This idea has its equivalents today in various countries. Unwelcome guest: Banquo’s ghost from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In Macbeth, meanwhile, the murdered Banquo points an accusing finger at the man responsible for his death. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his murdered father seeking revenge on his murderer. Ghosts have long been thought of as vehicles for justice. The desire for justice and the belief in some form of supernatural protection (which we see in more major religions) address basic human needs. We can look at the worlds of literature, philosophy and anthropology for some of the reasons why people are so keen to believe.

The existence of a ghost as an incorporeal (bodyless) soul or spirit of a dead person or animal is contrary to the laws of nature as we understand them, so it seems there is something here that calls for explanation.

Belief in ghosts also appears to be global, with most (if not all) cultures around the world having some widely accepted kind of ghosts. Recent studies by YouGov in the UK and the USA show that between 30% and 50% of the population says they believe in ghosts. Unlikely as it might seem in the cold light of day, ghosts and hauntings are a mainstream area of belief. Pink himself never wavered from this explanation, stating: “I was fully convinced that my father’s spirit had visited me for the purpose of explaining some mistake.” The court found in Pink’s favour and, thanks to the publicity, the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) investigated, finally coming to the conclusion that Pink had indeed been visited by his father’s ghost. The case went to court and, as you’d expect, the newspapers of the time went mad for the story. A year later Marshall died, so the house and 120 acres of land went to Marshall’s widow and son.īut four years later, his youngest son James “Pink” Chaffin started having extraordinary dreams in which his father visited him and directed him to the location of a second, later will in which Chaffin senior left the property divided between his widow and the surviving children. James L Chaffin of Monksville, North Carolina, died after an accident in 1921, leaving his estate in full to his favourite son Marshall and nothing to his wife and three other children. Halloween seems an appropriate time of year to share the story of the Chaffin family and how a ghost helped decide a dispute over an inheritance.

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