the.com/haunting
a memory that refuses to file itself away politely and decides to redecorate your nervous system.
means Describing something so beautiful, sad, or eerie that it lingers in your mind long after it's gone.
from From the verb "haunt," which arrived in English via Old French "hanter" — to visit frequently, to resort to a place. The ghostly sense came later: a haunt was somewhere you returned to again and again, and so a spirit "haunting" a house was simply one that kept coming back. The word is likely rooted in a Germanic source related to "home" — a cousin of Old Norse "heimta," to bring home — which is fitting, since a haunting is a memory that has decided to move in.
- word origin
- From Old French hanter, meaning to frequent a place.
- old meaning
- Originally just meant visiting somewhere habitually, no ghosts required.
- brain trick
- Earworm songs haunt because your mind craves unfinished patterns.
- haunting beauty
- Same word praises a melody and condemns a house.
- the science
- Many sightings trace to infrasound vibrating the human eyeball.
the shining — stanley kubrick's 1980 film of the overlook hotel where jack torrance descends into madness
poltergeist activity enfield — 1977-1979 london case with 2 girls, objects moving, investigated by paranormal researchers
castle of spirits penpal — edinburgh castle reportedly visited by grey lady ghost and headless drummer for centuries