the.com/poltergeist
a ghost that skipped haunting class and went straight to throwing furniture.
means A type of ghost or supernatural force said to make its presence known through noise and physical mischief — banging, moving objects, and hurling things around — rather than appearing as a visible apparition.
from A German loanword, literally 'noisy ghost,' from poltern, 'to make a racket' or 'rumble,' plus Geist, 'spirit' (the same Geist you meet in Zeitgeist). English borrowed it in the 19th century, importing both the word and the idea of a spook whose calling card is clatter rather than a sheet in the hallway.
- name origin
- German for noisy spirit, literally rumbling ghost
- prime suspect
- cases often center on a stressed adolescent nearby
- signature move
- flying objects, knocking, no spooky apparition required
- science says
- many cases traced to drafts, pranks, or fraud
- famous case
- the Enfield haunting inspired horror films for decades
the enfield poltergeist — haunting of a london house in 1977-1979 with furniture moving and objects flying, witnessed by police and paranormal investigators
the rosenheim poltergeist — 1967 case in bavaria where a lawyer's office experienced electrical disturbances and objects moving, investigated by physicists
the tedworth drummer — 17th century english poltergeist case (1662) in wiltshire with unexplained knocking sounds that became famous in demonology literature