A haunting is a recurring pattern of reported supernatural presence or activity associated with a place, person, or object. In folklore and ghostlore, the term describes the experience or sequence of events rather than identifying exactly what caused them.
| Term | Haunting |
|---|---|
| Field | Ghostlore, folklore, paranormal belief, and popular culture |
| Meaning | Repeated experiences interpreted as evidence of a supernatural presence |
| Often compared with | Apparition, poltergeist, possession, haunted house, and ghost story |
What is a haunting?
A haunting is usually connected to recurrence. Someone sees the same figure on a staircase, hears footsteps in an empty room, notices objects moving, or repeatedly senses a presence in one location. A single unusual event may become part of a haunting account when it is linked with earlier or later experiences.
The word does not prove that a ghost is present. It names a type of claim and the body of stories that develops around it. Folklorists are interested in what was experienced, how it was interpreted, who retold it, and how the account changed.
Common features of haunting accounts
- apparitions, shadows, or unexplained figures;
- footsteps, voices, knocks, music, or other recurring sounds;
- objects that appear displaced or disturbed;
- cold spots, odors, pressure, or a sensed presence;
- events associated with a death, conflict, or remembered tragedy;
- a location that already carries a reputation for being haunted.
Haunting and apparition
An apparition is a reported visual manifestation, often of a person or animal. A haunting is the larger pattern in which an apparition might appear. Many haunting narratives contain no visible ghost at all.
Haunting and poltergeist
Poltergeist reports emphasize physical disturbances such as knocking, thrown objects, or moving furniture. A haunting may include those events, but it can also center on repeated sights, sounds, dreams, or sensations. The categories overlap in storytelling and paranormal investigation.
Experience, explanation, and story
Reports of hauntings can involve misperception, expectation, sleep phenomena, environmental conditions, deliberate invention, or experiences that remain unexplained. Once shared, the account can shape how later visitors understand the same place. The reputation becomes part of the experience.
Related terms
Sources
- Gillian Bennett, Alas, Poor Ghost! Traditions of Belief in Story and Discourse
- Owen Davies, The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts
- James Houran and Rense Lange, eds., Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives
Last reviewed: September 2026.