There are many types of ghosts. This list is not exhaustive, but it provides an overview of the most common types of spirits. If you believe you have encountered something which isn’t mentioned on this website, contact us with your suggestions through the link at the bottom of the page. 

A spirit is the soul of a person or animal which has remained in this world after the death of the body. There are two types of spirits: trapped and free. Trapped spirits are the most common type of haunting, and is considered an “intelligent” haunting because the spirit is aware of its surrounding, aware of you and will try to contact the living.

Trapped spirits stay in this world for a few reasons:

• Unfinished business – There really is no convenient time to die, therefore a spirit may stay behind if they pass with unfulfilled goals or a need to stay with a loved one. A spirit will forever stay in our realm while the business is unfinished. These spirits may try to communicate with you and the paranormal activity may increase if it is unheard.

• Confusion – The spirit typically does not realize they are dead, especially if they experienced a quick or tragic death. Once the spirit realizes they are dead, they typically move on.

• Saying goodbye – This is a quick and most common occurrence when the spirit attempts to say goodbye to loved ones. This activity typically happens while the receiver is asleep, but can also occur during full consciousness. Some discredit this phenomenon as a dream, however, most occurrences happen when the receiver did not know that the visitor spirit has died.

• Help a loved one – these spirits will typically visit while the receiver is asleep. The main purpose of this visitation is to consul or help a loved one in need. Many times a scent is present with this visitation which is strong enough to wake you up and the smell will linger for a few minutes.

• Fear of judgment – If a spirit feels that they do not deserve or afraid of being rejected into Heaven, they are less likely to be convinced to move on.

Fear – This spirit might be afraid of the light or afraid that their existences will end once they do move on.

While trapped spirits may need help moving on, some just want to stay right where they are and may not be convinced to move on. Unlike trapped spirits, free spirits have already moved on, but come back to this world for a particular reason. 

• Acceptance – Spirits can visit to help us accept and get over their passing. They often let us know that they are fine so we can move on with our lives.

• Support – Spirits also visit to help us during a time of crisis and often offer their support to get us through tough times.

• Assist Trapped Spirits – Sometimes free spirits can return to help other trapped spirits into the light.

• Celebrate – some spirits like to be present during special events such as weddings, family reunions, birthdays, holidays, etc.

• Comfort – These spirits will typically come back to assist and comfort a dying loved one to help them enter the light.

Actions you can take

If you are experiencing any, or most, of the items on this list, then it is possible that your house may be haunted. If you can, try to determine whether your possible ghostly activity has a natural cause.

Keep a log or journal

The next thing to do is to keep a log or journal of any activity that occurs in the house. This is a great way to not only recall the events when they are fresh in your mind but also to see whether a pattern of activity exists.

In your log or journal, record the following details:

• The exact time and date when the activity occurred
• Everyone who was present and what they experienced
• The weather conditions at the time

Discovering a pattern to the events can help find a cause for them later on, or it may reveal a natural cause of the activity, such as the furnace kicking on at a certain time or a nearby freight train passing by. If the activity is determined to be genuine, it will make it easier to decide on the best time or day for a paranormal investigation.