Casper who?

 Morning Hunters,

The monster we are following this week is none other than ghosts/ spirits. While they are the most well-known type of supernatural entity within the show, they are arguably the most terrifying regarding the shock factor. Ghosts are the spirits of a dead being that can appear before those still living. While I don't necessarily believe in ghosts, I have a healthy fear of them after watching this show. From the show, ghosts are described as dead beings who would have yet to pass on to the afterlife and have just been trapped in the veil between living and dead.

The reason ghosts terrify me in the show is that they're not just spirits that can pass through walls; depending on how they died and how strong a spirit is, they have various powers. Some include but are not limited to telekinesis, possession, electrokinesis, biokinesis, pyrokinesis, mental influence, and more. Simply, they can move stuff around, inflict physical harm on the living, possess them, affect their mood and behavior, control water, fire, etc. 

For several reasons, they get trapped, unfinished business, held behind by another spirit or living being, or something earthly is tying them to the living.

These spirits are no Casper the friendly ghosts; these are vengeful sons of guns that no longer feel empathy or human moral that generally prohibits individuals from harming others.

Thankfully though, there is a way to banish them; first, you need to figure out who the spirit was in their living life; then, if they were buried and a physical body still exists somewhere on earth, all you gotta do is go grave robbing, salt their bones, and then light em up like a firework. This erases one way a spirit is bound to the earth. But then, how do you banish them if they are cremated? This is where it gets tricky because then you need to figure out the ghost's unfinished business and if any trace of them still exists on earth. This could be a lock of hair, a flask, a coat, a necklace, or virtually anything that belonged to them in some form while they were alive. Burn the object, and that also banishes them. As for the unfinished business people that are only tied to earth for that reason and no physical item, the boys often lure the ghost to what their unfinished business is, making them face what's holding them. 

An example is in an episode about a ghost ship; any living person who saw the vessel died by drowning not 24 hours after seeing it. As it turned out, the spirit behind that only went after individuals who had spilled their own families' blood. The ghost was the first mate aboard the ship who had been executed for treason by his brother, the Captain, who cut off the traitor's right hand, which became a hand of glory upon his death and a tether to the living. Sam and Dean summoned the Captain, so he faced his brother again, completing the unfinished business, and they disappeared.

Ghosts appear and are hunted in various ways throughout the show, but the moral of this story is to stay away from them at all costs and always keep salt on hand for emergencies. Fun fact, if you draw a line of salt over doorways and windows, a ghost cannot enter the room. It traps them and protects you.