I enjoy ghost stories most when the spirit has a specific complaint. These 120 questions move through creaking literary estates, modern novels, haunted screens, phantom roads, and apparitions with surprisingly organized schedules.
Classic Literary Ghost Stories
Q: Who wrote The Canterville Ghost?
A: Oscar Wilde.
Q: Where is The Canterville Ghost primarily set?
A: Canterville Chase, an English country house.
Q: Which ghostly detail defines The Canterville Ghost?
A: An American family refuses to fear Sir Simon, leaving the weary ghost desperate to achieve his usual effects.
Q: Which writer created A Christmas Carol?
A: Charles Dickens.
Q: In which place does the haunting in A Christmas Carol unfold?
A: Victorian London on Christmas Eve.
Q: What supernatural problem drives A Christmas Carol?
A: Jacob Marley and three Christmas spirits force Ebenezer Scrooge to confront his life and possible death.
Q: Who wrote The Turn of the Screw?
A: Henry James.
Q: Where is The Turn of the Screw primarily set?
A: Bly, a remote English country estate.
Q: What supernatural problem drives The Turn of the Screw?
A: A governess believes the apparitions of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel threaten the children in her care.
Q: Which writer created The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?
A: Washington Irving.
Q: In which place does the haunting in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow unfold?
A: Sleepy Hollow in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Q: Which ghostly detail defines The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?
A: Ichabod Crane encounters, or imagines he encounters, the Headless Horseman after leaving a party.
Q: Who wrote The Signal-Man?
A: Charles Dickens.
Q: Where is The Signal-Man primarily set?
A: A lonely railroad cutting and signal box.
Q: What supernatural problem drives The Signal-Man?
A: A specter repeatedly warns a signalman before fatal railway accidents.
Q: Which writer created The Open Door?
A: Margaret Oliphant.
Q: In which place does the haunting in The Open Door unfold?
A: A Scottish country estate near Edinburgh.
Q: What supernatural problem drives The Open Door?
A: A child’s crying ghost begs to be admitted through a ruined doorway.
Q: Who wrote Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad?
A: M. R. James.
Q: Where is Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad primarily set?
A: A seaside hotel and nearby ruins in England.
Q: Which ghostly detail defines Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad?
A: A professor blows an ancient whistle and attracts a terrifying sheetlike pursuer.
Q: Which writer created The Woman in Black?
A: Susan Hill.
Q: In which place does the haunting in The Woman in Black unfold?
A: Eel Marsh House, isolated by a tidal causeway.
Q: What supernatural problem drives The Woman in Black?
A: The sight of Jennet Drablow’s ghost is followed by the death of a child.
Q: Who wrote The Haunting of Hill House?
A: Shirley Jackson.
Q: Where is The Haunting of Hill House primarily set?
A: Hill House, a mansion built with deliberately disorienting angles.
Q: What supernatural problem drives The Haunting of Hill House?
A: Eleanor Vance becomes dangerously attached to a house that may be targeting her.
Q: Which writer created Beloved?
A: Toni Morrison.
Q: In which place does the haunting in Beloved unfold?
A: 124 Bluestone Road in post-Civil War Ohio.
Q: Which ghostly detail defines Beloved?
A: A spiteful haunting takes human form and forces Sethe’s family to face the trauma of slavery.
Modern Novels & Restless Spirits
Q: Who wrote The Shining?
A: Stephen King.
Q: Where is The Shining primarily set?
A: The isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado.
Q: Which ghostly detail defines The Shining?
A: The hotel’s ghosts and corrupting power prey on Jack Torrance and his family during winter.
Q: Which writer created The Graveyard Book?
A: Neil Gaiman.
Q: In which place does the haunting in The Graveyard Book unfold?
A: An old English graveyard.
Q: What supernatural problem drives The Graveyard Book?
A: Ghosts raise the living boy Nobody Owens while a murderer continues hunting him.
Q: Who wrote Heart-Shaped Box?
A: Joe Hill.
Q: Where is Heart-Shaped Box primarily set?
A: The homes and road trip of musician Judas Coyne.
Q: What supernatural problem drives Heart-Shaped Box?
A: A dead hypnotist’s suit arrives with a vengeful ghost attached to it.
Q: Which writer created The Little Stranger?
A: Sarah Waters.
Q: In which place does the haunting in The Little Stranger unfold?
A: Hundreds Hall, a decaying English estate after World War II.
Q: Which ghostly detail defines The Little Stranger?
A: Unexplained marks, fires, and deaths leave open whether the force is supernatural or psychological.
Q: Who wrote Lincoln in the Bardo?
A: George Saunders.
Q: Where is Lincoln in the Bardo primarily set?
A: Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War.
Q: What supernatural problem drives Lincoln in the Bardo?
A: The ghost of Willie Lincoln joins a chorus of dead souls who refuse to accept their deaths.
Q: Which writer created Mexican Gothic?
A: Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Q: In which place does the haunting in Mexican Gothic unfold?
A: High Place, an isolated mansion in 1950s Mexico.
Q: What supernatural problem drives Mexican Gothic?
A: A fungal consciousness and the Doyle family’s violent history create the apparent haunting.
Q: Who wrote The Ghost Bride?
A: Yangsze Choo.
Q: Where is The Ghost Bride primarily set?
A: Colonial Malacca in 1893.
Q: Which ghostly detail defines The Ghost Bride?
A: Li Lan is asked to marry a dead heir and becomes entangled in the Chinese spirit world.
Q: Which writer created The Good House?
A: Tananarive Due.
Q: In which place does the haunting in The Good House unfold?
A: Sacajawea, Washington, and Angela Toussaint’s family home.
Q: What supernatural problem drives The Good House?
A: A curse tied to family history and a powerful spirit threatens Angela’s son and community.
Q: Who wrote The Ghost of Thomas Kempe?
A: Penelope Lively.
Q: Where is The Ghost of Thomas Kempe primarily set?
A: An old cottage in Oxfordshire, England.
Q: What supernatural problem drives The Ghost of Thomas Kempe?
A: A seventeenth-century sorcerer’s ghost tries to make a modern boy his apprentice.
Q: Which writer created The Lovely Bones?
A: Alice Sebold.
Q: In which place does the haunting in The Lovely Bones unfold?
A: A Pennsylvania suburb and the narrator’s personal vision of heaven.
Q: Which ghostly detail defines The Lovely Bones?
A: Murdered teenager Susie Salmon watches her family and killer from the afterlife.
Famous Ghost Movies
Q: Which filmmaker directed The Innocents?
A: Jack Clayton.
Q: Where does most of The Innocents take place?
A: A remote Victorian estate called Bly.
Q: Which supernatural threat drives The Innocents?
A: The governess sees figures she identifies as Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, but the film preserves doubt about her perceptions.
Q: Who directed the screen ghost story The Haunting?
A: Robert Wise.
Q: What location becomes haunted in The Haunting?
A: Hill House in Massachusetts.
Q: What revelation shapes the haunting in The Haunting?
A: Eleanor hears pounding and voices as the mansion seems to exploit her need to belong.
Q: Which filmmaker directed The Sixth Sense?
A: M. Night Shyamalan.
Q: Where does most of The Sixth Sense take place?
A: Philadelphia.
Q: What revelation shapes the haunting in The Sixth Sense?
A: Malcolm realizes he is one of the dead people young Cole can see.
Q: Who directed the screen ghost story The Others?
A: Alejandro Amenabar.
Q: What location becomes haunted in The Others?
A: An isolated house on Jersey after World War II.
Q: Which supernatural threat drives The Others?
A: Grace and her children are the dead occupants haunting the living family.
Q: Which filmmaker directed Poltergeist?
A: Tobe Hooper.
Q: Where does most of Poltergeist take place?
A: The Freeling family’s suburban California home.
Q: What revelation shapes the haunting in Poltergeist?
A: Spirits enter through the television and abduct Carol Anne after homes are built over a cemetery.
Q: Who directed the screen ghost story The Ring?
A: Gore Verbinski.
Q: What location becomes haunted in The Ring?
A: Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
Q: What revelation shapes the haunting in The Ring?
A: Samara’s cursed videotape kills viewers seven days after they watch it unless the curse is copied onward.
Q: Which filmmaker directed The Orphanage?
A: J. A. Bayona.
Q: Where does most of The Orphanage take place?
A: A former Spanish orphanage reopened as a care home.
Q: Which supernatural threat drives The Orphanage?
A: Laura discovers that ghost children, including Tomas, are connected to her missing son Simon.
Q: Who directed the screen ghost story The Devil’s Backbone?
A: Guillermo del Toro.
Q: What location becomes haunted in The Devil’s Backbone?
A: A Spanish orphanage during the Spanish Civil War.
Q: What revelation shapes the haunting in The Devil’s Backbone?
A: Santi’s ghost seeks the truth about his murder while a dormant bomb stands in the courtyard.
Q: Which filmmaker directed A Tale of Two Sisters?
A: Kim Jee-woon.
Q: Where does most of A Tale of Two Sisters take place?
A: An isolated family home in South Korea.
Q: What revelation shapes the haunting in A Tale of Two Sisters?
A: Trauma, an unreliable viewpoint, and a genuine haunting blur the identities of the sisters and stepmother.
Q: Who directed the screen ghost story The Changeling?
A: Peter Medak.
Q: What location becomes haunted in The Changeling?
A: A large mansion in Seattle.
Q: Which supernatural threat drives The Changeling?
A: A murdered child’s ghost uses a ball, séance, and hidden well to reveal a decades-old crime.
Legendary Apparitions & Reported Hauntings
Q: Which place is associated with the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall?
A: Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England.
Q: What presence appears in the story of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall?
A: The ghost of Lady Dorothy Walpole.
Q: How does the legend of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall usually unfold?
A: A 1936 photograph appears to show a veiled figure descending the main staircase.
Q: Where did the story of the Bell Witch develop?
A: Adams, Tennessee, in the early nineteenth century.
Q: Who or what is said to haunt the Bell Witch?
A: An unseen entity said to torment the Bell family, especially John and Betsy Bell.
Q: What detail makes the Bell Witch memorable?
A: The spirit knocked, spoke, quoted sermons, and allegedly claimed responsibility for John Bell’s death.
Q: Which place is associated with the Greenbrier Ghost?
A: Greenbrier County, West Virginia.
Q: What presence appears in the story of the Greenbrier Ghost?
A: The apparition of Zona Heaster Shue.
Q: What detail makes the Greenbrier Ghost memorable?
A: Zona’s mother said the ghost revealed a broken neck, and a later autopsy helped convict Zona’s husband.
Q: Where did the story of Resurrection Mary develop?
A: Archer Avenue near Resurrection Cemetery outside Chicago.
Q: Who or what is said to haunt Resurrection Mary?
A: A vanishing young woman in a white party dress.
Q: How does the legend of Resurrection Mary usually unfold?
A: Drivers pick her up before she disappears near the cemetery gates.
Q: Which place is associated with the Tower of London ghost of Anne Boleyn?
A: The Tower of London.
Q: What presence appears in the story of the Tower of London ghost of Anne Boleyn?
A: The ghost of executed queen Anne Boleyn.
Q: What detail makes the Tower of London ghost of Anne Boleyn memorable?
A: She is often described carrying her severed head near the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula.
Q: Where did the story of the White Lady of Balete Drive develop?
A: Balete Drive in Quezon City, Philippines.
Q: Who or what is said to haunt the White Lady of Balete Drive?
A: A woman in white who appears to motorists.
Q: What detail makes the White Lady of Balete Drive memorable?
A: She is said to materialize in the road or back seat, especially during late-night drives.
Q: Which place is associated with Hachishakusama?
A: A modern Japanese internet legend with a rural setting.
Q: What presence appears in the story of Hachishakusama?
A: An eight-foot-tall female spirit whose name means eight-foot-tall woman.
Q: How does the legend of Hachishakusama usually unfold?
A: A deep po-po-po sound warns that she has selected a child to pursue.
Q: Where did the story of the Grey Lady of Glamis Castle develop?
A: Glamis Castle in Scotland.
Q: Who or what is said to haunt the Grey Lady of Glamis Castle?
A: The ghost traditionally identified as Lady Janet Douglas.
Q: What detail makes the Grey Lady of Glamis Castle memorable?
A: The apparition is associated with the castle chapel and the woman’s execution for witchcraft in 1537.
Q: Which place is associated with the Flying Dutchman?
A: The seas around the Cape of Good Hope in many versions.
Q: What presence appears in the story of the Flying Dutchman?
A: A phantom ship and doomed captain unable to reach port.
Q: What detail makes the Flying Dutchman memorable?
A: Sailors treat a sighting of the glowing ship as an omen of disaster.
Q: Where did the story of the Drury Lane Man in Grey develop?
A: The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London.
Q: Who or what is said to haunt the Drury Lane Man in Grey?
A: A man in eighteenth-century dress whose remains were reportedly found in a wall.
Q: How does the legend of the Drury Lane Man in Grey usually unfold?
A: He walks a familiar route through the theater and is sometimes treated as a lucky omen.
How Did You Score?
If you recognized the whistle from M. R. James, the Greenbrier testimony, Santi’s cistern, and the Man in Grey’s theater route, you know your ghosts. I hope they appreciate the attention and consider the matter settled.
Ellie Ewert is the founder and author of RandomTrivia.co, blending her passion for research with years of experience in content creation to deliver accurate, engaging, and well-sourced trivia. Dedicated to providing readers with trustworthy and entertaining facts, she applies meticulous fact-checking and SEO expertise to ensure every article meets the highest standards. Read more about our high standards in our Editorial Guidelines.