a taste for the occult. He uses black magic and the occult during his lobotomy processes, binding the staff and patients to the hospital for all of eternity.

These ghosts now wander the halls of the building, living out their horrific treatment in perpetuity. Because of their ties to the occult world, these spirits can manipulate time and the fabric of reality to ensure that anyone who enters the hospital may never leave.

14. The Reaper, The Frighteners (1996)

Johnny Bartlett once worked as an orderly at his local hospital. Unlike the other workers there, he had an ulterior motive for his altruism. Bartlett formed an unhealthy fascination with serial killers and wanted to become the most prolific serial killer in history.

To achieve this, he went on a murder spree at the hospital, killing as many people as possible. Bartlett was executed for his crimes but was brought back from hell by his girlfriend. He now acts as a grim reaper, raising his body count for eternity.

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15. Ghosts in the Mirror, Oculus (2013)

Marisol Chavez died a horrific death in 1975. Compelled by the evil entity of the mirror, she pulled out all of her teeth with a pair of pliers before dying of a miscarriage. She now dwells within the mirror, corrupting anyone foolish enough to purchase the cursed relic.

16. Marcus, Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

Marcus suffered terrible torture at the hand of an evil Nazi scientist during World War II. The scientist, known only as the Devil’s Doctor, committed occult experiments on the prisoners in his care. Although Marcus was rescued by allied soldiers, when he attempted to receive medical care in America, he was kidnapped by the Devil Doctor once again.

Marcus returns to the Doctor’s home, where he is bound and has his mouth sewed shut. Marcus and the other captives died in the basement of the house. Over time, these spirits became engaged and formed an entity known as Ghoul Marcus. This new entity now waits patiently to enact its vengeance on anyone who dares enter the building.

17. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, A Christmas Carol (1984)

Although it causes no direct harm to the people it encounters, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a terrifying visage of the future. This spirit serves as a warning and shows people the horrible possibilities of the future.

18. Poppy Hill, The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

Dressed in an iconic green flapper dress, Poppy Hill serves the evil of Hill House by seducing its victims and convincing them to murder their families. Poppy spent much of her youth in a mental asylum. This is where she met her future husband, William Hill.

After the two were released from the asylum, they married and moved into William’s family home, Hill House. However, the house’s corrupting force infected Poppy as she spent her life there. After her death, her spirit became trapped in the home, where it infected anyone foolish enough to stay after nightfall.

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19. Dr. Malcolm Crowe, The Sixth Sense

A well-respected psychologist, Dr. Malcom Crowe was tragically killed by a patient experiencing psychosis. While the spirit of Dr. Crowe doesn’t present any immediate danger, being followed around by a ghost psychologist trying to treat you sounds pretty terrifying in and of itself.

20. Elly Kedward, The Blair Witch (1999)

Born in 1792, Elly Kedward was an Irish immigrant who settled in Blair. In 1785, several children accused Kedward of being a witch. These children claimed that she would lure them into her home and draw blood from them. Being found guilty of witchcraft, Kedward was dragged out of town and tied to a tree to die.

Shortly after this event, some local children ventured into the woods to see if Kedward had died. Finding her alive, they tortured her before hanging her from the tree she was tied to. That winter, all of Kedward’s accusers and most of the town’s children had disappeared. Now known as The Blair Witch, Keward haunts her woods and captures anyone who dares trespass.

21. Andrew Tully, Hell House LLC (2015)

The owner of the Abaddon Hotel, Andrew Tully was an occult practitioner who wished to open the gates of hell. He named his hotel after Abaddon, the gatekeeper to hell’s domain. After several hotel members go missing, Tully and his staff commit suicide within the building.

Their ghosts are now trapped within the hotel. However, they have continued their ambitious plan. The spirits will kidnap anyone who stays at the hotel and use them in demonic rites.

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If you’re looking to get a good rest and watch vampire movies all day, look no further than this list!

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So we’re sharing our top black-and-white films with you today! From the contained drama of 12 Angry Men to the eerie Nosferatu and the heart-achy Casablanca, we’re rounding up 20 of the myriad old films that have made it to the status of legends; whether they’re can’t-miss classics or films with a niche cult following, they’re all excellent in some way.

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