Ghost stories come in many forms. Some are bone-chilling tales of suspense with spectral apparitions and unseen hands. Others are eerie in their focus on things long passed and beings beyond their time and place in the natural world. However, what unites all good ghost stories is the emotional toll they take on the people who hear or read them.
DC Comics has a host of ghosts to rival all others, stemming from their roots in the pulp comics of the Golden Age. From haunted heroes to dead planets, it's a cold multiverse full of loss and unfinished business. Vengeful spirits and lost souls have taken residence in many DC titles, but these comics are the best and spookiest for how they grip readers by combining superheroes, the supernatural, and dark elements of realism throughout.
10 Ghosts Is A Spooky Golden Age Anthology
Ghosts (1971-1982)
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The Golden Age of Comics was marked by pulp fiction designed to thrill and terrify young readers. Crime and horror titles were the most popular of the era, and DC's Ghosts sought to resurrect the tradition through the Silver Age.
The anthology series had a chilling ghost story in each issue, often including a twist ending where one or more characters are revealed to be ghosts. Some stories seek to instill a moral, while others are purely for entertainment. Spanning 112 issues, the series features skeletal brides, phantom organ players, and ghost pirates, to name a few.
9 DC's Cursed Comics Cavalcade Is Chilling
Cursed Comics Cavalcade (2018)
Larger comic publishers release Halloween specials annually, be they for singular titles or anthologies starring multiple heroes in their own unconnected stories. Cursed Comics Cavalcade features ten stories from different creative teams, starring the likes of Etrigan, Swamp Thing, and Superman, among others.
Superman: Strange Visitor, written by Mags Visaggio with art by Minkyu Jung, and colors by Jordie Bellaire, sees the Man of Steel in a state of sleep paralysis as a spectral figure passes over him and Lois Lane. Yellow Jack, by Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko, portrays Jason Blood as a ghost hunter. Both are fantastic ghost stories starring popular heroes.
8 The Gentleman Ghost Raised An Army
JSA #82-87 (2006) By Paul Levitz, George Pérez, Bob Wiacek & Tom Smith
The Justice Society of America is one of the oldest superhero teams in existence, both because they appeared in comics in 1940 and because many team members are older than the average superhero. JSA #82-87 is a story arc simply called "Ghosts Stories."
Written by Paul Levitz and illustrated by many artists, the final six issues of JSA see the Victorian villain, the Gentleman Ghost, raise an army of familiar spirits. With the help of Batman's ghost, the heroes explore their own bloodlines and histories to stop the paranormal threat.
7 Hector Hall Survives In Dreams
Sandman #11 (1989) By Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Malcom Jones III & Robbie Busch
Hawkman and Hawkgirl have a form of immortality that causes them to die and resurrect whenever they find each other. Unfortunately their son, Hector, does not bear the same curse. When he died there was no coming back, but his disembodied spirit managed to live on elsewhere.
In Neil Gaiman's Sandman #11, two escaped nightmares confess to their amused and mildly annoyed master, Morpheus, that they drove Garrett Sanford, the original Sandman, to suicide. Needing a hero to occupy the dreams of a child, they stole Hall's soul. Lord Morpheus promptly banishes Hector from the Dreaming, finally laying him to rest.
6 Even Superman Can Be Possessed
Legends of the World's Finest (1994) By Walt Simonson & Dan Brereton
Legends of the World's Finest is a three-issue series. When the Silver Banshee and the demon Tullus set out to avenge an ancient Scottish clan, Earth's two greatest heroes are pit against one another in a ghost-powered battle for the ages.
Superman has tangled with the paranormal many times, but this time around he acts completely out of character. Clark can't sleep, his heroics are lacking, and he's more irritable and distractible than ever before. When he succumbs to the ghostly duo's long-distance puppeteering, only Batman, powered by a rival clan and wielding a magic sword, can bring him back.
5 The Spectre Is The Spirit Of Vengeance
The Spectre (1992-1998) By John Ostrander
John Ostrander's run on The Spectre lasted from 1992 to 1998, featured dozens of talented artists, and fundamentally changed the character. Being the right hand of God, The Spectre was previously a character with very little room for growth, serving as an overpowered plot device when he wasn't intentionally holding back.
Ostrander's series explores dark themes associated with Catholicism, painting The Spectre in an entirely different light. The man he had once been, Jim Corrigan, is a man attached to prejudiced beliefs which influence the phantom haunting him from within. When actual angels correct their behaviors and attitudes, the hero transforms from a clear-cut vengeful spirit into a ghostly hero in need of serious self-reflection.
4 Martian Manhunter Is Plagued By A Martian Death God
Martian Manhunter (1988) By J.M. DeMatteis, Mark Badger, Bob Lappan & Andrew Helfer
J'onn J'onzz is one of DC's last sons, a title he shares with Superman and the bounty hunter Lobo after the deaths of their respective planets. In the 1988 Martian Manhunter limited series, that backstory is thrown into question. As Martian Manhunter mysteriously loses control, the world's heroes turn their attention to him.
H'ronmeer, the long-dead Martian god of death, life, and fire, appears to J'onn, revealing that his memories of Mars are partially fabricated. J'onn is possessed by the deific spirit until the apparently alive Doctor Erdel, along with Mister Terrific and the distant ghosts of Mars, leads the hero to a breakthrough that changes the character forever.
3 Batman Partners With Deadman To Battle An Evil Spirit
Batman/Deadman: Death and Glory (1997) By James Robinson & John Estes
Of all DC's supernatural heroes, Deadman is by far the most ghostly. In Batman/Deadman: Death and Glory, he gets the rare opportunity to partner with a living person when Batman summons him via blood ritual.
When an evil spirit possesses Batman and starts killing people, the caped crusader assumes Deadman is responsible. After nearly banishing him from existence, Batman realizes he's wrong, and the two decide to team up. What makes this comic such a great ghost story is its focus on real-life illness and mortality, giving readers an ending that is all at once eerie, sad, and truly beautiful.
2 Constantine Met The Loneliest Ghost
Hellblazer #27 (1990) By Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean & Daniel Vozzo
Hellblazer #27 is one of John Constantine's most emotional encounters. A spirit stalks a particularly chilly spring, when homophobia brought on by the AIDS epidemic runs rampant, killing those who refuse to hug him. The ghost itself resembles a homeless man, lost and alone.
Constantine talks with a friend who asks him to help her and her fiancé conceive. The paranormal investigator says he needs to take a walk, then encounters the ghost who continues to repeat that he is cold and needs someone to hold him. John obliges and the spirit immediately finds peace. John then weeps for the poor soul who only sought compassion.
1 Swamp Thing Facilitates Peace and Justice For Spirits
Swamp Thing Vol. 2 #41-42 (1985) By Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, Alfredo Alcala & Tatjana Wood
On a "historical" plantation in the swamps of Louisiana, things take a gruesome turn as the filmmaking descendants of those who lived, worked, and died at the plantation are possessed by their ancestors.
In Swamp Thing #41-42, the White director and cast members brutalize their Black co-star and crew members in this subversive tale about exploitation, the erasure of history, and zombies. Swamp Thing himself is almost an afterthought as the spirits rise from their graves to exact righteous vengeance. It's both deeply disturbing and thought-provoking and has a chilling ending far better than any average fireside ghost story.