When I was a kid, a popular ghost story that we would all tell around this time of year was the story of "Bloody Mary".  The story is actually very widespread in the UK and U.S, to the point that it has a Wikipedia page, a post on the mythbusting/fact-checking site Snopes.com, a plethora of YouTube videosdevoted to the subject, and numerous mentions in movies and television shows. 

If, somehow, you have never heard this story, it goes like this:
In Colonial times, there was a beautiful woman n...

Flickering lights. A slamming door. The scent of perfume wafting through the air. These could all be signs of paranormal activity in your home. But there’s probably a far less haunting explanation—though what it's costing you could be scary. Just in time for Halloween, RiPA takes the fright out of five household phenomena.
 
Cold spots
While drafts could be the result of a restless apparition, they’re more likely caused by air leaks or inadequate insulation. Professional energy auditors...

Headless corpses, bloody ghouls, floating white spectres… there are plenty of ‘spirit sightings’ at this time of year as the trick- or-treaters do the rounds. But beyond the realms of fiction and Halloween fun, is there any evidence that ghosts actually exist? ‘I have an open mind,’ says historian Peter Ackroyd, who has collected accounts for his book, The English Ghost. ‘Some stories are very convincing indeed. They remain utterly inexplicable and may give pause to those who trus...

What is it about the English and their obsession with ghosts?

I thought all cultures had the same number of ghosts – by which I mean none – but similar levels of delusion about them. Apparently not
 
The English obsession with the weather is well documented. By which I mean "prolifically", although I'm sure many of the documents are excellent. And now I'm adding this modest document to all that documentary evidence. (I don't mean actual documentaries, just documents.
 
A documentary given as...

Happy people are more likely to believe evidence of the supernatural and to sidestep black cats, according to a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 92, No. 5). This effect held true whether researchers manipulated participants' mood or tapped their existing moods, notes lead author Laura King, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

In the first of a series of studies, King and her colleagues inspired a positive mood in half of the...