30 Jul More About Sex with Ghosts
Referring to Treasure’s (2023) article, it is unknown whether sex with ghosts would qualify as an out-of-body (OBE) experience. In the name of research, I watched the romcom Just Like Heaven (Water, M. 2005) to see how Reese Witherspoon, the ghost, and Mark Ruffalo, the human — who obviously had quite the hots for each other — would actually do it. Instead of answering the question, they lay in bed together merely engaged in a G-rated touching of hands while staring soulfully into each other’s eyes. I don’t think that’s what Ida Craddock was referring to when she talked about passionate, erotic lovemaking with her long-dead husband, so that question lies unanswered for now.
Sex with ghosts may be similar to certain entheogenic experiences because as Luke said (2023) “it fits within a mystical understanding of the universe in which the existence of supernatural beings is accepted” (p.177). This is related to Edgar’s (2023) observation that these deeply weird encounters tap into deep questions about the human condition. In the case of sex with ghosts, the questions may have something to do with human loneliness and our need for closeness with others.
Despite the disdainful glances from mainstream science, sex with ghosts is a hot topic in popular culture. Romance novels comprise over half of all books sold, and of that genre, the fifth biggest-selling category is paranormal romance which includes sex with the non-living. Paranormal romance is also among the fastest-growing of the categories, especially among Gen Z. On television for three years was Danny Phantom, an action adventure series starring a teenaged boy who was a human-ghost hybrid superhero who, being a teenager, had erotic feeling for just about anything that moved, and Being Human, running for four years, a show starring a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost who lived together as roommates. Sally, the ghost, possessed the body of a live woman in order to have sex with her object of interest.
References
Carver, J. & Fricke, Z. (Creators) (2011-2014). Being Human. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1595680/
Edgar, Z. (2023). Anything-but-Standard: High Strangeness Entity Encounters. In Hunter, J. (Ed.), (2023). Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience. August Night Press
Hartman. B., Marmel, S., & Boyle, B. (Creators). (2003-2004). Danny Phantom.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366005/
Luke, D. (2023). Disembodied Eyes Revisited: An Investigation into the Ontology of Entheogenic Entity Encounters. In Hunter, J. (Ed.), (2023). Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience. August Night Press
Marino, M. (2022, Sept 29). 10 Most Touching Paranormal Romance Films, Ranked. ScreenRant. https://screenrant.com/most-touching-paranormal-romance-films/#the-lake-house
Treasure, S.L. (2023). Out-of-Body Experiences in the Screen Age. In Hunter, J. (Ed.), (2023). Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience. August Night Press
Water, M. (Director). (2005) Just Like Heaven. Dreamworks Pictures.
White, O. (Dec. 5, 2022). The Best Romance Novels of 2022. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/books/review/best-romance-novels.html
© 2025 Catherine Auman
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