Ghosts have enjoyed a long and varied life in the public eye and have for many hundreds of years kept people entertained as the key characters in stories, poems, songs, movies, and even video games.  It appears that all over the world – regardless of the country, culture, or era – ghosts have had some degree of prominence in the public psyche.

Since the invention of cinema, television and most recently the internet, ghosts have experienced somewhat of a resurgence in the public eye.  Perhaps this is because technology has improved to the extent that ghosts can now be replicated on screen in a way that is surreal and often quite terrifying.  Of course, watching such ghouls on television or in the movie theatre is enjoyable for audiences because they know the ghosts aren't 'real'.  Movies such as 'Ghostbusters', 'The Ring', 'The Blair Witch Project', 'What Lies Beneath', 'The Sixth Sense', 'Poltergeist', 'Beetlejuice' and 'The Shining'; and television series such as 'The Ghost Whisperer', 'The Twilight Zone', 'X-Files' and 'Scooby Doo' are good examples of this.