Ghosts Of Laughter

This was an article for the theatre programme of the Saints Drama Society's production of Blithe Spirit (2025), co-written with Charlotte Ellingham.


From the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and M. R. James to the horror films of Hammer and Hollywood, fictional ghosts are often portrayed as foreboding or frightening. However, although being chilled to the bone seems at odds with tickling the funny bone, there remains a grand tradition of comical ghost stories.

A recurring theme of spooky comedy involves haunted people who “ain’t afraid of no ghost”. Short stories such as Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost and H. G. Wells' The Inexperienced Ghost, as well as the film Beetlejuice (1988), all feature unconvincing apparitions that fail to scare the living.

Even when ghosts' creepy credentials are found wanting, they can still irritate the living. The TV series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), So Haunt Me and Ghosts all focus on earthbound spirits stuck in limbo, waiting to ascend (or descend) to another plane, much to the chagrin of those they haunt.

It’s typical of such situations that only one of the living can see the dead. This can be especially funny when there’s an “eternal triangle” between a lingering ghost, their widowed ex and a new love interest, as seen in Ghost Town (2008) and (of course) Blithe Spirit.

Many enterprising spirits capitalize on their supernatural skills, including the haunters for hire in the TV series Rentaghost and Michael Keaton's “bio-exorcist” Betelgeuse. Conversely, much humour can be evoked from the ghost removal business, including the hugely successful Ghostbusters franchise, The Frighteners (1996) and Extra Ordinary (2019).

As well as opening passages to the afterlife, spiritualism and séances often open doors for some lively characters, with one name rising above the rest – Madame Arcati. Blithe Spirit's eccentric medium has inspired several serious and spurious “spiritual” successors, such as cranky clairvoyant Oda Mae Brown in the film and stage musical Ghost.

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