# When was the first story to have a main character who turns out to be a ghost but didn’t know it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-story-to-have-a-main-character-who-turns-out-to-be-a-ghost-but-didn-t-know-it/942920>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** books-writing-myths\
**Created:** [May 25, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-story-to-have-a-main-character-who-turns-out-to-be-a-ghost-but-didn-t-know-it/942920 "2021-05-25T22:21:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-story-to-have-a-main-character-who-turns-out-to-be-a-ghost-but-didn-t-know-it/942920/21 "2021-05-27T04:59:58Z")

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> [@Something](#):
>
> > [@AHunter3](#):
> >
> > I seem to recall a morbid folk song in which a girl is being pursued by her former (and jealous) lover despite being married now and has to take the fellow’s hand and put it into his own wound to make him realize he’s been dead lo these fifteen years.
> 
> Wow, if somebody knows what folk song this is, let me know! This may be the real winner for the “first plot to have a Sixth Sense type ending” contest.

I’m trying to dredge it up. I may even have the sexes reversed in my description. I’m pretty sure, though, that the song in question was written about in one of Sharyn McCrumb’s “ballad” novels. Problem is, I’ve read too damn many of them and don’t recall which one had that song embedded in it.

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**Author:** ![Something](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Something](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Something)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-story-to-have-a-main-character-who-turns-out-to-be-a-ghost-but-didn-t-know-it/942920/22 "2021-05-27T05:49:35Z")

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> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> I’m trying to dredge it up. I may even have the sexes reversed in my description. I’m pretty sure, though, that the song in question was written about in one of Sharyn McCrumb’s “ballad” novels. Problem is, I’ve read too damn many of them and don’t recall which one had that song embedded in it.

You could probably search the ebooks of all her writings online, simple Control F type search.

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-story-to-have-a-main-character-who-turns-out-to-be-a-ghost-but-didn-t-know-it/942920/23 "2021-05-27T11:20:30Z")

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> [@Something](#):
>
> You could probably search the ebooks of all her writings online, simple Control F type search.

True, but it works less well on the ink-and-paper copies we have floating around. I assume the ebooks aren’t free. Although I might be able to check them out from the library.

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