Inside the Legend: The Usual Suspects

 

GHOSTS

“You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The spirit."

Ghosts are controversial phenomena which have several possible definitions: The spirit or soul of a person who has died, a sort of psychic memory-imprint., and the character or memory of some being or thing which has died.

According to reported sightings, ghosts have taken the shape of humans, animals, and even vehicles. There are reports of ghosts (usually of deceased humans) in most cultures throughout the world. There is a great deal of dispute whether ghosts are figments of the imagination or part of objective existence. Ghosts are among the subjects studied by parapsychologists.

Ghosts, or phantoms, are often theorized of a human size and shape (although some accounts also mention animal ghosts), but they are often described as not visually striking. Usually these depictions suggest that the ghost does not consist of solid matter. The Western theory of a ghost is semi-transparent, and does not directly interact with physical objects. The ghosts of the Western belief can defy physics, such as walk through walls and float above the ground. Ghosts are often said to behave as if they were mindlessly following a particular routine or itinerary (see Residual haunting). Other ghosts are described as being solid, interacting with their environment, and generally behaving much like other people.

Some ghost researchers approach the possibility of ghosts from a more scientific standpoint, supposed presence of ghosts. Those who follow this approach most often believe that ghosts are not actual disembodied souls or spirits , but rather they are impressions of psychic energy left behind by a deceased (or in some rare cases, still living) person. They assert that traumatic events (such as a murder or suicide) cause mental energy of some kind to be released into the world, where it may be experienced by other people who are sensitive to its presence.

Many cultures believe in demons, devils, and negative energies. Many times such cultures also believe that these may be, or be related to, ghosts, and that they may trouble humans in various ways, such as possession, influence upon thoughts or emotions, nightmares, voices, cold spots, and various sicknesses.

While some accept ghosts as a reality, many others are skeptical of the existence of ghosts. Much of the scientific community believes that ghosts, as well as other supernatural and paranormal entities, do not exist. The current tentative consensus among parapsychologists is that ghosts are not the spirits of deceased humans, but psychic imprints which have been left behind, often because of especially strong emotions in the persons who leave the ghost. Also, the psychological phenomenon of pareidolia may cause people to perceive human-like faces or figures in the otherwise mundane surroundings of their environments, particularly in conditions where vision is partly obscured, as in a dark corridor or at night.

VENGEFUL SPIRITS

“Well, they’re created by violent deaths. And then they come back for a reason, often a nasty one, such as getting revenge on the people who hurt em’.”

GHOSTS AS OMENS

“The last two people who saw this thing, died pretty soon after.”

The unavoidable omen ghost is a ghost whose appearance signals that something terrible is about to happen such as a disaster, death or illness. These ghosts can be past family members or unknown specters. Omen ghosts can also be in the form of animals like phantom cats, hounds, and birds are the most common. The time frame between the ghost sighting and tragedy can vary from a couple hours to a few days. There is usually not any detailed information about the oncoming tragedy.

The odd part of these ghosts is that they manifest just before a tragedy, but with no specific information about the tragedy and without a way of stopping the tragedy. It is a compelling paradox; the omen ghost appears to warn the living about a tragic event that cannot be changed. Maybe the living are not supposed to know what the future brings, but, instead, are meant to be comforted by knowing that supernatural beings are watching over them. The reasons might be beyond human comprehension. Ghosts play by a different set of rules. Omen ghosts are in a different place and have a different perspective on life. Their supernatural perspective gives these ghosts an advantage. They know things about the future that the living is not allowed to know.

No one knows if omen ghosts are assigned to appear to the living or if they have to fight for the right to appear. Typically, omen ghosts will appear consistently to the same family line generation after generation. When the omen ghost appears, tragedy is always close behind. They are one of the most bizarre anomalies of the spirit world. The unavoidable omen ghost is a mystery locked inside a mystery.

JUMBLED COMMUNICATIONS

“But, you see the interesting thing is the word it leaves behind. It’s trying to tell us something. But, communicating across the veil- it ain’t easy. Sometimes the spirits, they get things jumbled. You remember ‘Red Rum’? Same concept. It can be word fragments. Other times, it’s anagrams. You see first we thought this was a name ‘DanaShulps’, but now we think it’s a street ‘Ashland’ So, whatever’s going on- I bet you it started there.”

ANAGRAM

Coming from the Greek “ana” meaning “back” or “again” and “graphein” meaning “to write.” It is a type of word play that consists of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase in order to produce other words, using all the original letters exactly once. In a more advanced, sophisticated form of anagramming, ones goal is to ‘discover’ a result that has a meaning that defines or comments on the original subject in a humorous or ironic way as in Somewhere Over the Rainbow ? Worrisome However Beneath.

RED RUM

The word murder spelled backwards. It was first used in “The Shining” by Stephen King and then in both the film and the miniseries that were made based on the book.

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY

These are the words that Jack Torrance, Jack Nicholson’s character in Stanley Kubrick’s film “The Shining,” was obsessed with and kept on writing and typing. In this episode, the way in which the words ‘DanaShulps’ appears is an eerily similar occurrence.

THE GREAT ESCAPE

“Hilts, Mcqueen.”

The Great Escape, directed by John Sturges and starring Steve McQueen, is a popular 1963 World War II film, based on a true story about Allied prisoners of war with a record for escaping from prisoner-of-war camps. The Nazis and Gestapo placed them in a new more secure German camp, from which they promptly formed a plan to break out 250 men.

MATLOCK

“Thanks for the law review, Matlock.”

Matlock was an American television legal drama starring Andy Griffith as attorney Ben Matlock. The format of the show was very similar to that of Perry Mason, with Matlock figuring out who the murderer is and then confronting them in a dramatic courtroom scene near the end; although whereas Mason usually exculpated his clients at a pretrial hearing, Matlock usually secured an acquittal at trial, from the jury. The show ran from 1986 to 1992 on NBC, then 1992 until 1995 on ABC. The show can currently be seen in syndication and is distributed by Viacom. In the US, Superstation WGN and Hallmark play the reruns daily.

CASPER

"But, our working theory is that we’re looking for some King of Vengeful Spirit. You know, Casper the bloodthirsty ghost.”

Casper was created in the early-1940s by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo, the former devising the idea for the character and the latter providing illustrations. Intended initially as the basis for a children's storybook, there was initially little interest in their idea and when Reit was away on military service during the Second World War, Oriolo sold the rights to the character to Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios animation division, for which he had occasionally worked.

The Friendly Ghost, the first Noveltoon to feature Casper, was released by Paramount in 1945. In the cartoon, Casper is a cute, pudgy ghost-child, who prefers making friends with people instead of scaring them. He leaves his home at the local haunted house and goes out to make friends. However, every person or animal he meets takes one horrified look at him and runs off in the other direction. Distraught, Casper unsuccessfully attempts to commit suicide (apparently forgetting that he's already dead) before he meets two little children who become his friends. The children's mother at first rejects Casper, but later welcomes him into the family after he wards off a greedy landlord.

Casper appeared in two subsequent Noveltoons before Paramount started a Casper the Friendly Ghost series in 1950, and ran the theatrical releases until the summer of 1959. Nearly every entry in the series was the same: Casper leaves the life of a regular ghost, tries to find friends but scares nearly everyone, and finally finds a (cute little) friend, whom he saves from some sort of fate. The cartoon series also boasted a catchy title song which was written by Jerry Livingston and Mack David.

SOURCES:
- Wikipedia
- The Book of Ghosts

Inside the Legend by Dean5339