The ghost holds a unique place in the world of the supernatural, as capable of scaring

our senseless as they are of inflicting us with the deepest of melancholys. They also

come in many forms. The ghosts that we carry with us in our daily lives, memories of those we

have loved and lost, or perhaps even wronged, thoughts that sit in the deepest parts of the

psyche, straining to become manifest. But what are those apparitions that seem not to have been

brought forth from the subconscious, those that have no connection to the observer,

but instead seem to be reaching out to us from a seemingly timeless space.

For some, to witness a ghost, particularly that of a relative might bring a certain comfort,

a reassuring glimpse of a life beyond death. Historically, however, the ghost has rarely been

something to celebrate. For the ancient Samarians, death was an act from which there was

ordinarily no coming back. The souls of the dead left to dwell in a cure, the land of no return.

It was a place where all were equal, regardless of their actions in life, no matter how rich or poor,

a place where they would remain for the rest of eternity in dreary unlight,

watched over by Erich Kigal, the dark queen of the Netherworld. It was said that the oppressive

conditions of cure could be alleviated for the dead if their surviving family made offerings of

food and drink, which they could then receive in the Netherworld. A failure to do this would see

the ghost of the deceased return to punish their uncaring and callous relatives with misfortune and

ill health. In ancient Japan, the appearance of a ghost or Yurei was especially ominous.

Yurei was sometimes said to transform from souls or Raycon in fits of explosive emotion,

often motivated by vengeance. A violent murder or suicide would almost always

presage the arrival of a Yurei, intent on retribution. Until the disturbance was settled,

they would be fated to haunt the living indefinitely. Yurei are traditionally portrayed as women

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