Ghosts and Hauntings. The rundown and lowdown.

Have you ever wondered about what TYPES or classifications of ghosts there might be in the spiritual realm? Or did you think it's a 'one size fits all' kind of thing?

Well, to be honest, there is no one size deal to this. There are several types AND classifications of ghosts (and hauntings).

I have dealt with a few types, but not all. Both with the hauntings and with the spirits.

Here is a rundown of what types of ghosts you can run in to (from the site The Astral World)...


1. Guardian Angels - Everyone has at least one. They are usually some kind of relation to you that died before you were born. Most of the time you won't know who they are - or rather, were. They watch over us our entire lives and help us out through the rough and dangerous times. They're the little voice telling you not to take your usual route the day a huge pile-up happens on the freeway. That's just an example but I think you get what I mean.

2. Lost Souls - These are spirits who know they're dead but don't know where to go. They can also fear moving on and are afraid to leave what's known to them. They linger around until the day comes when they're ready to leave.

3. Are We Dead Yet? - An easy example of this is Bruce Willis' character in The Sixth Sense. These spirits walk around, going about their lives not knowing that they've passed on. They wonder why people ignore them and why nobody comes to visit anymore. This happens more often with old people who've spent their later years by themselves. Another (fictional) example is the Nicole Kidman movie, The Others. The spirits may think that the new inhabitants are the spirits, when it is the other way around.

4. Unfinished business - There can be a number of reasons why certain beings stick around after death. As portrayed most often in movies - "catch my killer!" Other reasons can be as simple as waiting to see their child graduate. Once the work is finished, the deceased usually moves on in peace.

5. Self-Appointed Guardian Angels - These are loved ones who stick around after death to watch over someone. It can be a deceased husband watching over his elderly wife during the last of her days. It can be a young mother who died before her time watching over her children as they grow up.

6. Wasting Time Between Lives - As in reincarnation. They're waiting for the next life to come around. What better way to waste some time than being a ghost. Coming and going from the planes as you please, enjoying yourself during your sightseeing, visiting old friends to see how they're doing, and the list goes on. They're not here and not there - there just waiting in between.

7. Messengers - These are usually in the form of a loved one. It can be a warning of certain danger or future events. It can also be a spirit coming to ease the pain from a grieving loved one. My mother and my grandmother have both had the latter happen. With messengers, the spirit is not always deceased.

8. Still Living - These people can be dreaming or having an out-of-body experience (obe). In the case of dreams, the person doesn't usually know they're walking around in the form of a ghost. With intentional obe's, the projector knows what's going on but their intentions are generally harmless. I've personally seen my uncle come walking out of his bedroom, look at me and then turn around and walk back into his room even though at the time he was sound asleep in a hospital bed 5 minutes away. He died about a year later.


Now, here is a compiled list of the types/classifications of hauntings (by Paranormal Daily News)


1.) Residual Haunting
Residual hauntings occur when something traumatic happens, such as a murder; negative energy leaves an imprint of the event. Like a recorded tape, it will play the events over and over and over again. The entities involved in this residual haunting are unaware of their surroundings. Residual hauntings are not intelligent hauntings because there is no interaction between you and the entity.

2.) Poltergeist Haunting
Probably the most popular, a poltergeist is a spirit, usually mischievous and occasionally malevolent, which manifests its presence by making noises, moving objects, and assaulting people and animals. The term “poltergeist” comes from the German poltern, “to knock,” and geist, “spirit.”

Included in the most common types of poltergeist activities are the moving or throwing of objects, including large pieces of furniture; loud noises and shrieks; and vile smells. It seems that poltergeists have adapted to the development of technology. They are known to have caused interference in telephones and electronic equipment, and turning lights and appliances on and off. Some poltergeists are said to pinch, bite, hit, and sexually attack the living.

Generally poltergeist activity starts and stops abruptly. The duration of it may extend over several hours to several months; however, some cases have been reported to last over several years. The activity almost always occurs at night when someone is present. Typically this is the “agent,” an individual who seems to serve as a focus or magnet for the activity. In most cases, the agent is a factor, both those that seem paranormal or that may be caused by human PK. The agent is usually female and under the age of twenty going through puberty.

3.) Demon Activity
Demons are entities that never had a mortal human form. Demons are pure energy entities. The main purpose of a demon is to cause chaos. Demons are deceivers and they seek out our destruction. Demon cases are extremely rare - They are described in three different ways.

1. As angelic, a being of beauty that will manipulate the person to commit something that is sinful or out of the ordinary.

2. Horrific, evil looking. Some people claim, they have seen demons that are incredibly hideous to look at.

3. Black mist, black fog, black shadow, black smoke.


4.) Intelligent/Interactive Activity
Back to Einstein’s theory. As matter beings, we are all energy beings on the quantum level. We are made up of atoms and neutrons. As matter/energy beings we have intelligence. While we live, we have an energy aura that surrounds our living bodies. This aura is created by the millions of electrical currents that are created through our bodies. Our brains creates brain waves, a form of pure energy that is transmitting our thoughts, what we see, what we feel, etc.

When our mortal form dies, the aura that constantly surrounds our bodies, leaves our bodies. We lose 6 ounces on the instance of death. What is this 6 ounces? Perhaps it is energy leaving our body. Our soul. This energy, the aura, or you may even call it your soul, is carrying the information of what we used to be. If it can do this, then why couldn’t it also carry our intelligence? If it can carry our former intelligence of our previous life, then it should be able to interact with us intelligently. When we see this aura, we call it a ghost.

If this ghost is able to interact with us, is aware of us, can touch us, can communicate with us, then this is an intelligent/interactive haunting.

5.) Shadow People
This is a type of haunting activity that has no real explanation and are different from ghosts. They are usually shapeless dark masses mostly seen with your peripheral vision. They are known to do things that are different from ghosts. They can move between walls, they have no human features, they wear no clothes. People who encounter them, have a feeling of dread. Clairvoyants that encounter Shadow People, say they do not feel they are human and consider them non-human.

Shadow People have no discernible mouth, noses or facial expressions. Some are seen as child sized dark humanoids. Some people say they seem to be made up of dark smoke or dark steam. At times when they move, they appear to be moving on an invisible track from one place to another, such as a toy train on a small scale railroad track. They have been seen to hop or what appears to be a strange dance. They are known to stare at the floor.

Two common types of Shadow People are the ‘hat man’, that looks like he or she is wearing a 1930s fedora hat and the ‘hooded figure’, which looks like the shadow person has a hood over their head. The hood and hat stand out as clothing, but otherwise, they are not wearing any clothing at all.

6.) Doppelganger Haunting
These are extremely rare and a case example is best used to explain this.

Case example: German ghost hunting investigative team is called upon a doppelganger haunting activity to investigate.

The woman victim was standing on a street corner and with her peripheral vision saw the image of herself on a bus. The image of herself was staring back at her. One week later she again faced her doppelganger in a crowded mall, it stared at her and seemed to disappear amongst the mass of people. It wore the same clothes that she wore. One week later, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Doppelganger haunting activity is considered the evil twin, the harbinger of misfortune, the omen of death.

In most cases, the victim of this haunting activity is in danger with her immediate surroundings, her family or in some cases the victim themselves are in grave danger of illness or death.

Many of these explanations were written by Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter and Ghosthunter from this very cool site (True Ghost Tales). You can also visit Paul Dale Roberts’ page here, where he has a lot of amazing paranormal articles.


Personally from the hautings perspective, I have experienced numbers 1, 2 and 5 respectively the most often.

As far as ghostly apparitions go, I have seen for myself numbers 1, 2 and 8.