10 Ghost Story Movies You Should Watch This Halloween

Do you believe in ghosts? The answer to this question really doesn’t matter. As humans we mostly fear what we don’t understand. The idea of afterlife is a bit far-fetched and sort of fictional state of existence. Still, we are scared and terrified at the mental thought of an apparition.

In folklore, mythology, and modern media such as literary fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living.

Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance.

The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life.

Below, you will find my favorite Ghost Story movies that you should be watching this Halloween. They are bound to send a chill down your spine.

10. GHOST SHIP IN A REMOTE REGION OF THE BERING SEA, A BOAT SALVAGE CREW DISCOVERS THE EERIE REMAINS OF A GRAND PASSENGER LINER THOUGHT LOST FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS. BUT ONCE ONBOARD THE EERIE, CAVERNOUS SHIP, THE CREW OF THE ARCTIC WARRIOR DISCOVERS THAT THE DECAYING VESSEL IS ANYTHING BUT DESERTED. IT’S HOME TO SOMETHING MORE DEADLY AND HORRIFIC THAN ANYTHING THEY’VE ENCOUNTERED IN ALL THEIR YEARS AT SEA.

9. GOTHIKA THE LIFE OF PSYCHIATRIST MIRANDA GREY (HALLE BERRY) IS DERAILED AFTER SHE NEARLY HITS A GIRL WITH HER CAR ONE NIGHT. LATER, MIRANDA WAKES UP IN HER OWN MENTAL HOSPITAL UNDER THE CARE OF HER PEER, PETE GRAHAM (ROBERT DOWNEY JR.). COMPLETELY DISORIENTED, MIRANDA IS ACCUSED OF KILLING HER OWN HUSBAND, BUT SHE HAS NO MEMORY OF ANYTHING AFTER SHE ENCOUNTERED THE GIRL. SLOWLY MIRANDA BEGINS TO UNCOVER WHAT HAPPENED, BUT SHE HAS TO ESCAPE THE ASYLUM TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY.

8. OUIJA FOLLOWING THE SUDDEN DEATH OF HER BEST FRIEND, DEBBIE, LAINE FINDS AN ANTIQUE OUIJA BOARD IN DEBBIE’S ROOM AND TRIES TO USE IT TO SAY GOODBYE. INSTEAD, SHE MAKES CONTACT WITH A SPIRIT THAT CALLS ITSELF DZ. AS STRANGE EVENTS BEGIN TO OCCUR, LAINE ENLISTS OTHERS TO HELP HER DETERMINE DZ’S IDENTITY AND WHAT IT WANTS. AS THE FRIENDS DELVE DEEPER, THEY FIND THAT DEBBIE’S MYSTERIOUS DEATH WAS NOT UNIQUE, AND THAT THEY WILL SUFFER THE SAME FATE UNLESS THEY LEARN HOW TO CLOSE THE PORTAL THEY’VE OPENED.

7. THE ENTITY SINGLE MOTHER CARLA MORAN (BARBARA HERSHEY) IS RAPED AND ATTACKED BY AN INVISIBLE FORCE. SHE BEGINS THERAPY WITH DR. PHIL SNEIDERMAN (RON SILVER), A PSYCHIATRIST WHO BELIEVES CARLA’S TRAUMATIC PAST IS MOTIVATING HER TO COMMIT SELF-INDUCED INJURIES, RATHER THAN ANYTHING SUPERNATURAL. WHEN THE ATTACKS CONTINUE, CARLA INVITES TWO COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH AN INTEREST IN THE PARANORMAL TO VISIT HER HOUSE. AFTER SEEING THE GHOST IN ACTION, THEY AGREE TO HELP CARLA DEFEAT HER INVISIBLE ATTACKER.

6. STIR OF ECHOES BLUE-COLLAR FAMILY MAN TOM WITZKY (KEVIN BACON) SCOFFS AT SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA — UNTIL HE LETS HIS WIFE’S SISTER, LISA (ILLEANA DOUGLAS), PUT HIM INTO A HYPNOTIC TRANCE. UPON WAKING, TOM REALIZES HE HAS A PSYCHIC CONNECTION WITH HIS SON, JAKE (ZACHARY DAVID COPE). HE ALSO HAS ALARMING HALLUCINATIONS OF A MISSING TEENAGE NEIGHBOR NAMED SAMANTHA (JENNIFER MORRISON). TOM, CONVINCED HIS VISIONS WILL LEAD HIM TO THE GIRL, BEGINS A DESPERATE SEARCH THAT PUTS HIM INTO A LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION.

5. 1408 MIKE ENSLIN (JOHN CUSACK) IS A SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR WHO ENJOYS WORLDWIDE ACCLAIM DEBUNKING SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA — BEFORE HE CHECKS INTO THE DOLPHIN HOTEL, THAT IS. IGNORING THE WARNINGS OF THE HOTEL MANAGER (SAMUEL L. JACKSON), HE LEARNS THE MEANING OF REAL TERROR WHEN HE SPENDS THE NIGHT IN A REPUTEDLY HAUNTED ROOM.

4. THE GIFT (2000) IN THE TINY TOWN OF BRIXTON, GEORGIA WHERE NOTHING IS PRIVATE, A WOMAN WITH SUPERNATURAL CLAIRVOYANCE, A YOUNG BEAUTIFUL SOCIALITE WHO HAS MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED, AND AN ASSORTMENT OF COLORFUL CHARACTERS ALL COLLIDE. A HAUNTING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER, “THE GIFT” IS ULTIMATELY A PROFOUND CELEBRATION OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.

3. THE ORPHANAGE (SPANISH) LAURA (BELÉN RUEDA) HAS HAPPY MEMORIES OF HER CHILDHOOD IN AN ORPHANAGE. SHE CONVINCES HER HUSBAND TO BUY THE PLACE AND HELP HER CONVERT IT INTO A HOME FOR SICK CHILDREN. ONE DAY, HER OWN ADOPTED SON, SIMÓN (ROGER PRÍNCEP), DISAPPEARS. SIMON IS CRITICALLY ILL, AND WHEN HE IS STILL MISSING SEVERAL MONTHS LATER, HE IS PRESUMED DEAD. GRIEF-STRICKEN LAURA BELIEVES SHE HEARS SPIRITS, WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRYING TO HELP HER FIND THE BOY.

2. WHAT LIES BENEATH IT HAD BEEN A YEAR SINCE DR. NORMAN SPENCER (HARRISON FORD) BETRAYED HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFE CLAIRE (MICHELLE PFEIFFER). BUT WITH CLAIRE OBLIVIOUS TO THE TRUTH, NORMAN’S LIFE AND MARRIAGE SEEM SO PERFECT THAT WHEN CLAIRE TELLS HIM OF HEARING MYSTERIOUS VOICES AND SEEING A YOUNG WOMAN’S IMAGE IN THEIR HOME, HE DISMISSES HER TERROR AS DELUSION. CLAIRE MOVES CLOSER TO THE TRUTH AND IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THIS APPARITION WILL NOT BE DISMISSED, AND HAS COME BACK FOR DR. SPENCER AND HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFE.

1. THE CONJURING IN 1970, PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS AND DEMONOLOGISTS LORRAINE (VERA FARMIGA) AND ED (PATRICK WILSON) WARREN ARE SUMMONED TO THE HOME OF CAROLYN (LILI TAYLOR) AND ROGER (RON LIVINGSTON) PERRON. THE PERRONS AND THEIR FIVE DAUGHTERS HAVE RECENTLY MOVED INTO A SECLUDED FARMHOUSE, WHERE A SUPERNATURAL PRESENCE HAS MADE ITSELF KNOWN. THOUGH THE MANIFESTATIONS ARE RELATIVELY BENIGN AT FIRST, EVENTS SOON ESCALATE IN HORRIFYING FASHION, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE WARRENS DISCOVER THE HOUSE’S MACABRE HISTORY.