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What makes people scared of ghosts? Is it just fear of the unknown, or does it go deeper than that? Logically we know they can't hurt us, yet we still get the chills up and down our spine when we think about them or come in to close proximity with them...

I say 'we' meaning society in general. I realise some people on here will not be scared of ghosts, I myself being one of them.

I personally think it's the unknown. Are they really 'dead people', if not then what are they? There are too many unanswered questions. Humans are, by nature, afraid of the unknown.

Technically speaking of course, but the reason why society is afraid of ghosts is the fact that the dense energies they give off when first precipitated is an unknown unfamiliar air that surrounds.

This unfamiliar air is like that of a blind date, paranoia of sorts. Best explained is when you walk into a room with no light, you are tense for a moment unsure of your where abouts.

Same thing applies to the ethereal, which inturn causes the chills and shivers. This is death we are speaking about, chills and cold are apparent with this type of atmosphere.

The paranormal always causes emotions of this kind for that same reason, specters appearing out of thin air would in fact cause quite a stir, you are not used to such occurences.

Another fine example for fear of the unknown.

many people are scared of what they do not know, ghosts, death. so some are usued with a fear in their brains for they do not no the answers to what may lie on the other side, a very normal trait.

To those who do not study or understand....becomes scared of what they do not understand

I have to answer as to why I was afraid when I saw the "ghosts"...it was not a rational fear...it was primal and instinctual...I didn't know if that ghost could hurt me and if it was there to take me...to wherever...I was much younger and my Catholic school education assisted my brain with the imagery of what and where that might be...so yeah...the unknown...pretty scary place that...

For the most part humans are scared of anything and everything that they do not understand. It is a natural part of our built in fight or flight instincts.

most fear it because of the unknown. ...lack of knowledge concerning spirits and the different types. The portrayal of ghosts/spirit realm through Hollywood and books, adds to this fear!

I think a large part of it has to do with the lore surrounding them. Sure, fear of the unknown comes into play but I think the former has a very large part in it as well.

Fear of the unknown...lack of understanding, spirits are something beyond most understandings. And that which humans can not explain or understand brings out fear...I think.

Ghosts are certainly 'unknown', I will agree with that. Otherwise, I beg to differ. There are many stories out there of ghosts which do, in fact, cause a great deal of harm to people. There is virtually nothing in the way of evidence to prove whether or not a spirit is capable of causing harm to anyone or anything.

So to the average person, walking in on a ghost is not so much like walking into a dark room, (as Soulshroude says), as it is like stumbling upon a large bear out in the woods. The bear might just keep on going it's own way, or it might just turn around and maul you. You never know.

That and the fact that ghosts are (obviously) associated with death. Not many people want to stare death right in the face because, let's be honest, it's creepy. Death is something that I can accept and respect, but I do not want to find it floating around in my living room.

i can say i grew up in a few places that were haunted over the years,, and i know they could not hurt me,, but they scared me mainly because i was home alone and the houses i lived in were so creepy i let make things seem worse

personally, fear comes from the initial reaction of how did somebody get in my house ... then it ohhh now i understand

as for ghost hurting u. yes they can hurt u. who ever told u that ghost cant lied to u. i have first hand knowledge of this. and as to why we are scared of them i think that is cause we all fear the unknown.

People are afraid of the unknown, ghosts are scarey -sometimes-, ect, ect.

i wish i could see for my self what could be so scary about ghosts.. i have never heard or seen any yet but i sure want to exsperience them.. as to get scared that i dont want but i have seen stories that you sur can get scared..

I think it probably is fear of the unknown, or fear of what most people think of as "unnatural."

we only know what we have learned and in most cases we are taught to fear... change, strangers, unpredictable situtation, ect... we are taught to fear for our protection, so we are told, but in reality the insecurities of those who have taught us our fears we are protecting...

I think it has to do with our conditioning throughout our childhood and the unknown. Think about it, even as children, we are warned of the things that go bump in the night and told ghost stories around the campfires.

Fear comes from not understanding something that is unknown to us whether it be fear of a ghost or spirit or of other people

I believe it is because of the unknown. People in life are scared because of uncertainty even though however that it would be inevitable.

Maybe it does go deeper than that. Maybe it's a fear of isolation, limbo, a place where we can't feel the physicality of our loved ones nor the glory of the after life, a constant state of waiting. If we are afraid of being there, perhaps we are afraid of those who are already there......

Or maybe we're just afraid they might cause bodily harm. Kind of a coin flip for me.

I'm scared of Ghosts because I'm scared of death. Simple as that.

The fear of the unknown and unexplained is human nature for most.
Some fear what seem to have no logical explination in their minds

Maybe more than just the unknown, but that they make us question. What is waiting for us on the other side, what will happen to us, and Is there a Valhalla and Henna?

Although adults are usually afraid, children are more fascinated by them. Children have less programming which makes them more sensitive to paranormal phenomena, and more accepting of it.

I agree with DemianA .. we are trained all our lives to be "afraid" of ghosts. As young children we don't necessarily feel afraid unless we're shown or told something that indicates that we should be afraid. As we get older we're bombarded with society and media opinions of how we should react to things.. what should scare us etc..

People are afraid of the unknown, and what they DO know they learned from hollywood.

I am Active in Ghost Hunting.. I absolutely Love it.. If I were to come face to Face with a manifestation of a spirit, I'd not be afraid. I'd be fascinated. Now, I feel that people that are scared, In fact are scared because they don't fully understand what it could be, or what it wants. Henceforth fear; "fight or flight" comes in to it.

I have had a poltergeist experience, in which i could have got hurt. Instead we were all scared shitless by this experience, and One I'll never forget.

people are always afraid of things as it is in there nature to naturally be afraid of something unless they can either destroy it or dethrown it.that is one belief.there are several others but i am personally not afraid of a ghost or anything ghost like.

I believe that in a lot of cases we are taught to fear them through stories, books and movies.

I think it has something to do with not wanting to think that there is someone always around you that you can't see. Plus our movies don't really show a whole lot of good ghosts.
Maybe the mind can't believe in something the heart doesn't so it's a shock feeling when one appears.

well i think it is possible that some can cause harm but i think most people fear such ghost/spirits because of the shock and suprise in seeing them in where before maybe they were a disbeliever or on the other hand if they are a believer and fear them it might be because when looking at a ghost they may fear that when they die that is all that they might be and not progress to a higher level of existance. but i think the main reason individuals have such fear is because of movies and horror stories be it true or fiction.

before we answer why to what makes us scared or fear the unknown
we must first look at the word and the meaning itself

define fear to each self.
for me fear means to be alive with out fear we grow stagnant and unmoving fear pushes us forward.
Thus when paranormal,metaphysical, or just something devastating comes that fear drives us to recover for we don't want it to happen again,However thats just me

I do not fear the unknown I truly welcome it does it frighten me perhaps but it lets me know I am alive.

Fear of the unknown...lack of understanding, spirits are something beyond most understandings. And that which humans can not explain or understand brings out fear...I think in most ppl.

personally i think it has alot to do with the way you are raised or a bad experince perhaps when one was a child. if you are taught things from a young age to be scared of them or fear them more then likely that is what you will do when you are older me myself personally i find them intriguing and very fun to be around i have never really been scared of one but niether was my mom infact she feels the same way

I think it's fear of not knowing or understanding and perhaps some of how we were raised to think of such things...I am one that is scared of such things...

I know that Im scared of the unknown but mainly I would have to contribute my past experiences and movies to the fear factor. I know that ghosts arent normally able to hurt you but given they have enough hate, I believe anything is possible and that they could. Perhaps that is a primal reason, fear of their capabilities. Am I making any sense or just rambling?

hey i am scared sometimes if i ride with some one in a car that i dont no that scares me..that this person is a good driver or not as some would be scared of a dog that they dont of, if that person would get bit or not

its cause we dont no so it triggers the scared out of us..

I think that it is that people are afraid of the unknown. Not only are people afraid of the unknown but ghost have been depicted throughout history as not always being nice. Some people might fear for their safety when they think about ghosts

Here's the way I see it...It's like why are we scared of horror movies? It's on a screen, it's not real.
I don't think its actual ghosts, as it's not usually the actual movie...But the subconscious mind kind of running away with thoughts, thinking along the lines of "it would be scary if this happened..."

And even if you don't realize you're thinking it, that might make you scared illogically.

Perhaps people that fear death fear ghosts... Or perhaps the movie industry has hyped up ghosts in an unrealistic negative way has taken its toll on people.

people are scared of ghosts because it is unknown, yet i find that you are not afraid of spirits that mean you no harm, its an almost calming experience.

I personally am not afraid of ghosts. I do agree that people fear them because they don't have the proper knowledge about them. We are known for fearing the unknown, such as death. We really don't know if there is any thing beyond.

Um because they are spooky?

Its just because its unknown. If we had solid facts on why and how ghosts are. It would demystify them and people wouldn't be so spooked.

I believe it's from childhood. Who hasn't tried to scare their lil friends when we were younger? I know I did. We are taught to fear from those things.

It always has and always will be the fear of the unknown. It is the same with anything supernatural man will always fear it until we learn more about it.

I have asked friends that are scared of them to try to explain it to me. Since I have no clue why you would be.

And they usually say something about the unknown in some form. After knowing me and seeing what has happened around me they aslo express concern for the harm that can happen.. not a normal thing but rarely spirits can and do cause harm.

The one thing a friend once said to me that kinda got me was that a spirit returning made her question her belief of what happens next... not so much that it was unknown... for she believed when you die that is it end of story. But if there are ghosts and all what were they. I was never able to make her believe that they were spirits of people that had died. And she said it made her question how she was living her life... way they came to her etc.

I'm not too sure but maybe it is because that they can't see the ghosts and they don't know what it can do to them and most people are afraid of death and they probably think that a ghost will kill them or something like that.

curios i have a friend that is very scared to go down a flight of stairs .. when a person is like that .. im wondering there has to be a name behind it ..? any one no..?

Most people fear ghosts because of the fear of the unknown, not to mention the energy that the ghost emits is scary in its self. Causes cold spots chills,etc.,etc.

Plus, the fear of being hurt by something that you can not defend against or most can not.

unfortunately our society still has alot of closed minded people therefore they are afraid of anything that is unknown or that they do not or can not feel, see, or hear.. what it is.

I myself dont really fear them to say. I think that it is the unknown that really scares or gets to some people. Also many people who havent had much experience around them, might be afraid of the situation they are put in. Not knowing how to handle that may really freak people out as well.

I am not afraid of ghosts. But I used to be so I know how it feels. I'm not really sure why or when I stopped being scared. It just happened....

anyway, I think that most people just fear the unknown, simple as that.

I'd like to say it is fear of the unknown -- not too may of us run for the hills after seeing a caterpillar or a deer... Still, I can't say I believe that ghosts/wraiths/spirits/poltergeist (Is there a politicallly correct term for these guys?) cannot cause us harm. That, is the unknown and the general basis for fear.

i think people are afraid of what they can not understand , just because when something happens and no science can be placed to explain what happened they freak.

with me i have encountered sever times with ghosts ( dead ) now when it happens i feel sceared but i lnow i am not for i am very much interested in things like that, its the feeling you automatically get when in the situation

i do not believe in ghosts.
but for the people that do...
it goes deeper than the fear of the unknown.
i believe that you must know what you are afraid of.
logic is not really the question though.
we know what we think and the mind can be blocked out by fear.
"the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

i think for most people a big part of being scared has a lot to do with fear of the unknown.

I think people are afraid of ghost is because that the ghost is not supposed to be there. Seeing the decesed in that state is frightening to some.

the fear of the unknowen trapes people, they can't use science to explane ghosts and some people are a frade of that. my self i embrace the supernatual world, ive grown up around spirits and ghosts all my life actualy we all have just not every one knowes it

Why should we fear the dead, when we don't fear the living?

People are scared of the things they do not understand. For someone to feel something round about them that they don't understand or can't see yes they may find this scary.

It gotta be the ghosts creepy aura, wich they radiate uppon encounter.

The feeling of coldness, emptiness, gotta be unberable for the living creature to take on.

Ghosts are just creepy radiances.

there is a fear to anything we can not control and a fear to what we ourselves may become.

i think it will be mostly down to the fact that most people are scared of what they cant control

I do not find myself to be scared of ghost or whatever you may call them. I do find that some energy is far more inviting to have and be around. As the same goes with live people I meet. Some I like and some I don't. So therefore I prefer to leave or not be around the ones I do not care to be around.

why sould we fear the dead? they cant do anything to us... and even if they could, then it has to be like that....

Living people can be far scarier than ghosts!! There are some really scary people out there!

Tis the same reason why humans fear Vampires. They fear what they don't understand or what they have no knowledge truely about. Close minded, judgmental humans are hard to get true facts across to in their thick heads.

Humans always fear the unknown. Ghosts are one of the unknowns. We do not know what they are nor do we know where they come from. Plus, there are a lot of us who do not even believe that they exist.

It's the same reason people fear big foot, aliens, and death - it's all unknown.

It could be the unknown.. or maybe a guilty feeling.. like the fear of a loved one coming back if you think you could have done something to save them.. I've known quite a few who were afraid of that...

Some ghosts are actually there to try to look after their living loved ones. I know a lady who feels great relief and happiness when the ghost of her husband manifests itself through the fragrance of the after shave he wore when alive. Other especially younger members of the family have spoken with him even though he died before they were born and they know him by name. Protection and responsibility can be the only reasons I can see for him to still be here.

I am not scared of ghosts. I have actually tried to understand why they are here and to try to find ways to help them move on if that is what they seek. I have dealt with ghosts for many of years.

i feel theres no need to be sceared of ghosts, i mean maybe they want us to try and communicate or understand them, i mean we all are going to die one way one day. so i mean the unknown is unknown till we see for ourselves, if in that perdicument go for it, you might find out that theres nothing to be sceared of after all

Why people fear them is because they fear the unknown. Also because they can not handle the intensity of it all when they are faced with it.....If they feel it at all that is. Some do not.

im afraid of dieing so thats why i want to be imortal.. thats why im scared

is it sceared to die or sceared the way you will die, or both?

i just dont want to feel it when i die i think i want to be sleeping when it happens

I have to say that people are afraid because it something they cannot touch. A bump in the night kind of thing.

fear is what we make it... and i truly do believe it is fear of the unknown that creates it

Fear of the unknown might very well be the case sometimes..but for me? Sorry folks,scary sounds and all that junk scare the crap out of me.I dont care if I know and understand or not.If it aint John,Im gone.

because wots in your head can scare you the most

I agree with him

It is fear of the unknown or the spirit might come in us and take over our body. Different things come to mind with different people.

it was the site of seeing something i didn't understand ..

Actually, I have never been scared of any ghost. I learned early on in life, that if you acknowledge a spirit or ghost, it gives them substance. I pretty much ignore them.

How many are saying it is the unknown that is scaring them? Funny how people do not like to take responsibly for their own actions or thoughts. Or in this case their own fear of getting hurt. Blame it on something else. Even if that is the unknown. There are many things that you do not know and yet, you feel little if no fear for them. Why is that? It is because you do not feel threaten by them. It has little to do with the unknown. The known can be far more scarier.

that is true i do agree...
i fear the known and unknown both to a certain degree

illuminata - that's one of the best reasons I've heard yet! I never thought of that...

My parents would never tell me ghost stories as a 'punishment' but rather just as a normal piece of family history (we lived in a haunted house at the time), so thats probably why they don't scare me...

Good idea!

i think we are all scared,its something that comes within us from our fears. we can be scared about anything from dying,getting old,or what life has in stored for us or something totally different

about me : im not scared , i love ghosts so much lol

Ghosts are not only an unknown but a reminder of our own mortality. The belief in a ghost is acknowledging the fact that you WILL die someday. Those most comfortable with the idea of death (either through religion or philosophy or personality) are also usually the most comfortable with the idea of spirits, ghosts or hauntings.

vampire4ever -

Anyone would be afraid if they met a 'ghost' no matter how brave they were. It would be like seeing a zombie in a shopping mall looking at close.

My definition: Ghost are people or things from the past, that have died (they stay the same throughout their ghostly lifetime), but still have a personal obligation to fulfill.
Therefore, "we" are scared because of they're appearance to us, and their ability to haunt the person whom wronged them for good and/or bad purposes.

Hmm this is interesting because one,I do not fear my own demise.Two,I know what ghosts are,and I really do not consider them unknown.So what else would be a reason to be afraid of them? Because they sound scary,and they look it too.simple answer really.

Oceane - you're saying that you know what ghosts are, you don't fear death and yet you fear ghosts? The only other explanation that then comes to mind is those that believe something entirely outside that normal frame of reference.

There are those who through religion don't fear death but through that same religion believe ghosts aren't human spirits but evil demonic forces. In that frame or a similar frame wherein the fear is in some faith of danger or evil, I could see a fear remaining.

Weird huh? When I say I know what they are,I mean that I ,along with many have at least an idea of what they are.They can be someplace,I know they are there,but theyre just scary.Just the way they look and sound,that in itself is scary to me.

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