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Ghosts
Ghosts: A Haunted History | Lisa Morton
14 posts | 1 read | 5 to read
From that cheerful puff of smoke known as Casper to the hunkiest potter living or dead, Sam Wheat, there is probably no more iconic entity in supernatural history than the ghost. And these are just recent examples. From the earliest writings such as the Epic of Gilgamesh to todays ghost-hunting reality TV shows, ghosts have chilled the air of nearly every era and every culture in human history. In this book, Lisa Morton uses her scholarly prowessmore powerful than any proton packto wrangle together historys most enduring ghosts into an entertaining and comprehensive look at what otherwise seems to always evade our eyes. Tracing the ghosts constantly shifting contours, Morton asks the most direct questionWhat exactly is a ghost?and examines related entities such as poltergeists, wraiths, and revenants. She asks how a ghost is related to a soul, and she outlines all the different kinds of ghosts there are. To do so, she visits the spirits of the classical world, including the five-part Egyptian soul and the first haunted-house, conceived in the Roman playwright Plautuss comedy, Mostellaria. She confronts us with the frightening phantoms of the Middle Ageswho could incinerate priests and devour childrenand reminds us of the nineteenth-century rise of Spiritualism, a religion essentially devoted to ghosts. She visits with the Indian bhuta and goes to the Hungry Ghost Festival in China, and of course she spends time in Mexico, where ghosts have a particularly strong grip on belief and culture. Along the way she gathers the ectoplasmic residues seeping from books and film reels, from the Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto to the 2007 blockbuster Paranormal Activity, from the stories of Ann Radcliffe to those of Stephen King. Wide-ranging, informative, and slicked with over fifty unearthly images, Ghosts is an entertaining read of a cultural phenomenon that will delight anyone, whether they believe in ghosts or not.
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Yuki_Onna
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#Scarathlon #photochallenge #black & #ghost
#blackcatcrew🐈‍⬛
@BookwormAHN @TEArificbooks @hes7 @Read-y_Picker @5feet.of.fury @TheQuietQuill @BeckyWithTheGoodBooks @LibrarianRyan @TheBookDream

I completely forgot I had the Schleich Ghost Smurf figure! 👻
So happy to have come across it again...

BookwormAHN Cute 👻 1y
5feet.of.fury So cute! 1y
LibrarianRyan ❤️🌟 1y
20 likes3 comments
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ncsufoxes
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#scarathon photo challenge: ghost, my one ghost decoration (it is part of a set with 2 pumpkins). I realized we don‘t really have any ghost decorations. #BatBrigade (6 points)

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LiseWorks
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#Scarathlon2022 @StayCurious Watched this thus afternoon. #TeamMonsterMash

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Roary47
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😍🥰💛We did a craft today! This was on my bucket list to do. 🥰💛 #Scarathon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

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LiseWorks
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Watched another episode of this really cool TV series. I love this show. #Scarathlon2022 @StayCurious #TBWTV Series #TeamMonsterMash

Bookworm54 I still need to watch this version, but I love the UK version ☺️ 2y
14 likes1 comment
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LiseWorks
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#Scarathlon2022 #BucketList Watch TV series Ghosts. Episode 2 of season 2 @StayCurious #TeamMonsterMash

ShananigansReads I like that show. It is different and fun. 2y
15 likes1 comment
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LiseWorks
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October 1 #Scarathlon2022 tv series Bucket List 1st episode season 2 @StayCurious #TeanMonsterMash

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Nessavamusic
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Today‘s spooky viewing:
2 episodes of Ghosts to finish season 1 - such a fun show
Enjoying a vampire thriller Blood Red Sky
+15 points for #teamhendrix
7 hours of reading today! For #Scarathlon2021 #Screamathon #OutstandingOctoberReadathon #bookspinbingo #halloweenreadathon +350

Read-y_Picker Oooh going to find Ghosts right now! 3y
Andrew65 A great start to the Readathon 👏👏👏 3y
35 likes2 comments
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veritysalter
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Thank you @Andrew65 for hosting the #FabulousFebruaryReadathon I was able to read five books, and loved them all.

Andrew65 Brilliant, well done 👏👏👏🙌🥳🍾🥂🍾🥂🚀 4y
Cathythoughts Nice work 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 4y
54 likes2 comments
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veritysalter
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Pickpick

#FabulousFebruaryReadathon - Blinds closed, lamps on, fire crackling as I read Ghosts: A Haunted History. From the beginning of the written word with ‘Gilgamesh‘ through to the film ‘Paranormal Activity‘, ghosts and proof of their existence has been documented and discussed in all cultures around the world.

Andrew65 Recognising a theme 👻 4y
LeahBergen This is my kind of book stack! 👌🏻 4y
Jgacreations That looks like my bookshelf lol. Have to check these out. Ty! 4y
veritysalter @LeahBergen & @Jgacreations I do enjoy reading about a good haunting; I like to waver between cynicism and belief, the “what if”. I used to have cassettes of M.R. James‘ ghost stories when I was far too young for them and have been hooked ever since. 4y
69 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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veritysalter
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After a busy day of decorating, I‘m finally getting to sit down, on this rather chilly day, to read. A history of ghosts, their hauntings and representations in the arts. #FabulousFebruaryReadathon

Andrew65 Great to have you with us. Good luck 😊👍 4y
52 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MaleficentBookDragon
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I saw this on FB and couldn‘t resist. I really want to see yours. Especially those of you in #TeamHarkness.
Tag some #Littens

When I am a ghost I will need a little mental health day to get my new job done.

RedxoHearts When I'm a ghost I will have to check out the bathroom. Well that's exciting I guess 🤣 4y
RamsFan1963 When I'm a ghost I will never be able to think about you and miss you. Awwww how sad 😭 4y
Owlizabeth When I‘m a ghost I will do it for a few minutes to see what you can do. 4y
See All 13 Comments
CaitZ When I'm a ghost I will read the rest of the story and see what happens 4y
inthegreensandblues When I'm a ghost I will be in the same place as the other person. 4y
BethM When I am a ghost I will have a schedule and a few things. 4y
Bookwormjillk When I‘m a ghost I will probably get it in the mail. 4y
Avanders 🤣😂 loving these 😁. When I‘m a ghost I will do it again and I will do it again. 🤭🤣 4y
Cupcake12 When I‘m a ghost I will have to take a bath 🛀 4y
veritysalter When I am a ghost I will have to make a bath and I will have to be a good person - I‘m a clean ghost 👻 4y
TK421 When I'm a ghost I will never be able to see you in the morning. 😞 so sad 4y
Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick When I'm a ghost I'm a little too busy to sleep. Sweet! I must to be up haunting all the places. 4y
MeganAnn When I‘m a ghost I will have to do a little bit of it tomorrow and then I‘ll be home. ... 🤔🤷‍♀️ I guess I‘m going to haunt a little and then go home 😂 4y
47 likes13 comments
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Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick
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This is a quick recap of what I read on Oct 1-4. I'll tally the various readathon points later. The ghosts to the left are a door decoration covering the window facing my building's hallway. If they try to look into our apartment, they see ghosts. When someone is in the hallway, the light kicks on & makes them glow for us, as seen here.
#scarathalon2020 #teamharkness @StayCurious
+1

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JazzFeathers
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My book is part of the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale at half the price. It means you can get it for the price of a coffee 😆

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/611064

Magic realism. Chicago in the 1920s, flappers and gangsters. A Chiese mail-bride and her discovery of her value and her right for freedom. And ghosts that can free her or steal her soul.

(Not in the database 😭)

#HistoricalFiction #magicrealism #ghoststory #fantasy