SPANNING the SPECTRAL SPECTRUM

Ghost are complicated.
You can read any number of books about ghosts and watch any number of shows about ghosts and you will find that nobody can really agree upon what a ghost actually looks like, much less what a ghost actually is.  So-called experts will say a ghost is the echo of energy left after a traumatic death, to which I say, B-O-L-O-G-N-A.  Well, that or, "witch, please".

Because ghosts are complicated they are great for telling stories.  Aspiring authors and screenwriters can take the basic idea of the ghost and spin it into new and exciting stories, or stick with the tried-and-true, or combine them.  Who doesn't love Beetlejuice?

Ghost are also a traditional part of Halloween.  We tell ghost stories.  We watch ghost movies.  We dress up in ghost costumes.  Of course no one wants to just be a ball of light captured by an amateur photographer using poor equipment and unless you want frostbite from carrying around a block of dry ice you aren't likely to be a cold spot.  This means you are going to have to go with the fully manifested ghost look for Halloween.
Besides, all the best ghosts fully manifest.  Would Ghostbusters have been any good if we never saw a ghost?  This ain't The Haunting we are talking about.  Frighteners too, come to think of it.

Ghosts can, apparently, be noises, smells, temperatures changes, global warming, ball lightning, EMF fluctuations...you name it.  I know.  I watch those haunting shows on the telly and I am here to testify that practically anything can be a sign of a ghostly presence, even a blog.  This blog is proof of ghosts.  Since no three ghost hunters agree on anything save how to improperly do scientific research, we can really run with it.


So let's start with a helpful picture comparing a ghost on the left with a wraith on the right.  Yeah, don't ask me the difference between them.  The lantern is the best answer you are going to get.

Expand for the details, it's a gripe to read at this size.

We see a Grim Reaper costume for comparison.  Now our boy Grimmy is not a ghost.  The old G.R. is an anthropomorphic personification of the concept of death.  He's grim.  He's gauzy.  He's skeletal.  He reaps.  He came up when I put the word "ghost" into a popular retail Halloween chain's search function.  Go figure.  It is a nice costume though.

You want more details, don't you?  Click upon the image below and prepare to be shocked!

The image speaks for itself.  Not because a picture paints a thousand words, but because this picture literally has 232 words painted on it.
Yet another example is this costume that is always sold out online, costs about a thousand dollars (I think it's worth it, but honestly that's not the disposable income bracket in which I live), and as you can see, looks great under blacklight.

There is a Haunted Mansion feel to it.  It is both gruesome and charming.  Pity about the black shoes, but all-in-all an excellent look.  Notice in the spectrum we are firmly in the human-looking types.  Let's get a bit more representational, shall.  Let's look at a sheet...

FINALLY...a ghost with a lantern!  My quest is at an end.

We have a great example of a mean looking sheet ghost and in this case I accept the black gloves and shoes because it gives the "not there" look to the phantom.  Gauzy strips are a nice touch.  The costume does not come with either a chain or a lantern, but I like the added touch.

We have options, is what I'm suggesting, as we manifest the spook-spectrum.

Keep your pumpkins lit.