Page 45 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Jan-Feb 2018, Vol 27, No 1

Ghosts From A - Z 45

Ghosts From A to Z

Continued from Page 44

Hungry Ghosts (Buddhism/Chinese folklore):
The concept varies slightly in different traditions
(from Chinese folk religion to Chinese
Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism, and Tibetan
Buddhism). In China, hungry ghosts are
understood largely in terms of ancestor
worship—food and drink is set out to satisfy
them during a yearly festival. In the other
Buddhist traditions, the ghosts have tiny mouths
and huge stomachs, and can never be satisfied
(providing a metaphor for illusory material
desires), or are the spirits of greedy or selfish
people, cursed in death with an insatiable desire
that can never be slaked.

Ibbur (Jewish Folklore): Unlike the dybbuk, a
positive form of possession in which a
benevolent soul temporarily inhabits a living
person in a beneficial and positive way.

for her children in vain, sometimes attempting to
Shoeless Joe Jackson (Field of Dreams): steal living children who wander or misbehave. Nearly Headless Nick (Harry Potter): Sir
Known for emerging from haunted cornfields, Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington is Gryffindor’s
throwing the World Series. If you build it, he Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol): Ebenezer resident house ghost, wizard executed after a
will come. Scrooge’s former partner, Marley’s ghost magical mishap involving a lady of the court of

appears on Christmas Eve to warn Scrooge to Henry VII. Thanks to a dull axe, the execution
Jima (Amazonian folklore): Feared by the change his miserly ways before it’s too late. did not go smoothly, and his was never
Wari, an Amazonian rainforest tribe, Jima are Although Scrooge ignores his early appearances completely severed, leading to his eventual
terrifying specters known for grabbing their and tries to reason away the apparition, Marley’s nickname among the residents of Hogwarts.
living victims with their incredibly strong, cold, unearthly howls and chain-jangling eventually Affable and helpful, if a little longwinded, Sir
poisonous hands and attempting to tear the make an impression, and he tells Scrooge that Nicholas is portrayed by John Cleese in the
victim’s spirit away. his misdeeds in life have led to an eternity spent films.
wandering the earth in ”an incessant torture of
Jinn (Quran/Islamic mythology): Jinn (also remorse.“ The Overlook Hotel (The Shining): Isolated
known as djinn or genies), are described in the resort in the Colorado Rockies with a sordid
Quran as spirits made of smokeless, scorching The Mary Celeste: Real-life ghost ship history; the hotel has a habit of possessing its
fire, and can be evil, good, or neutral in their discovered in 1872, abandoned by her crew, who inhabitants and forcing them to commit
interactions with humans. were never heard from again. One of the most unspeakable acts. One former caretaker
famous maritime mysteries, the Mary Celeste murdered his family with an axe before hilling
Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm has inspired authors from Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and their ghosts remain at the hotel,
Street): Introduced as a child killer who escaped to Philip Jose Farmer to Terry Pratchett. tormenting young Danny Torrance while
justice on a technicality, Krueger was set on fire drawing his father, Jack, over to the dark side.
and burned to death by the parents of his Moaning Myrtle (Harry Potter): Muggle-born On the bright side, murderers drink free at the
victims. After his death, his spirit preys on the witch, killed by a Basilisk when she caught Tom creepy ghost bar!
minds of the neighborhood’s teenagers, entering Riddle opening the Chamber of Secrets. Her
their dreams and killing them in their sleep. ghost haunts the Hogwarts bathroom in which Pac-Man Ghosts (Video game): Pac-Man’s
Later in the series, it is revealed that he is ”the she died (occasionally branching out to other nemeses, each ghost has a nickname and is
son of a 100 maniacs.“ He is also overly fond of bathrooms in the castle). Myrtle sometimes associated with a particular character trait within
awful (usually morbid) puns. Freddy and the helps Harry, when she’s not crying or the game. “Blinky” (red) shadows Pac-Man,
Crypt Keeper should go bowling sometime. desperately flirting with him. chasing him; “Pinky” (pink) is speedy; “Inky”
(blue) is bashful, and “Clyde” (orange) is pokey,
Large Marge (Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure): A Nachzehrer (German folklore): Supernatural slower and more random in his movements. This
trucker who offers Pee-Wee a ride during his being similar to a vampire, often tied to suicide developed out of the original Japanese version,
epic search for his missing bike. She tells him a or accidental death. The nachzehrer awakes after Puck-Man, in which the ghosts’ personalities
story about the worst accident she’s ever seen death and often attempts to devour its living can be translated as Chaser, Ambusher, Fickle,
(”There was this sound, like a garbage truck family members, but sometimes consumes its and Stupid, respectively.
dropped off the Empire State Building…“). own flesh in the grave. Powers include causing
After Marge drops him off at a diner, Pee-Wee death by casting a shadow on the living, or by Pishacha (Hindu mythology): Demonic ghosts
finds out that she’d died ten years ago in the ringing church bells, killing everyone within that feed on flesh and human energies, capable
same accident, and that he’d been riding with a hearing. of possessing humans and altering their
ghost. Hands down, the scariest part of Pee- thoughts, sometimes leading to madness. Like
Wee’s Big Adventure. (Stubby is still bhuts, pishacha are often depicted as haunting
traumatized, to this day). cremation grounds.

La Llorona (Spanish/Mexican legend): The Phi Tai Hong (Thai folkore): The most feared
Weeping Woman, a spirit who drowned her type of ghost in all of Thai folklore, a restless
children in order to be with her lover, but was and angry spirit of a person who suffered a
rejected and committed suicide. Constantly violent death.
crying, La Llorona is doomed to eternally search (Continued on Page 48)