Supernatural creature of the week: How do serial killers become ghosts?

This week’s episode of Supernatural had a lot of things, but the scariest thing was the ghost of serial killer John Wayne Gacy living inside a cigar box.

This was a big episode for many reasons. It was Supernatural‘s 300th episode, a major milestone most TV series can only dream of and there were a couple of surprises, including the return of John Winchester, the angel Zachariah, and the ghost of John Wayne Gacy. Like Sam, I love to study serial killers, but I also hate clowns, and that Gacy clown was absolutely terrifying.

You know what makes it even worse? That’s exactly how Gacy looked in his clown outfit, minus the dirt. In addition to that, in case anyone wanted to know, Gacy really did own a cigar box police found in his car that they suspected he kept objects to…fondle with. The whole thing is just really disturbing.

The angel everyone loves to hate, Zachariah, made a much-anticipated return for this episode then died after about ten minutes, but the best part of this episode was, of course, the emotional return of papa Winchester. I didn’t even like John that much when he was alive, now I desperately want him back. Why couldn’t Amara have resurrected John and Mary? Because Jeffery Dean Morgan was on The Walking Dead that’s why.

Origin of Ghosts

The interest in ghosts stems from our desire for an afterlife. If ghosts exists than it means a part of us lives on after death. Our belief in them is a form of comfort transitioned into a horror character because of our ultimate fear of death. A double-edged sword.

The English word “ghost” comes from the Old English word “gast”, from the Proto-Germanic word “gaistaz” which stems from the definition of “fury, anger.” This sums up the presence of ghosts, they’re depicted as angry creatures unable to move on.

There are several references to ghosts or spirits in Mesopotamian religions where they were thought to be created only at the exact moment of one’s death, taking on the memory and personality of the deceased. They would travel to the netherworld and assigned a position (even the dead have to work) and continue living just as they had while alive. Again, a form of comfort, people want to believe that in death nothing in their life will change, except they’ll be happier.

For over 2,500 years, the Egyptian’s ideas about the afterlife expanded, and were eventually recorded in the “Book of the Dead”, that later became the beginnings of mummy lore.

Each culture has a different beginning for their ghosts but most of them maintain the same core, their living entities of the dead who tend to be angry about something. The Greeks believed ghosts were primarily frightful creatures that required appeasing if they were to move on. The Romans believed they were tools used in revenge schemes, and cultures in medieval Europe considered them to be demons as well as dead souls.

The fascination with serial killer phantoms

Criminals alone hold a powerful fascination with people. We watch movies about crime and criminals, and safely read true crime books tucked in bed, feeling an odd mix of guilty excitement and disgust for enjoying it.

Serial killers have become strange celebrity’s in our society, celebrity monsters. Their gruesome actions that not only defile the law, but also our moral laws, makes them an ominous subject to study, and for many they’ve become a hobby similar to scrap-booking.

Yes, people obsess over serial killers and they obsess over ghosts. It’s only natural the two mingle together. However, the spirits of alleged murderers stands out from the rest because of their macabre history. They’re haunting sites are no better than tourist attractions, that are feared as well as exploited.

Men like Ted Bundy who smile at the camera and thrill at their fame, haunt us. An evil feeling resides around their very image, looking at a picture of Gacy too long is like a punch in the stomach. As if looking at their faces can taint the world around us, and this is what ghosts are, memories/emotions/fears that cannot move on.

However, unlike the spirits of Presley and Jack Kerouac and Marilyn Monroe that exist because we wish they were still here, these vile ghosts exist because we feel the stain they left on the world.

Almost every serial killer has been sighted post-mortem at least once. This plays out with the theory that spirits stay behind when they’re angry or have unfinished business. What says angry and unfinished better than a compulsive murderer?

The oldest and bloodiest

H.H. Holmes, Jack the Ripper and LIzzie Borden are three of the oldest and most infamous murderers in modern history and have become additionally famous for being ghosts. Borden isn’t technically a serial killer, but a suspected double murderer, but I think we can make an exception for her lingering spirit.

The three of them made their mark in history between the years 1860-1896, collectively striking up a suspected body count of 34 people.

Illustration shows the police discovering the body of one of Jack the Ripper’s victims, probably Catherine Eddowes, London, England, late September 1888. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) /

Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper is probably the most infamous killer of all time because of the intense sadism involved, the fact that he was never caught, his horrible name, and he was the first to send letters to the press. He killed five women in 1888 while taunting the police like the Zodiac. Despite popular opinion, Jack the Ripper was not the world’s first serial killer, but his case was the first to create a worldwide media frenzy, making him the first modern serial killer.

The first serial killers on record were actually two women dubbed the “Poison Ring” from Ancient Rome in 331 BC.

Ghosts are supposedly caused by negative energy, and painful deaths, and the Ripper’s victims certainly suffered in their last moments. Several of his crime scenes have been called haunted. The scene of the Ripper’s second murder, 29 Hanbury Street, Whitehall, London is said to be haunted by both the Ripper, and his second victim, Annie Chapman.

The Ripper’s ghost has been known to travel to other locations, including a pub where employees claimed to have seen a ghastly old man in Victorian clothing inside. It was the same pub Annie Chapman was drinking at before she died.

Aside from Chapman, his other victims have been known to haunt London on their own. On the street where Mary Anne Nicholas died, people claim to have heard horrible gasping noises that sound like an assault. People have seen apparitions of her body in a gutter and a man once heard a man and a woman having a discussion but saw no one there. The ghost of Elizabeth Stride has been heard, crying out for help and the ghost of Catherine Eddowes has been spotted multiple times.

Then comes the mystery of Mary Kelly, his final victim, who supposedly spoke to people on the street hours after she died.

H.H. Holmes and the Murder Castle

H.H. Holmes, largely referred to as America’s first serial killer and the American Jack the Ripper, was suspected of killing at least 200 people in his “Murder Castle” or “Murder Hotel.” In 1887, he began construction for a three-story hotel completed with hidden rooms and secret passageways where he would kill his guests and dump their bodies down in the basement.

Anyone one who watches American Horror Story will probably recognize the fictional version of him played by Evan Peters in Season 5, and just like in the show, Holmes is rumored to haunt his massive hotel.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL — Pictured: Evan Peters as Mr.March. CR: Frank Ockenfels/FX /

Holmes and his ghost quickly transitioned into symbols for the Devil; his body count, high-intelligence and ghastly face made him a good candidate. He even said so himself. Before his death in 1896, Holmes claimed to be turning into the Devil, and by the end, his face seemed to have taken on a demonic look.

As if to prove he was the devil, strange things began occurring just days after his death.

Almost everyone associated with Holmes abruptly died weeks apart from each other, even the people at his trial. The corner physician and the head corner who testified against him, a jury member, the judge that gave the ruling, the priest he prayed with, and a detective that helped catch him.

As if that wasn’t weird enough, several buildings he commonly visited suddenly burned down, including his precious hotel. An insurance agency he once scammed caught fire and everything was destroyed, except for a photo of him and a framed warrant for his arrest.

After it caught fire, the hotel was turned into a post office (they should have torn it down) that quickly turned into a haunted one. However, there are very little to no sightings of Holmes’ spirit or any of his victims. The hauntings occur primarily in feelings of dread and cold spots.

Some people claim to have seen a black shadow that covered the floor in dreading terror, but this might just be the feeling that comes with standing in a building where 200 people were murdered by a man that called himself the Devil.

Lizzie Bordon

Supernatural took a trip to the Lizzie Borden house in Season 11, “Thin Lizzie” when Sam and Dean went to the Borden house to investigate a series of murders. During their time there, they realized it wasn’t haunted but made to look haunted for the tourists. The real Borden house, however, is supposed to be very haunted.

I’m pretty sure every ’90s kid heard the Lizzie Borden rhyme at least once in elementary school, the one that confused you enough to go home and ask your parents who the heck is Lizzie Borden. Known for being the prime suspect of the murders of her father and stepmother on August 4, 1892. Borden was acquitted for the murders even though most people then, and now, assumed her to be guilty.

Now, nearly 100 years after her death, Borden lives on through stories and tourist attractions. Every year, people flock to her childhood home for the chance to sleep where the Borden family, and Lizzie herself, slept. Located in Fall River, Massachusetts, the house turned bed and breakfast, has rumored ghosts up the wazoo terrorizing guests and the tour guides.

At least six human ghosts and one cat (not kidding) appear in the house and at night it gets unbearably cold. Things moan and groan, footsteps wonder around, lights turn on and off at random, and the voice of the Borden’s maid, Bridget Sullivan can be heard screaming “Ma’am come quick!!”. Lizzie herself has been seen, even though she didn’t die there.

Ghost of John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy, “Killer Clown”, is known for brutally murdering over 30 boys and young men, and for killing the clown industry. I’m pretty sure Supernatural‘s choice to use Gacy comes from the fact that he’s a collector’s dream. A disturbingly large amount of his possessions have been bought for large sums of money.

Collectors flock to auctions and dealerships across the country to buy anything owned by Gacy, just like the guy on Supernatural who owned the cigar box. Why anyone would want a clown painting he made or a tissue the sicko sneezed in is beyond me.

Another reason for using his ghost might be because people tend to be more interested in Gacy’s spirit than other spirits, again, I don’t know why. He reportedly haunts the room at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois where he was put to death by lethal injection. The prison was the home to other notorious serial killers like Richard Speck, and the two-halves of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case.

It was bound to be haunted by something. Guards reported hearing Gacy’s voice down the halls and by the death chamber, he’d laugh in their ears. A frankly horrible film was made about the existence of Gacy’s ghost called 8213: Gacy House.

Next. Supernatural Creature of the Week: Abraxas. dark

The Gacy ghost in this latest episode was just like these other serial killer ghosts, an attention seeker. He smiled and reached out for a potential victim in a way that was extremely un-ghost like. Most of them robotically move around and kill, so to have Gacy’s ghost act so maniacal felt like a reference to famous spirits as a whole.

On the paranormal hierarchy, the ghosts of serial killers stand above all other spirits, no contest.

Catch the next episode of Supernatural next Thursday at 8:00 p.m. on the CW.

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Supernatural creature of the week: Ghosts of serial killers

By Rachel Roth | Feb 8, 2019