GHOSTS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
CONCLUSIONS
Ghosts in the Pacific Northwest in general seem to have less to do with death itself and rather with the living. Ghost stories seem to provide a kind of community for people, or a sense of shared history. They are a semi-tangible link to the past. The concentration of ghosts particularly in public sites or sites of gathering like theaters or museums seems to support this. Ghosts are a way of feeling that the past is still present and the human elements of a place's history are still lingering. The relative ambivalence of inhabitants and owners toward ghostly presences also seems to suggest that rather than being a negative or fear-motivated folklore, ghost stories, at least in the Pacific Northwest, serve a positive function. The choice of positively identified figures, like city founders, Native American "princesses", and influential businessmen, all reflect historical figures that Pacific Northwesterners might want to feel a connection to.
There are exceptions, of course - a number of the ghosts are reported to have died violent deaths, either murders of suicides, like the victims of Washington's serial killers. These types of ghosts might be a means of remembering traumatic events or community memories and coping with them by creating "sites" where they can be located and externalized.
The M/V Kalakala, now retired and supposedly haunted by previous passengers. Photo courtesy of Scott Nickell.
Alternately, as some of these ghosts despite their violent ends seem to be relatively benevolent presences, they may be a means of reassurance, that even when life ends painfully or violently that it is not the final word.
Primarily, however, ghost stories in the Pacific Northwest seem to be a way of looking back, and of retaining a history that can be shared and retold in legendary form.