Ghost

A ghost is said to be the phantom of a deceased person, normally similar in emergence to that person, and usually encountered in places he or she frequented, or in association with the person's former belongings. The word "ghost" may also refer to the character or soul of a deceased person, or to any spirit or evil spirit. Ghosts are often associated with hauntings, which is, according to the Parapsychological Association, "the more or less regular incidence of mystic phenomena associated with a particular locality (especially a building) and usually attributed to the activities of a discarnate entity; the phenomena may include apparitions, poltergeist disturbances, cold drafts, sounds of footsteps and voices, and various odours."

Ghosts are a notorious inconsistent phenomenon. According to a poll conducted in 2005 by the Gallup Organization, about 32% of Americans believe in the subsistence of ghosts. The term ghost has been replaced by phantom in parapsychology, because the word ghost is deemed unsatisfactorily precise.