I’ve always been a big fan of ghosts; I’ve cherished many a spooky read I’ll remember at night in the dark on a dash across the house. There’s something fascinating about ghosts being formerly-human apex predators with very specific grievances, their powerful energies focused on the darkest of emotions and motivations. But what of the ghosts who are friendly? The ghosts who remember humanity? The ghosts with goals that (largely) don’t involve hanging around in the dark, scaring unsuspecting humans, but instead aim to help and be helped by them?
In fantasy, there’s often the opportunity to put a face—and a purpose—to a spectre.
When I wrote my debut The Undetectables, there was no question of the inclusion of a ghost with substance (and Theodore Wyatt contains substance in spades—or so he’d tell you himself). As the trope goes, ghosts are essentially a manifestation of a human spirit with something keeping them tethered to the mortal plane. Getting to see that humanity play out—dramatically, erratically, or helpfully in some way—is one of my favourite things to read.
Rummaging through my shelves (and digging through my Kindle), I assembled a group of titles I’ve loved where a ghost and a human forge an unlikely bond, move toward a common goal, or even—if somewhat reluctantly—become friends.
Here are five books featuring an unlikely alliance with a ghost.
Grave Expectations by Alice Bell
For everyone who has ever asked ‘where are all the ghosts from the noughties?’, look no further. This is a hilarious cosy crime meets urban fantasy mash-up that had me cackling all the way through. Teenage ghost Sophie is all too happy to help medium Claire talk to other ghosts—as long as Claire doesn’t mind a heavy dose of sarcasm, her ever-present velour tracksuit, and her disdain for most of Claire’s hobbies. Of course, Sophie’s reasons for hanging around Claire are deeply mysterious—nobody knows where her body is, there’s no logical explanation as to why Sophie would be tethered to her living best friend while said friend is now in her thirties, and, most worryingly… how come Sophie doesn’t remember how she died? When Claire (and therefore, Sophie) is brought to a posh manor by an old acquaintance from university to entertain her family with a séance, Claire stumbles upon another ghost—a skeleton, really—and a year-old mystery that Sophie is determined they’ll solve together.
Masters of Death by Olivie Blake
Listen, if I was the ghost of a problematic billionaire who then had a vampire real estate agent come in and try to sell the house I was murdered in from underneath me, I too would be both furious and dramatic about it. Tom Parker (THE FOURTH!) just wants to know why he died, and he certainly doesn’t want anyone living in his house. With Tom’s repeated attempts to thwart Viola Marek (the aforementioned vampire), she hires medium (and godson of Death) Fox D’Mora to help her get rid of Tom. I mean, help him move on to the afterlife. But when demons, a few angels, and a godling turn up, it soon becomes clear that much bigger things are at play, forcing Tom to decide whose side he’s actually on. And also, why do all the Tom Parkers in his family die such a horrible death?
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Wallace Price cannot be dead. He certainly cannot be dead wearing casual Sunday-in-the-legal-office clothes. He most certainly cannot be dead, because if he was dead, more people would be at his funeral. He’s brought to a highly unusual tea shop run by Hugo, a reaper who wants to help Wallace cross over, even if Wallace is not ready to go. Told from the POV of the ghost in question, the unlikely alliance between ghost and the human(-of-sorts) is an utterly heart-crushing romance, as well as a deep delve into the depths of what makes us human when we’re no longer living. It emotionally destroyed me, and that’s why I’d recommend it wholeheartedly. After all, who doesn’t love a book that has the redemptive essence of A Christmas Carol in a very, very queer, fantastical setting?
The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
Ghosts are everywhere in this historical heist fantasy, and not all of them are good—but ghostly grandmother Mama Octavia, who only Clara can see, guaranteed this book a spot in my top five. Set in 1920s Washington DC in Black society at the height of prohibition, this historical heist fantasy is full of folk magic, richly drawn and highly immersive. Clara’s character can see ghosts—Enigmas—that can grant wishes, but with a very steep cost attached. Cursed by a spirit who helped her in her darkest hour, Clara takes a challenge that promises her freedom if she’s successful. Mama Octavia, her grandmother who also had Clara’s second sight, spends a lot of her ghostly time meddling in Clara’s affairs, but keeps up Clara’s lessons in using her magic, imparting wisdom and utterly unsolicited opinions on the new friends Clara brings home.
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
What do you get if you have a trans brujo, a traditional Latinx family who don’t accept he can do magic, and a ghost-summoning ritual he’s performing to solve a murder close to home? You get former school bad boy, Julian Diaz, hanging out in Yadriel’s bedroom, and he won’t go home. He’s also dead, if that helps. In this YA paranormal fantasy (with a mystery at its heart), Yadriel is forced to team up with Julian in order to solve the murder (something Yadriel does not want to do). In exchange, Yadriel is tasked with finding out what happened to Julian, in the hopes it’ll help him cross over peacefully (something Julian does not want to do). This book is gorgeously, perfectly queer, has a fantastic magic system, and as time goes on, the ghost and human start to grow on each other in a way that made my heart explode a little bit.
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The Undetectables
Courtney Smyth (they/them) is a chronically ill writer of stories, both long and short, from Dublin, currently living in the West of Ireland. They have had a number of short stories published in Paper Lanterns Literary Journal, and appeared in The Last Five Minutes of a Storm anthology from Sans Press. They have been writing about ghosts, demons and murders since they were ten and have no plans to stop. They can be found yelling about books on Twitter and Instagram @cswritesbooks.
I’ll have to check out these books. I enjoy paranormal mysteries with a medium or ghost characters. My current favorite series with a “helpful” ghost is Angie Fox’s “Southern Spirits” series.
SOUTHERN SPIRITS, Angie Fox. “The Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries.” Book 1. Paranormal mystery. Verity has inherited her beloved grandmother’s Southern mansion, but she’s going to lose it unless she gets a lot of money fast. An old urn in the attic contains the ghost of a Twenties mobster who decides to help her since he will lose his home, too, if the mansion is demolished. Her ghost-seeing abilities and the help of her mobster ghost get her a job trying to stop an extremely dangerous poltergeist from destroying an old brewery, but she’s working with the policeman brother of her former jerk fiancé, and she doesn’t have a clue about how to stop such a powerful ghost. Frankie the ghost allows Verity to see the ghost plane where ghosts from all periods interact, and she can talk with them. The problem is she’s vulnerable to them and can be killed permanently while they just come back in a short time, good as new. Frankie is a selfish grump who starts out as an a-hole but become a bit less as the series progresses.
No mention of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman?
The Wizard’s Shadow by Susan Dexter (1993) has an interesting relationship between the ghost or “shadow,” of a murdered wizard, that attaches itself to a passing peddler in order to investigate and avenge its own death. The two actually become friends over the course of the fantasy novel.
For tv shows, there is always Phantom Dennis from Angel.
The Family Skeleton mystery series by Leigh Perry.
Yes, Sid has a physical presence, but he’s animated by something.
Meddling kids? Description From Wikipedia- “Enid Blyton meets Lovecraft“. Pretty much The Famous 5/Scooby-doo gang as adults (including dog descendent) only one of them is a ghost and they have to go re-investigate their most famous case.
Just finished Carissa Orlando’s The September House and absolutely loved it. It’s about a haunted house, the lady who refuses to leave it, and the ghosts she shares it with. Only some of them are allies, though… Scary, touching, and funny.
How about Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle? Jenny is a disgruntled teen who has moved with her mother to Dorset (due to Mom’s remarriage.) Then she meets Tamsin, a girl, er, ghost who has been haunting the farm for 300+ years. Why is she still here?
Seanan McGuire has written a lovely trilogy about one of the more famous folk legends, the (ghost) girl in the prom dress. Rose was killed on her way to the prom, and ever since has roamed the highways, a hitchhiking spirit, trying to fix what went wrong. She is also pursuing and being pursued by her killer, who tried to use her soul as payment for his own immortality. This trilogy ties in with McGuire’s other series about a family of cryptid preservationists.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (the original book, not either of the shows) was the first that came to mind.
There’s also the skull from Lockwood and Co. He’s an interesting (if infuriating) one…
Two other YA classics would be The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Pope and The Court of the Stone Children by Eleanor Cameron. The Sherwood Ring involves a girl getting involved with the ghosts of her Revolutionary War era ancestors. The Court of the Stone Children is a mystery about a ghost from the Napoleonic era that haunts the museum where her family’s furniture is now displayed. The main character has to help the ghost clear her family’s name from a tragedy and scandal two centuries before.
Don of the Dead, by Casey Daniels
When Pepper Martin, tour guide at a cemetery, hits her head on a gravestone, she can now talk to ghosts. And the ghost of a dead mobster wants her to solve his murder.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir?
Sarah Painter’s Crow investigations immediately comes to mind. Lydia Crow is a P.I. in London who has some special powers that run in her family and 4 rival families. Oh and her apartment is haunted by a murder victim who just so happens to be great at hacking and he routinely helps her solve crimes.
I love these and just about any British urban fantasy.
I love Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Jessica Arden. It’s a delightful and poignant cozy mystery set in New Orleans and featuring a main character who has just learned to talk to ghosts. The mystery is a good one, taking the reader all through the city’s various neighborhoods and cemeteries (while keeping it very real, which is a nice touch for New Orleanians reading it); the characters are all interesting and well-fleshed out; there’s a lot of romance and potential romance; and there’s a talking hedgehog. Now, for some readers, ghosts + talking hedgehog might seem to go just past the limit of the supernatural cozy, but I loved it and I think lots of other readers do too. I’m looking forward to reading more in the series!
Minor correction on the T.J. Klune book. Hugo is the ferryman, Mei is the reaper who brought Wallace to the tea shop. Great book, btw!
“It Only it Were True”, a romcom by best selling French author Marc Levy.
Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace features the titular Archivist (a ghost hunting priestess… sort of) teaming up with the ghost of a supersoldier. It’s a lovely book and rather hard to describe, but I recommend it whole-heartedly.
@7 and A Fine and Private Place, also by Peter S. Beagle, should be added to the list.
Johnny and the Dead?
An older classic: When Marnie was ther
Does C.J. Cherryh’s Rusalka count?
Here are a couple that come to mind.
Cleo Coyle’s Haunted Bookshop series atarting with “The Ghost and Mrs. McClure”, has a bookstore owner discover it is the home of the ghost of a detective shot there in the 40’s. Mysteries ensue for 8 books so far.
E J Copperman’s Haunted Guest House Mystery series starting with “Night of the Living Deed”, has divorcee Alison and her nine-year-old daughter move into a Jersey Shore Victorian fixer-upper with plans to turn it into a guest house. Problem arise when the two ghosts residing there insist she must find out who killed them. There are 10 books so far.
As a bonus, Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files has Bob in the skull.
Why has no one mentioned Thorne Smith’s “Topper”? The book is a classic, and the TV show wasn’t bad.
Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson is one that immediately sprang to mind :)
Anna Dressed in Blood and the sequel Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake.
Also, the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz.
And the Canterville Ghost, in all his iterations.
Waiting to see if Katherine Arden’s next book, The Warm Hands of Ghosts, fits this niche.