As a woman, I find the whole concept of ghostly women quite stereotyped, o i explored it!

So, what is the job of a woman in any supernatural setting? To scare or to tease? Or perhaps do nothing but to simply float about a bit? Let’s look at what we have to work with:

A lady of sorts, usually in a long flowing dress of variable colours to which many have spun some lovelorn tale to make the dress her wedding gown. Sightings over many years have her wearing grey, white, green, brown or blue, even pink on occasion if she’s feeling girly. She tends to merely float about a bit, moaning for some lost, forgotten love who either died tragically or spurned her for another foolish lady. She can usually be found in a castle setting or the site of her rejection where she took her own life out of despair. Of course, there is always the ‘lady in black’ who does more than moan, she stares really, really hard and kills off children and the main character!

Perhaps the elderly nanny type is more to your taste. A kindly, gentle soul who is usually caught loitering around children’s bedrooms to either tuck them in or sing them an old lullaby. If they are unlucky, she might even tickle their toes and hover horizontally over their beds. After a few visits and a brief description from the unaffected child in question who are finally taken seriously by their exhausted parents, the spectral granny is usually found to be some long lost relative of the family or a woman of the nursing variety who once lived in the house.

Now, the banshee is nothing gentle or quiet, but is considered an omen and wails enough to make some kind of a point. It seems she only likes the families of any Celtic origin and hangs around said families for generations, making sure each child reaching a certain age is told of said family hag. She appears or is heard whenever some tragedy is on its way, yet not enough time for the family to thwart said tragedy of course!

The seductive spectre who likes nothing more than to ‘touch up’ any men within her space is a quiet temptress, so far as no wailing or screeching involved, (so far as I know anyway?). Sometimes being so bold as to slide in between the sheets and caress said man with her cold hands, perhaps steal a kiss or two before she is stopped in her ghostly attempts when the man either tires of freezing hands on his skin or his other half puts a stop to the proceedings with either a shriek or a slap or running out of the room, pulling the reluctant spouse behind her!

Faeries walk, or if tales are to be believed, fly around stories, stealing children and replacing them with changelings and seducing men in the hope that they can entice them into the faerie realm. There are so many variations of faerie, dark or light beings, big, ugly creatures or tiny beings with gossamer wings whose only job is to care for the world we live in and take away teeth, replacing it with cash.

Now witches, if fables are to be believed are warty, hairy, green skinned old hags with pointy hats and pointy chins who eat up children after enticing them with sweets and biscuits and flying around on broomsticks hastily followed by flying monkeys. They mean only harm to us and will endeavour to do so unless a good faerie or witch can be found. Oh, and apparently they cackle…

The brown lady otherwise known as ‘Lady Dorothy Townshend of Raynham hall in Norfolk’. Taken by two ‘Country Life’ photographers in 1936.

Let us not forget the ‘famous ladies’ who’s nightly exercises have been attributed to a well known woman who lived in the house, castle or cafe and so it must be her or why else would she come back? Some have recognised her face from a portrait hanging in some gallery, yet we are more than aware that painters of old sneakily used any old face to use as a template? They may be old Queens, princesses, Duchesses who have either been beheaded and feel a bit miffed at having their lives cut short on a man’s whimsical decisions or they have apparently loved the place so much, they refuse to leave it to the next generation and basically say, ‘if you want the house, you get me for free’!

Whatever the role of women is in a supernatural setting, be she good, bad, or ugly, she certainly makes her presence known and leaves you in no doubt that you have witnessed, woman.
(This and other articles did have photo's but I was unable to upload these!)