Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2023 August 15

= August 15 =

Possession versus haunting
I watched The Conjuring last night and one of the concepts was blurring the lines between the house being haunted versus the character's becoming possessed and they likewise blur the lines between the exorcism done on a person versus on the house itself. But it occurred to me that it might be interesting to combine those two elements in a more dramatic way: if you've got somebody who's possessed, take them to a haunted house and let the ghosts work it out for themselves. Has there been a movie or book where anything like that was done, even just for humorous effect? Matt Deres (talk) 13:18, 15 August 2023 (UTC)


 * I know enough about the two terms to help you differentiate.
 * Firstly, when a spirit haunts an object or building, it is usually because they died there or have some connection to it. When a spirit haunts a person, it is almost always done on purpose (either for revenge or because the victim did something to upset them).
 * Now, possession is NOT haunting. When a spirit possesses someone, it is taking control of the person. Perhaps in that movie the spirit(s) haunting the house also possess the characters, as it is not impossible for a spirit to haunt a location AND terrorize someone at the same time.
 * Exorcising a building and a person is relatively the same, it's simply the process of banishing a spirit from the location or person's body (if they are possessing someone).
 * And I hope someone else can answer your actual question, I'm not a horror media expert (I just happen to know a little bit about the supernatural).
 * (P.S., I am not an all knowing being, so I apologize if anyone else sees this and notices incorrect information. I welcome any corrections with open arms!)
 * Dil (need me?) (what I've done) 13:38, 15 August 2023 (UTC)


 * Possession is not haunting? So one completely fictional plot element is required to be distinct from another completely fictional plot element?  I had thought that such things were up to the author of the fiction how they wanted to handle it... -- Jayron 32 15:47, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
 * See Ghost (1990 film). It is very clear that possession is not haunting. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 16:27, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Did you seriously think that Ghost was a documentary? -- Jayron 32 11:56, 16 August 2023 (UTC)
 * So I guess for you there is no difference between, say, Bigfoot and Loch Ness Monster because presumably you don't recognize their existence. --195.62.160.60 (talk) 11:16, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
 * One is a big hairy ape-like thing, and one is some long-necked aquatic creature. Neither, however, is a real thing, and Harry and the Hendersons is also not a documentary.  -- Jayron 32 12:41, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
 * What!? Are you suggesting that words referring to things not necessarily really existing outside mythology/immagination/literature can have a meaning? A traditional usage? That they can be meaningfully analized and compared without necessarily ascribing to their reality? That seems absurd! --82.54.87.44 (talk) 16:27, 18 August 2023 (UTC)


 * The concepts are not entirely unalike, but possession versus haunting is at least as well defined as, say, vampires versus werewolves or dwarves versus elves. Etc. Possession happens to a person, like in The Exorcist; haunting happens to a place, like the hotel in Ghostbusters. Possession is usually done by a demon; haunting is usually done by a ghost. Many films have blurred the lines, like The Shining. My question is about works that keep them distinct but contain both elements, perhaps working in opposition to each other. Matt Deres (talk) 18:54, 16 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Perhaps there's also room for a supernatural courtroom drama based on the saying that possession is nine-tenths of the law. --Amble (talk) 19:07, 18 August 2023 (UTC)


 * The book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the film version feature possession of Ginny Weasley by Lord Voldemort. The ghost Moaning Myrtle who haunts the school provides important clues to Harry Potter and friends, and helps them stop Voldemort. The novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson deals in a very different and more ambiguous way with the interplay between the haunted house and the demons (of a sort) that the characters bring to the house. (The two seasons of The Haunting of Hill House (TV series) also blur the lines between possession of a person and haunting of a house, but in those cases I don't see them in conflict or tension with one another.) --Amble (talk) 18:12, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
 * It was the second season of The Haunting tv show that actually first got me thinking of this, so good call out, but they mostly stick with haunting, albeit haunting that's not necessarily restricted to the houses in question. Matt Deres (talk) 21:27, 18 August 2023 (UTC)


 * In Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, the ghost exterminators who try to clear a haunted house are themselves ghosts, but they aren't possessing anyone. --Amble (talk) 18:15, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
 * The ghosts in Ghosts (American TV series) may sometimes possess people, but remain bound to a certain radius of their house. Thus putting the person in a car and driving away causes an exorcism after travelling a certain distance. Card Zero  (talk) 20:15, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
 * “There was no insanity,” DeFeo wrote in one letter. “Only people talking to Weber about books, movies, about me being possessed.” He scoffed at claims of supernatural activity in the house, saying once, “There was no demon. You know who the demon is. I am the demon.” (Emphasis mine) InedibleHulk (talk) 00:46, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
 * What kind of silly question is this? It is totally unanswerable because such things as hauntings and apparitions don't exist so the words used to refer to them have absolutely no discernible meaning at all! ... I'm joking. According to the book "A glossary of terms used in Parapsychology" by Michael Thalbourne a Possession is: "The complete control, by an ostensible disincarnate entity, of the body of a living person". A Haunting is: "The more or less regular occurrence of paranormal phenomena associated with a particular locality (especially a building) and usually attributed to the activities of a disincarnate entity, the phenomena may include apparitions, poltergeist disturbances, cold drafts, sounds of steps and voices, and various odors." --82.54.87.44 (talk) 16:40, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Note that the question was posted on the Entertainment desk. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:53, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Was my answer not entertaining enough? --82.54.87.44 (talk) 17:00, 18 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Sure it was. I'm just saying that the question and discussion are in Entertainment rather than Science, for example, and that seems appropriate. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:33, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

I'm not sure why multiple people are trying to tell me the difference between haunting and possession. I'm obviously very aware of that since I linked both topics and the entire point of the question was to find a movie or book or something that played with the distinction between the two - taking a possessed person to a haunted house to see what would happen. I assume for humorous, but possibly dramatic, effect. Broadly speaking, if your research on a topic is comprised entirely of reading the header and not even the question, maybe just keep your thoughts to yourself? Matt Deres (talk) 21:27, 18 August 2023 (UTC)


 * Perpetrators who only read the headings will not see this admonishment. --Lambiam 11:50, 19 August 2023 (UTC)