QUISP

Times Writer

*Boo!* Mhmm.... Yay for the clich??! It's me, QUISP. Heh, in the spirit of Hallowe'en, and the fact that a friend of mine made me think (I've REALLY needed a muse lately, as school has kinda distracted me from Whyville and article-writing).

Anyway... why are ghosts always perceived as being scary, evil, belligerent entities?

The entire thing about ghosts having "unfinished business" makes perfect sense, I think. Assuming they exist (which I believe they do), why would they even bother with us? I mean, they obviously perceive things in a much different manner than we do, and they've obviously endured things that we haven't....

The only reason I can think of as to WHY ghosts would bother us is to tell us something - something that they were unable to tell us during their lifetime. Or perhaps they were treated unfairly during their lifetimes, so they never really died, and lived lives full of angst, fear, and anger -- therefore they are angry and restless now (sort of like when you have a bad day, and have nightmares, you're in a very light sleep, and can be awoken easily). And that may be why ghosts are often seen in places where slaves, servants, or murders have taken place: slaves in the southern states of the U.S. -- on old plantations, or in old castles (torture chambers, witch burnings), or old houses where people have died, or been murdered. These are just several of the places where ghost sightings seem to be commonplace.

Obviously, ghosts COULD be belligerent, or evil. Mind you, they probably have good reason if they're like that -- calm ones probably wouldn't want to bother us, so we only see the "bad" ones, right? But the ones trying to tell us something might just resort to behavior that can be annoying to us (although some people may find it scary). That might only be because we don't listen to them when they're calm and trying quietly to get our attention!

Anyway, that's enough of my philosophizing, LoL. Ghosts are very intriguing, though; it's one of my life's pursuits to see a ghost. ^_^ I know that sounds kinda weird, but I think to experience something like that would help you view life from a different perspective, which we should all force ourselves to do, once in a while, at least.

Anyway, I'm out now!
-QUISP