Amazing Real Life Ghost Spottings From Around The World

1. Combermere Abbey Library in Cheshire, Englan

image source: insider.com

This photographer was just trying to capture the cozy surroundings of Combermere Abbey, but got the surprise of his life when he actually captured the (very dead) Lord Combermere sat in the chair in the foreground. Do you see him? Even weirder, the photo was apparently captured at the exact moment Lord Combermere's funeral was taking place - creepy! Today, if you want to, you can visit Combermere Abbey for the day and wander the halls that Lord Combermere haunts. You can even have your wedding there - just steer clear of the library in the night...

2. Royal Air Force Squad, England

image source: insider.com

At first glance, there's not too amiss with this photo of Sir Victor Goddard's Royal Air Force squadron. It was taken in 1919, at the end of the First World War, when these men were probably relieved that they didn't meet the fate of thousands others in that deadly war. Someone who had also recently passed was Freddy Jackson, a mechanic who served in this squadron. And, if you look closely, you can see his face you can see his face peering around the side of someone in the top row.

3. Unexpected 1950s Guest

image source: pocket-lint.com

This family just wanted to take a lovely family picture together at the dinner table, but when they developed the picture, it turned out that they'd got more than they'd bargained for. A blurred, haunting figure drops down from the ceiling on the left side of the picture, something that once you've seen you can't get out of your head. It almost looks like the ghostly figure is grasping for the young boy in the centre of the picture, or perhaps the woman he's sitting with.

4. Raynham Hall, England

image source: insider.com

You absolutely can't miss the ghostly woman striding confidently down the stairs in this image taken in 1936 at Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England. The ghost even has a name - it's the "Brown Lady of Raynham Hall", otherwise known as Lady Dorothy Walpole. If the surname sounds familiar, she was actually the sister of the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, Robert Walpole. Lady Dorothy was a bit of a naughty girl, and had an affair with another upper-class man. When her husband found out, he kept her sequestered in Raynham Hall - so it makes sense that she would still haunt it today.

5. A Ghost Pilot in England

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The woman in the photo is a Mrs Sayer, who in 1987 took a trip to an airfield somewhere in England. And what should you do at an airfield? Get a picture sat in the front seat of an airplane, obviously! Mrs Sayer dutifully posed for the picture, but when she got it developed weeks later, it turned out she wasn't alone in the cockpit of the airplane. It looks like there's a man in a shirt sat next to her in the pilot's seat, and some have suggested that maybe this was one of the original pilots of this vehicle. One thing Mrs Sayer knows is that the cockpit was definitely empty when she sat in it!

6. Boot Hill Cemetery, Arizona, USA

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Where most photos on this list were taken in the early 20th century (or even earlier), this one stands out because it is quite modern. Taken in 1996 in Arizona, a man dressed as a cowboy holding a gun stands in the foreground of the photo. Now, unless you're looking for him, you might miss the weird figure in the background to the right of the subject - but look deep into the brush. It looks like there's a man there also wearing a cowboy hat - he really stands out against the grey brush once you've seen him. So, did the photographer capture a real cowboy that day in the desert? Maybe.

7. A Kitchen Visitor

image source: reddit.com

You might not want to zoom in on this picture unless you want nightmares for weeks. This reddit user picked up his camera to take a picture after hearing strange noises coming from his kitchen. At first glance, it doesn't seem like he's caught anything interesting, but zoom in and you'll get a fright - there's a man with a very pale face leaning his head around the door. Could this be the source of the running taps and footsteps in the kitchen? If so, we'd definitely be finding a new place to live right now.

8. Staircase Boy at Amityville, USA

image source: pocket-lint.com

Historical fact lends this ghost photo some extra layers. In 1974, Ronald DeFeo shot six members of his family in his house in Amityville, New York. One of those unfortunate family members was John DeFeo, Ronald's little brother, and this photo might have just captured his lost soul. It was taken by paranormal experts in 1976 who went to the house to investigate paranormal goings-on reported by the Lutz family, who moved into the house after the murders but stayed just 28 days before being run out by the ghosts of the DeFeos.

9. Ghost in the Back Seat

image source: liveabout.com

When Mabel Chinnery visited the cemetery in 1959 to see her mother's grave, little did she know she'd be capturing a real dead person on camera. On her way back to the car, she pulled out her camera to snap a picture of  her husband, who was waiting in the car. However, if you look behind the husband, in the back seat there's a ghostly figure who you can just make out from their sunglasses. There definitely wasn't anyone in the car with the couple, so is it a ghost? Even creepier, Mabel insists the ghost looks like her late mother.

10. The Coventry Spectre, England

image source: pocket-lint.com

This photo show an annual meeting of the Coventry Freeman association in the ancient St. Mary's Guildhall in Coventry, England. The hall was built in the 1340s, and is frequently used for dinner events. However, this meeting had an extra visitor - a creepy hooded figure stands in the corner as everyone bows their heads in prayer. The figure certainly wasn't present at the dinner as he's wearing a monks robe that looks decidedly out of place, and even the Lord Mayor who was at the event said he didn't see anyone matching the figure.

11. Blurred Boy

image source: 7news.com.au

This photo was evidently taken at the peak of disposable cameras, possible in the late 90s or early 00s. Two boys are dressed like pirates, but one of them has a strange white blurry covering their face. The real person who was photographed on the left has spoken out about this photo, explaining that the photo is of him and his brother. However, his brother sadly died some time after the photo was taken, and then the photo was developed. It was only then that they say the "ghost smear" on the photo, directly over his dead brother. Could it be a ghostly intervention wiping the boy out?

12. A Husband's Ghost

image source: pocket-lint.com

This sweet portrait was taken in 1997 as Denise Russell had a day out with her mother, who was living alone since her husband died in 1984. But what happened when they developed this normal photo of their grandma? A man appeared over her shoulder. None of the family can say if the man was there when the picture was taken, but what they all agree on is that the man looks weirdly like their mother's dead partner. It's quite a lovely thought that he might have turned up in ghostly form one last time to greet his wife.

13. Midnight Visitor

image source: reddit.com

Many people have set up cameras within their house to capture paranormal occurrences, but not everyone has actually found something. However, this reddit user experienced joy (or fear, depending on how you look at it) when he found a ghostly hand hovering in the centre of this image taken in his living room. A child can clearly be seen reading or watching TV in the bottom right corner, but in the left of the image, if you zoom in, there's also a creepy hand coming out of nowhere - almost as if it's reaching for the person on the sofa...

14. Car Crash Ghost, New York, USA

image source: pocket-lint.com

The Pawling Fire Department took this photo at the scene of a horrific car crash in New York. These photographs are routine at some accidents, and help investigators work out what actually happened and if anyone is to blame. However, this one turned out to not be a routine photograph at all because a white figure ended up in the front of shot - and it definitely wasn't there when the photo was taken. Could it be the person who sadly lost their life in the crash inhabiting the Earth one last time?

15. Newby Church, England

image source: pocket-lint.com

Now, many people still believe this photo to be a hoax - isn't the ghost just so perfectly placed? However, since it was taken, many experts have taken a look at the original photograph and believe that it isn't an example of double exposure (the process used to produce images of people in a different image.) So, it's up to you - is the strange, deathly figure stood next to the altar perhaps the ghost of an old spirit buried in the church? Or does the photograph have a much simpler explanation? Of course, the photographer, Reverend K.F. Lord, always said that he did nothing to the image and that there was nothing in his shot when he took it.

16. Ghosts in the Toys 'R' Us, California, USA

image source: pocket-lint.com

This famous ghost also has a backstory. Apparently, one California native named Johnny Johnson had a crush on a girl who lived in the area - on a plantation that happened to lie on the same site as the future Toys 'R' Us store in Sunnyvale, California. Now, one day as he was chopping wood, he accidentally struck himself and bled to death. Today, some visitors to the Toys 'R' Us reported seeing a male figure wandering the aisles - and is it Johnny that appears in this freaky photo from 1978 of a bunch of girls discussing their latest buys from the toy superstore?

17. Wem Town Hall Ghost

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Can you imagine taking a picture and then realizing afterwards that there's a little girl peering directly into your camera? That's exactly what happened to Tony O'Rahilly in 1995, when he photographed a fire raging through Wem Town Hall in Shropshire, England. When he developed the photograph, a young girl appeared in the doorway of the hall, staring down at him. Later, history buffs suggested that the girl could actually be the ghost of Jane Churm, a girl who was accused of starting fires in Wem in 1677. That coincidence is too big to ignore!

18. St. Botolph's Church, London, England

image source: pocket-lint.com

Don't get distracted by this church's beautiful interior, because this is actually the setting for a weird paranormal occurrence. Can you see the ghost in this image? No? Look again in the top right corner - there's clearly a figure standing there looking down on the church. According to the photographer, it was only himself and his wife in the church at the time - and there's another twist. Later, a builder contacted the photographer to say that the figure in the photo bared an uncanny resemblance to a preserved body he found inside the church in a coffin that hadn't been opened for many years.

19. Worstead Church, England

image source: pocket-lint.com

This photo was taken in 1975 inside Worstead Church in Norfolk, England. Do you see the two ladies sitting on the church pews? Only one of those women was there when the picture was taken. When the photographer, Diane Berthelot got the photos developed to show to her friends and family, someone asked "who's sitting behind you?" and she then saw the ghostly figure for the first time. And the woman behind is so lifelike that it's actually hard to tell if it's a ghost at all. However, when Diane returned to the church to speak to the vicar, he immediately recognized the woman as the 'White Lady', who regularly visits people in the church.

20. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

image source: pocket-lint.com

Now, this is a creepy photograph. A figure cloaked in white appears to be grabbing the banisters of the famous Tulip Staircase inside the National Maritime Museum in London. It was taken by R. W. Hardy in 1966, and to this day remains unexplained. However, we have reason to believe that the ghost is still there - in 2002, someone who worked in the building reported seeing a figure draped in a white dress sliding across a balcony and then walking straight through a wall! If you want to make your mind up, you can visit the spot where the photo is taken and see if you can spot the ghost for yourself.

21. Ghost at the Convention, Los Angeles, USA

image source: pocket-lint.com

The story behind this photograph makes the fact that a ghost appeared even better. The male figure in the centre of the photograph is Robert A. Ferguson, and the photo shows him speaking at a spiritualist convention in 1968 in Los Angeles. However, it seems that there was an extra guest at the convention: Robert's brother, who actually died in World War II. When Robert saw the photo developed for the first time he immediately recognized his brother standing next to him, which must have caused quite a shock.

22. Tewin Bury Farm, England

image source: pocket-lint.com

This one is a more recent example of a ghost photo. The photographer took this in 2008 when he was at the farm to attend a wedding. On a walk around the grounds he looked back at the farm and snapped a photo on his camera. When he got back home, he put the picture back into Photoshop and, on a whim, adjusted some of the settings like contrast. And, what appeared? The creepy image of a woman in white peering from behind a door in the bottom right. People on the farm later confirmed that they had seen a ghost walking around in white clothes, too.

23. The Hospital Demon

image source: pocket-lint.com

This one isn't so much an image of a benevolent, quiet ghost than a crazed demon. The CCTV footage was taken from a hospital, and can you imagine being the person who saw this for the first time in the security office? The demon, or whatever it is, seems to be standing on top of a hospital bed already inhabited by a patient - you can see its abnormally long arms and legs. You know what's even weirder, though? The patient in the bed apparently died not long after this CCTV footage was captured... Very weird.

24. Ghost Hunting in Illinois, USA

image source: the-line-up.com

If you look closely at this image, it's possible to see the image of a woman standing in the bottom window. Even weirder? There are two faces peering out of the top window onto the ghost hunters. The house is the James John Eldred House, a house that was built in 1861 and has been the scene for many ghost sightings over the years. However, this seems to be the first proof that the house is occupied by spirits - could the faces be of the family who lived in this house with James Eldred? It's definitely possible.

25. Another Staircase Ghost

image source: the-line-up.com

The photographer of this ghost image was a painter, who regularly worked on family homes in his local area - you can see his painting materials in the bottom left of the photo. However, this time when he took a picture of his work, he was confronted by a creepy figure on the staircase of the family home. A blurry, grey woman seems to be holding the banister and looking right at the photographer, as if she knows that a photo is being taken. Once you've seen her, you won't be able to get her out of your memories.

26. Stanley Hotel, Colorado, USA

image source: the-line-up.com

You've probably heard of the Stanley Hotel - and maybe not all for good reasons. The huge hotel (there are 140 rooms!) was actually the inspiration behind Stephen King's novel The Shining and Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation. Many guests have reported paranormal sightings in the hotel, and this one guest seems to have captured one of the ghosts on camera. In this case, you can see a spirit of a woman looking out of the window in the reflection of a billiards case. Though Stephen King didn't experience any ghost sightings during his stay, it's clear that something funny is going on there.

27. Malvern Manor, USA

image source: reddit.com

Malvern Manor is known for being a hub of ghost activity, with plenty of guests reporting creepy goings-on including seeing people wandering around the corridors. Some lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective) people have even caught some of these ghosts on camera, like this Reddit user who captured a blurry, white figure standing at the end of the corridor. He maintains that the figure couldn't be a window reflection, as there isn't anything on the left side of that corridor. Looks like he really caught a ghost!

28. Dundas Peak, Canada

image source: indiatimes.com

These hikers were just out for a nice day of hiking, and probably didn't expect the day to end with ghost photos. The group paused to take photographs at the picturesque Dundas Peak, where they each posed on the cliff edge. However, in the background, you can see the figure of a person in the steep cliffs. The friends say there's no way there was a person there, as it was a completely inaccessible cliff. There have been reports that many people have gone missing on this hiking trail recently - so did the group inadvertently photograph the ghost of a lost soul?

29.

image source: reddit.com

This Reddit user got more than they bargained for when they decided to rig up their home with cameras. However, when you're intent on catching a ghost, it's the only option. In this instance, it seemed to pay off - they managed to capture a creepy figure turning their head directly towards the camera, almost as if they knew it was there. A trick of the light? Or a creepy spirit occupying the house? Either way, if we saw this on our home security footage, we'd be moving out immediately... But for real ghost hunters, this is gold.

30. Ghostly Woman, Thailand

image source: reddit.com

What would you do if your dead grandma appeared in an image from your childhood? That's what happened to this Reddit user, who was looking through family photos of her sister when she suddenly noticed a woman in the back of this photo. The weirdest thing? Her family say there was definitely nobody behind her sister when the photo was taken. Plus, the woman is wearing the same clothes as her grandmother often wore, and is sitting in the same position as a much-loved image of their grandmother. Could they have captured her from the afterlife?