I finally got around to watching Cabin in the Woods the other week. Among the various creepy critters available for the killing floor was a ghost. Now, I know there’s enough variety in what was available that it seems odd to focus on just the one entity, but given the prevalence of ghost stories vs, say, killer mermaids, I was wondering how one goes about stopping/killing a rampaging killer ghost? Is there any folklore or mythology about how one gets rid of a spirit? Is it all about the exorcisms, or is it too wide of a subject for there to be any common answers (much like vampires)?
Whew! WAY too wide a question. There are about as many kinds of ghosts as there are human cultures and societies.
A very common motif is that you can “lay” a ghost by relieving the tension that prevents it from “moving on.” One tradition, for instance, is that a ghost is restless because its human remains haven’t been properly buried. Bury them, and the ghost goes away.
Sure as anything, someone is going to come along and say, “There are no such things as ghosts,” which, of course, implies there’s no way to kill them. (Um… The ghost, that is.)
I once wrote a short fantasy story in which a lab tech invents a kind of lens-and-bright-light arrangement that lets you see ghosts clearly, and, if you turn up the wattage way high, lets you burn them. A kind of “ghost phaser.” The nasty bit about the story was what happens if you fire the weapon at a living person. (It kills their soul…)
However, I’d recommend trying to make friends. It might be a cheerful ghost, like Casper, in which case, there are lots of very nice possibilities. He could help you find buried treasure, etc. etc.
Close your eyes.
You usually can’t. Even the Ghostbusters just imprisoned them. You have to banish them usually.
Poltergeists and wraiths and other spirits are tied to one place. Just leave. But don’t steal the wraith’s gold. If it’s a Ringwraith, you’d better get a sex or race change, and get a special weapon.
Or in fantasy settings, often you need a weapon that can hit the incorporeal (everything else passes through). So enchanted or silver weapons.
Some don’t like sunlight. And umm… you can lay the ghost if you want, like the Entity. I’ll do something else that doesn’t involve describing my invisible rapist’s face to the cops.
Since ghosts are already dead, then no, you can’t kill them. You’re too late.
Vacuum it up, then reverse the vaccuum into your freezer. If Tom and Jerry are to be believed, just make a cocktail from the ice.
Yeah, I know it’s rather broad, but I was curious about what’s out there.
Thanks for the ideas. I’d forgotten about the whole “moving on” bit, which is interesting.
Re-read Lord of the Rings. A whole bunch of warriors from an earlier Age cannot find rest because they died as cowards (if I recall the details right). Ages later, Aragorn recruits the restless spirits to fight alongside him. (Already being dead, they needn’t be cowards any more.) After that battle is won, with their help, Aragorn bids them to rest in peace, and they leave.
IIRC, the Ghostbusters did in fact eventually have to kill them (or the entire universe, whichever happens first) by :eek: crossing the beams! The expected demise of the universe apparently didn’t happen, but I guess the ghosts went away.
But to really banish them requires a moderator!
I’m pretty sure my ex’s cooking would do the trick.
Get it to possess Rick Moranis, and then beat him to death.
Several Magic Missile spells from a high level Magic User should do the trick.
Burn their bones according to Sam and Dean
Bobby hears that and interrupts: That’s salt and burn—idjits!
As this was posed to GQ and not IMHO, the correct answer is that we have no evidence of the existence of ghosts, therefore the question is meaningless.
Don’t kill it, try to patch it up with the ghost.
I think it also means anything will kill them.
According to the well researched documentary series “supernatural”, you can stave them off with salt, and kill them by burning their remains.
I’m reminded of Greg Bear’s Psyclone, in which it turns out that extremely powerful bursts of the right kind of energy can produce badly damaged, “mutilated” ghosts. It takes a second application to actually destroy them.
According to Ren & Stimpy, poison works. Notable aftereffect: it brings the person the ghost used to be back to life.
“I’ll see you on the next shot. Ha!”
This. You can’t kill something that doesn’t exist.
Or are we no longer fighting ignorance, but pandering to it?