Ghosts and hauntings

Strangely we are both fascinated and terrified by ghosts. Many of us would balk at the prospect of spending the night alone in a reputedly haunted house. Yet stories and movies about ghosts remain extremely popular, as they have been throughout human history.
Our fear is paradoxical, since to witness a ghost would dispel any dread we may have concerning the inevitable death of the physical body. If a ghost is able to exist without material form then we can be reassured that so surely may we. Fear of ghosts is really part of that natural generic fear of the unknown. We are comfortable with the familiar, within the parameters defined by science and technology. When these break down our sense of certainty descends into disarray.
The concept of ghosts forces us to touch on a fundamental question that we, in physical form, are unable to answer categorically. The question of what is the non-physical, feeling part of our selves, the part that gives rise to our free will.