Find out the top 10 most common ghostly sightings...
We've always grown up believing that ghosts don't exist but, according to new research, four in 10 Brits are convinced they've seen a ghost, with a third saying they've been visited by the spirit of a dead friend or family member, and two in five saying they've seen a 'full apparition'.
Over the course of their lifetime, they said they've experienced some form of paranormal activity a huge six times, with the most likely locations for these spooky encounters in the house, at a hotel, in an abandoned building or even in a hospital.
Spooky.
The research, by Ripley’s Believe it or Not! London, found that 80% of those who did see ghosts told friends or family about their experience, and while the majority were urged to reveal more, many were told they were ‘crazy’.
Source: giphy
And despite the yearly excitement at Halloween about trick or treating, dressing up and carving pumpkins, most Britons did not know the origions of Halloween, with 75% of respondents not knowing that Harry Houdini died on the 31st October, and 71% unaware that the original Jack O’Lanterns were made from turnips rather than pumpkins as they are today.
Guilty as charged. Should we know these things?
While most people who had experienced a ghostly encounter hadn't done so on Halloween itself, the few people who had experienced unusual occurrences on the festival told of strange noises in the loft and seeing strange faces in the mirror. Some had witnessed doors slamming, moving pumpkins and one made contact with the dead through the use of an Ouija Board.
The top 10 most common ghostly sightings were...
- A full apparition of a person
- A moving object
- An ‘orb’
- A full apparition of an animal
- A full apparition of a child
- Hearing a laugh
- The partial apparition of a head
- The partial apparition of a hand
- Hearing a child’s laugh
- Hearing a loud scream
And the places people were mostly likely to see them were...
- Own home
- A hotel
- An abandoned building
- A hospital
- A school
- A park
- A B&B
- A shop floor
- A shop stockroom
- A town hall
Scroll through our gallery above to find out more spooky Halloween facts...
Have you ever seen a ghostly apparition? Let us know @marieclaireuk