List of ghost films

List of ghost films
Ghost movies and shows can fall into a wide range of genres, including romance, comedy, horror, juvenile interest, and drama. Depictions of ghosts are as diverse as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Beetlejuice, Hamlet's father, Jacob Marley, Freddy Krueger, and Moaning Myrtle, as well as the traditional spectral spirits and other bumps in the night.
History
With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common and spanned a variety of genres; the works of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions.
Children's benevolent ghost stories became popular, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, created in the 1930s and appearing in comics, animated cartoons, and eventually the 1995 feature film Casper. Noël Coward's play Blithe Spirit, later made into a film, places a more humorous slant on the phenomenon of haunting of individuals and specific locations, and The Ghost Goes West, a comedy in which a Scottish castle and its ghost are moved to Florida, was voted the best British film of 1935.
Sentimental depictions were more popular in early cinema than horror, and include the 1947 film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which was later adapted to television with a successful 1968–70 TV series. Genuine psychological horror films from this period include 1944's The Uninvited and 1945's Dead of Night.
The 1970s saw screen depictions of ghosts diverge into distinct genres of the romantic and horror. A common theme in the romantic genre from this period is the ghost as a benign guide or messenger, often with unfinished business, such as 1989's Field of Dreams, the 1990 film Ghost, and the 1993 comedy Heart and Souls. In the horror genre, 1980's The Fog, and the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of films from the 1980s and 1990s are notable examples of the trend for the merging of ghost stories with scenes of physical violence.
Popularised in such films as the 1984 comedy Ghostbusters, ghost hunting became a hobby for many who formed ghost hunting societies to explore reportedly haunted places. The ghost hunting theme has been featured in reality television series such as Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Most Haunted, and A Haunting. It is also represented in children's television by such programs as The Ghost Hunter and Ghost Trackers. Ghost hunting also gave rise to multiple guidebooks to haunted locations, and ghost hunting “how-to” manuals.
The 1990s saw a return to classic “gothic” ghosts, whose dangers were more psychological than physical. Examples of films from this period include 1999's The Sixth Sense and 2001's The Others.
Asian cinema has been adept at producing horror films about ghosts, such as the 1998 Japanese film Ring (remade in America as The Ring in 2002), and the Pang brothers' 2002 film The Eye.
Films
Television series
Dramas and comedies
1953–1955: Topper
1955–1965: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1959–1961: One Step Beyond
1959–1964: The Twilight Zone
1968–1970: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
1969–1971: Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
1971–1978, 2005– : A Ghost Story for Christmas
1975: The Ghost Busters
1976–1978: The Ghosts of Motley Hall
1976–1984: Rentaghost
1985–1989: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1985–1989: The Twilight Zone
1986–1991: The Real GhostBusters
1987: Second Chance
1989–1996: Tales from the Crypt
1990: Elly & Jools
1990–1991: Shades of L.A.
1992–1994: So Haunt Me
1993–1997: Zee Horror Show
1994-2018: The X-Files
1994–1997: The Kingdom
1995–2015: Aahat
1997–1998: Ghost Stories (episode list)
1997: The Shining
1999: Polterguests
1999–2002: Providence
2000: The Others
2000–2001: Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
2001: All Souls
2001–2010: Ssshhhh...Koi Hai
2001-2005: Six Feet Under (TV series)
2002: Haunted
2002–2003: The Twilight Zone
2004: Kingdom Hospital
2004–2005: Hex
2004-2011: Rescue Me
2004–2011: Medium
2005–2010: Ghost Whisperer
2005–2020: Supernatural
2007: The Dresden Files
2008–2013: Being Human
2010: Dead Gorgeous
2011: American Horror Story: Murder House
2011: Becoming Human
2011: Bedlam
2011: The Fades
2011: Bag of Bones
2011–2012: A Gifted Man
2011–2014: Being Human
2012–2017: Saving Hope
2013–2015: The Haunted Hathaways (episodes)
2013–2017: Sleepy Hollow
2015–2016: Puli
2015–2021: The Magicians
2015–2016: American Horror Story: Hotel
2016: American Horror Story: Roanoke
2016: The Living and the Dead
2018: The Haunting of Hill House
2018-2020: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
2018–present: Wellington Paranormal
2019–present: Ghosts (2019 TV series)
2019: The InBetween
2020–present: Julie and the Phantoms
Animation
1963–1969: The New Casper Cartoon Show
1971–1972: The Funky Phantom
1979: Casper and the Angels
1985–1986: The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo
1986: Ghostbusters
1986–1991: The Real Ghostbusters
1989–1991: Beetlejuice
1991–1992: Little Ghosts, There, Here, and Where
1993–1994: Ghost Sweeper Mikami
1996–1997: Extreme Ghostbusters
1996–1998: The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper
1999–2002: Courage the Cowardly Dog
2000–2001: Ghost stories in school
2004–2007: Danny Phantom
2009–2012: Casper's Scare School
2010–2013: Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
2012–2016: Gravity Falls
2013: Dude, That's My Ghost!
2015: Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu
2016-present: The Haunted House
2017-2021: DuckTales
2018-2021: Vampirina
2021–present: The Ghost and Molly McGee
2021: Frankelda's Book of Spooks
Puppets
1989: The Ghost of Faffner Hall
Ghost reality shows
1996–1997: Ghosthunters
1998–2001: Haunted History
2000–2006: Scariest Places on Earth
2002–present: Most Haunted
2004–2016: Ghost Hunters
2005–2011: Ghostly Encounters
2005–2006: Ghost Hunt
2006: Extreme Ghost Stories
2007–2011: Paranormal State
2008–present: Ghost Adventures
2008–2012: Ghost Hunters International
2009–2014: Celebrity Ghost Stories
2009-2010: I Believe in Ghosts: Joe Swash
2009–2010: Ghost Hunters Academy
2009–2011: Ghost Lab
2009–2010: Ghost Stories
2009–2010: Most Terrifying Places in America
2010–2013: My Ghost Story
2011: Paranormal Challenge
2011–present: The Dead Files
2011–2016: Paranormal Witness
2012: Haunted Encounters
2005–2007; 2012–2019: A Haunting
See also
Ghost stories
Indian ghost movies
Vengeful ghost films
Casper the Friendly Ghost in film
List of ghosts
References
Sources
Newman, Kim, ed, BFI Companion to Horror, Cassell: London, 1996.
Lists of films by common content
Lists of films by topic
Lists of horror films
Fictional ghosts
Thrillers