The Creepiest Real Ghost Photos Ever Taken

Throughout the history of photography, there have been taken thousands of real ghost photos that support the theory of the existence of the other world. Photographers got interested in capturing ghosts in the middle of the 19th century, and nowadays they continue following this tradition.

22 Real Ghost Photos You Should Definitely See

I think I won’t surprise you by saying that most “real ghost photos” are fakes. But at a certain period of history, such pictures made their creators famous and confirmed people's faith in the afterlife.

1. Spirit Photos by William Mumler (1862-1875)

William Mumler can be called a pioneer in this photography genre. In the 1860s, he helped hundreds of people by creating “real” images of his clients standing next to their dead relatives.

Even now, you can find hundreds of pictures of ghosts created by this talented photographer on the net, but the most popular is the one in which the "ghost" of Abraham Lincoln appeared in the photo of his wife Mary Todd Lincoln.

Of course, the deceased American president didn’t rise from the dead to pose together with his wife. It was an accidental case of double exposing, which caused a real sensation. An American showman P.T. Barnum sued Mumler for alleged fraud, but the court acquitted him.

2. Lord Combermere's Ghost Photo by Sybell Corbet (1891)

This rare historical photo was taken in the Abbey Library by Sybell Corbet, who left the camera for 1 hour in the empty room, while all the employees were paying their last respect to Lord Combermere. When she developed the plate, she noticed a see-through image of a gentleman sitting in the armchair, which was the one favored by the dead lord.

Staff members claim that the “man” in a photo looks like the late 2nd Viscount, though there is a huge percentage of skeptics, who believe that a camera captured a servant, who came into the room and sat briefly in the chair.

3. Irish Linen Girls (1900)

This photo of ghost depicts Irish linen workers in their workshop. In 2015 it was included in the Getty Images collection and first appeared on the net.

Looking at the image for the first time, you are unlikely to notice any weirdness, but have a closer look at the lady sitting farthest to the right. Do you notice a hand on her shoulder? Can you see anyone who can place this hand there? Neither do I!

4. Disembodied Hand Touches Bureau by Montague Cooper (1900)

Photographer Montague Cooper took a picture of his desk in his studio. After developing the picture, he noticed a hand without a body that touched the table from above.

He assured that no one came to the table while the camera was working, and there was no mirror or reflector in the studio.

5. A Somerset Haunting by A. S. Palmer (1908)

S. Palmer also wanted to take pictures of ghost and went to the haunted house to complete the mission. He took an army officer with him and they spent several hours in that place without noticing any disturbances.

Suddenly, at about 2.45 AM, they noticed a strange light in one room. Palmer retrieved his camera and took a flash photo of that area. When the film was developed, he noticed a clearly recognizable figure there.

6. A Christmas Ghost (1919)

The realism of this ghosts photograph is questionable, but I decided to add it to this thematic selection. The people in the image are Newton D. Baker, the US Secretary of War, his wife and children.

The photographing process required producing a glass negative, which often underwent the chemical reaction of the glass with the environment, which eventually resulted in the degraded photo quality. That’s why many people believe that a “ghost” in this picture appeared because of some problems with a glass negative.

7. The Fairmont Banff Springs Ghost Bride (1920)

This photo of a ghost has a real backstory related to a bride, whose wedding was organized in the Fairmont Banff hotel and who fell to her death while she was going down the stairs.

There are several versions of why she felt, but hotel workers and visitors aren’t interested in any, as they feel rather terrified seeing that bride going up and down the staircase ever since. There are some people, who even claim that they saw her in the ballroom waiting for the first dance she never had. This woman has become a Canadian legend and there even was released a coin with her picture in 2014.

8. The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall (1936)

The real prototype of the “Brown Lady of Raynham Hall” is Lady Dorothy Walpole, who was the second wife of Charles Townshend. This man was believed to have a really bad temper, which has affected all spheres of his life.

Charles Townshend hit the roof when he discovered that his wife has a love affair with Lord Wharton and decided to teach her a lesson by locking in the family home, Raynham Hall. The woman spent there many years until she died in 1726 from smallpox.

9. The Queen’s House Ghosts by Reverend R.W Hardy (1966)

Former clergyman Ralph Hardy, wanted to take several shots of an unusual spiral staircase in the Queen's House section of the museum. After developing the pictures, the photographer noticed the fuzzy outlines of a human figure holding on to the railing.

According to the surviving evidence, the maid was thrown from this staircase about 300 years ago. This ghostly photograph attracted the attention of Kodak experts. After carefully studying the negatives, they concluded that the image is real.

10. The Amityville Ghost Photo by Gene Campbell (1976)

In November 1974, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Junior shot dead his parents and four siblings in his own house. Two years later, a professional photographer Gene Campbell spent the night in this house and took many pictures.

In 1979, the owner of the house showed the world the pictures taken by the photographer. One of them clearly shows the ghost of little John DeFeo - one of the children killed in the house.

11. St Botolph’s Church Ghost by Chris Brackley (1982)

This is one of the most famous paranormal photos that was examined by experts and proven to be real without undergoing any tampering or Double Exposure manipulations. The author of an image is Chris Brackley, who decided to take some photos in the church in 1982.

Together with Chris, there were 4 people in the church, but none of them was standing in the loft, where the figure of the ghost is visible.

12. Madonna of Bachelor's Grove Cemetery by Mari Huff (1991)

Ghost Research Society visited this place in order to inspect it on August 10, 1991. Mari Huff, one of the scientists, took B&W infrared images of the surroundings but didn’t notice anything attention-worthy.

She was really shocked when she developed the film and noticed a woman in the photo. Pay attention to her meditative posture and old-fashioned attire. See more Victorian Era photos.

13. Boothill Graveyard Ghost by Terry Ike Clanton (1995)

Terry Ike Clanton took a photo of a friend in a cowboy's clothes. After he developed the film, there appeared a strange man in the background.

The figure looks like a man in a black hat, soaring over the ground in such a way that it seems as if he either has no legs or is on his knees. This is one of the creepiest real ghost photos.

14. Wem Town Hall Ghost by Tony O'Rahilly (1995)

This photo of ghost was taken on November 19, 1995 by Tony O’Rahilly, who was just beginning this photography career at that time. He was the witness of the fire which ruined the entire building and managed to take images of the blaze from the distance using a 200mm lens.

When he looked at the ready photos, he noticed a girl standing in the doorway of the burning building. The local residents claimed that it was the ghost of Jane Churn, who was called an arsonist in 1677.

15. The Ghost in the Corner by Niki Harless (2000)

This image has long been featured as one of the real ghost photos. Not so long ago, it was uploaded to the website that contains fake ghost pictures taken by visitors, so its “nature” raises many questions.

16. Manila Ghost Photo (2003)

This ghostly photograph was taken by a passer-by with Nokia 7250. Girls asked to photograph them and once they saw an image on the screen, they got really scared as there is a strange creature holding a girl’s arm.

17. Waverly Hills Sanatorium Ghost (2006)

The abandoned tuberculosis hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, witnessed a fair amount of suffering and death while it was functioning in the second half of the 20th century. This photo shows the ruined corridor.

Some say that the figure resembles Mary Lee, the nurse who hanged herself when she found out that she got pregnant by a doctor who, learning about her pregnancy, didn’t want to admit that he was the father of the unborn child.

18. The Boy on a Farm by Neil Sandbach (2008)

In 2008, photographer Neil Sandbach took photos of a farm in Hertfordshire, England, for a couple who planned to organize their wedding there.

Looking through his digital photos later, Sandbech was surprised to see the distinctive ghostly figure of a boy peering around the corner of the building. Some people said they saw the figure of a boy dressed in white nightwear.

19. A Ghost Child by Matthew Summers (2008)

This photo looks rather ordinary, so you may guess why I included it on the list of the really ghost images. The photographer, Matthew Summers, didn’t notice at first anything odd as well, but when he zoomed in, he saw a little girl between the legs of gals on the left.

Ciaran O’Keeffe, who claims to be a “parapsychologist” and takes part in the TV show “Most Haunted”, suggested that there is no apparition in the shot. It is the result of pareidolia, which means that people are inclined to perceive random objects and patterns as faces.

20. The Sixth Swimmer by Kim Davidson (2014)

The family in this photograph had a rest in Murphy’s Hole, which is in southeast Brisbane, Australia. There were only 3 kids there that day, but looking at the photo we can also clearly see another child.

This photo of ghost was posted on Facebook and a random viewer commented on it, explaining that a 13-year-old girl drowned there in 1915 and that’s probably her image was captured by a camera.

21. A Surprise at the Museum by Jonathan Hanna (2017)

Jonathan attended the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, Nother Ireland and took this ghosts photograph there. He was alone in the carriage, but examining the photo, you can clearly see 2 other “creatures”.

One of them looks absolutely terrifying with the hollow eyes, while the figure on the right is sharply defined and has a reflection on the floor. In general, this picture resembles those taken with long exposures with people moving in and out of the image.

22. Spirit of the River Ystwyth by Dave Newnham (2018)

On October 30, 2018, Dave Newnham was checking the footpaths on the estate at about 6:15 PM and suddenly saw a woman standing in the River Ystwyth, near Dologau Bridge.

He thought that she might be in trouble and called the lady to let her know that he is standing nearby. Later he explained that pretty soon he understood that she wasn’t a human, so he decided to snap a shot of a woman, who seemed to “disappear and merge into the river”.

Tata Rossi

Hi there, I'm Tata Rossi - a professional blogger, read more