An Anthropology Professor Answers the Internet's Questions About Ghost Stories

USC anthropology professor Toe Thompson takes questions from the internet and explores ghost stories from an anthropological perspective, tracing them back roughly 3,500 years to the earliest written records and examining what they reveal about how cultures handle death, ethics, and memory.

■ Origins and Definitions
- The oldest recorded ghost stories and evidence of early exorcism rituals
- What counts as a ghost, including spirits appearing in dreams
- Why people believe in ghosts, and modern stories of hauntings in the digital world

■ Ghosts Across Religions and Cultures
- How Christianity's position on ghosts shifted from rejection to the sale of indulgences, and the Reformation reaction
- Spiritualism, scientific inquiry, and Gothic literature in the Victorian era
- Ghost beliefs in Taiwan, Japan, and Hispanic Día de los Muertos traditions
- Animal ghosts and differing concepts of the soul

■ Common Tropes and Haunted Places
- Poltergeists versus ghosts, haunted houses, the lady in white, and children who see ghosts
- Ghost stories as records of overlooked history, plus Lincoln's séances and the haunted American South
- The spirit world of Spirited Away and its connection to Japanese folklore

Those interested in folklore, religious history, or supernatural themes will gain a clearer sense of why ghost stories persist across different eras and societies, and how to read them as cultural documents rather than just entertainment. Watch to see how a single belief connects anthropology, history, and popular culture.