Ghosts

Ghosts.

A ghost is the spirit of a dead person that appears and can be seen by people.

Often these ghosts can be almost invisible or see through and sometimes ghosts have been seen to travel through things like walls.

The ‘Brown Lady of Raynham Hall’ is a famous ghost that some people claim to have seen. This photo supposedly shows her walking down the stairs. In real life, her name was Dorothy and she had died of a disease called smallpox in 1726.

There can even be things like ghost trains, ghost ships or ghost animals.

Ghosts usually appear somewhere that person lived when they were alive.

It is not always ghosts that people see. Sometimes there can be spooky things like a cold breeze or objects that appear to move by themselves. What about even a musical instrument that plays by itself?

There are lots of famous ghost stories from all over the world.

Back in the 16th Century in England, a lady called Anne Boleyn was killed at the Tower of London. There are many stories of people that have seen her ghost at the Tower.

In the 19th Century in America, a famous man called Benjamin Franklin died. Some people say they have seen his ghost outside a library. And some even say that they saw a statue of him that came to life and started dancing in the streets.

At the WhiteHouse in America, lots of people say they have seen Abraham Lincoln’s ghost. Abraham Lincoln used to be the president of the USA a long time ago. He was shot and then he died. There are lots of stories of his ghost walking around inside the WhiteHouse and some people say that they have felt him nearby.

Sometimes people think that a place is haunted if bad things have happened there.

In Gallipoli in World War 1, lots of soldiers died. Now, there are many people who say they have seen ghosts appearing around there. Maybe they are the ghosts of the soldiers who died?

There is a ship called the Queen Mary that used to be a navy ship. It had an accident with another ship during the war and 300 soldiers died. Years later, the Queen Mary actually became a cruise ship but there were lots of stories of people seeing ghosts on board the ship. Some people have seen a ghost of a crew member in blue overalls walking around the ship at night. There have even been strange splashes heard in the swimming pool when all the water had actually been drained out. And some ghostly women have been seen walking beside the pool and leaving wet footprints behind them. That ship has now been made into a hotel, but it is still a bit spooky.

Sometimes people say they have seen ghosts at other creepy places like in a cemetery at night or inside spooky old houses or castles. There is a cemetery in London called Highgate cemetery where people have claimed to have seen a grey figure wandering around at night time.

Children sometimes like to tell ghost stories to each other when they are out with their friends in the dark. Are these ghost stories really true? Or have they just been made up by someone?