Famous Ghosts Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Flying Dutchman

The subject of Wagner's opera "Die Fliegende Hollander", the Flying Dutchman is supposedly condemned to sail forever. There are many versions of the story, some of which say that the vessel's captain can walk on land every seven years.

Answer: Banshee

The Banshee is often associated with Scots-Irish families who claim the spirit's appearance is a harbinger of a relative's death. It appears in the Walt Disney film "Darby O'Gill and the Little People".

Answer: Harry Houdini

Houdini was born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary and riased in Appleton, Wisconsin (his family moved to the USA when he was four years old). In addition to being a great magician, he had a real desire to learn the truth about a potential afterlife. Houdini went so far as to arrange messages with his friends that they agreed to try and tell each other after death.

Answer: Hull House

Hull House was originally the home of Charles Hull, but later became a welfare center. Jane Addams, the prominent progressive era reformer, was one of the center's founders and social workers. A story circulated that Addams had taken in a devil baby which had been born after a young woman's father had said he would rather have the Devil in his home than a picture of the Virgin Mary. Addams wrote about it in "The Second Twenty Years at Hull House."

Answer: Poltergeist

Poltergeists are supposed to move objects, bang on walls, and cause lots of problems for the house they inhabit. Usually when a house is haunted by a ghost which is troublesome instead of just an apparition, it's said to be a poltergeist.

Answer: La Llorona

La Llorona (the Weeping Woman) was supposed to have killed her children after their father left her for another woman. She forever walks the earth in search of her children, usually described as a faceless, shrouded woman with claw-like fingernails.

Answer: Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary has been imitated in many stories, TV shows, and movies, including 'Candyman', 'Beetlejuice', and 'South Park'. It's a popular game among kids, sometimes with a back story about the ghost being a witch who steals children or a mother whose children were murdered.

Answer: A guide for spirits to the next world

The Grim Reaper is an example of a psychopomp. Some cultures believe animals like dolphins or crows guide souls to their destination.

Answer: Winchester

The Winchester Mystery House is a tourist attraction in California. Many of its more than 160 rooms serve no purpose, and has numerous stairways and elevators which lead to nothing. Sarah Winchester left the house primarily to the ghosts in her will, and most of the house's rooms are sealed so the spirits can live in peace.

Answer: Antietam

Though most Civil War sites are supposed to be haunted, more people were killed in one day at Antietam than in any other day of battle in U.S. history. Less than half of the Irish Brigade made it off the battlefield alive.

Answer: The Amityville Horror

George and Kathleen Lutz moved into the home with their three children, and reported strange incidents such as mysterious voices, doors locking by themselves, insect swarms, dropping temperatures, and even stranger things. Subsequent owners have experienced no such problems.

Answer: Phantasmagoria

Why don't people do that anymore? The Phantasmagoria was a modification of a projector called a Magic Lantern, and the projections were said to be pretty convincing.

Answer: The Tower of London

The Tower has a bloody history, and many famous spirits are said to inhabit it. In addition, legend has it that if the ravens in the tower should ever fly away, it heralds the ruin of Britain.

Answer: Three Men and a Baby

A rumor circulated that a small boy had killed himself in the home where 'Three Men and a Baby' was filmed. In one of the scenes, the shape of the boy can supposedly be seen in a window.

Answer: Red Cape

According to legend, the Red Cape lives in the last stall of the ladies' bathroom, and asks unsuspecting women if they want red or blue paper. Either answer means death, and the way to survive is to say you don't want any paper.