Fantastic Ghosts and Where to Find Them

‘The night has been unruly: where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death…’

Do you think William Shakespeare set a scene for some mysterious apparitions in his MacBeth? What do you think of ghosts? Are they gruesome and scary? Or something that is fascinating for you to see? Let’s look at some fantastic ghosts in books…and where to find them!



If there is a list of ‘famous ghosts of all time in literature’, the one in Hamlet must prevail. We’re not talking about Hamlet the Prince of Denmark himself, but his father, King Hamlet, who had already passed away at the beginning of the story. His ghost appeared before Prince Hamlet, and told him how the prince’s uncle murdered him in order to get his throne and marry Hamlet’s mother.

Hamlet is considered one of the most influential and popular works of Shakespeare. This famous tragedy of all time has been adapted into a graphic novel for readers to enjoy the story. You might want to read how the classic line of ‘To be, or not to be, that is the question’ presented in the original!

Well, a vampire isn’t exactly a ghost, but is indeed a dead person who comes back to life and sucks blood from other people at night, which makes it equally scary!

Count Dracula is the definitive version of vampires: He lives in a grave inside a castle in Transylvania (present-day Romania), and looks as handsome and charming as an aristocrat. He can also change into a bat, a wolf, or even a fog when he wants to...as long as it’s dawn, noon or dusk or night time, or if he is at his grave. The most horrifying part is that he has a strong desire for human blood, and can change a person into a vampire by biting them! As for his weakness...let’s crack the book and find out!

The place was Paris, France; The time was late 19^th century. Rumour had it that a mysterious ghost was haunting the famous Paris Opera House. The Phantom of the Opera was wearing a dress-suit, people said, and had no face but only a skull! When the Phantom’s letter of request was ignored by the opera house manager, the young singer Christine was abducted from her dressing room. What would the Opera Ghost want? What would Christine do?

The Phantom of the Opera has been adapted into film and stage production, the most famous one being the musical premiered in 1986. Perhaps you have heard its theme song before? Its lyrics goes: ‘In sleep he sang to me / In dreams he came / That voice which calls to me / And speaks my name’… Does it sound a bit scary to you?

‘A turn of the screw’ means an action that makes a bad situation worse. The story started as people gathering around a fire, telling scary stories on Christmas Eve. One of those stories involved a child who wake up to the appearance of a terrible apparition.

If it was ‘a turn of the screw’ to have one child in a scary ghost story, what would it be like to involve two children in the story?Would it be twice as frightening? Read on to find out how this classic horror novella of Henry James ends!