Remember the 1990 film Ghost, with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze? Spoilers if you haven’t seen it: Sam dies and sticks around in ghost form to try to save his girlfriend, Molly, from the guy who’s murdered him… With the help of a medium/psychic, Oda Mae, (played hilariously and brilliantly by Whoopi Goldberg, even though it’s supposed to be a “supernatural romance”).
Eventually Sam manages to move on to a (presumably) higher plane of the afterlife, but not before his ghost somehow manifests corporeally and shares a passionate goodbye kiss with the devastated but stoically beautiful Molly. (There’s also a whole “possessing Oda Mae’s body so he can dance with Molly” scene in there but let’s not go there, okay?)
It was swoon-worthy in the 1990s, but the concept isn’t limited to fiction. Ghosts. Spirits. Things that go bump in the night. For most people, the supernatural is strictly “turn on all the lights and sleep with one foot under the blanket” territory. But for some, the mysterious, eerie, and otherworldly spark something a little more... Shall we say, sensual?
Supernatural kink sits right at the intersection of imagination, fantasy, and goosebumps/shivers down your spine/seeing something unexpected out of the corner of your eye. It’s not about actually wanting to dancec with a poltergeist in your living room. It’s about the thrill that comes from mixing fear, curiosity, and desire into one spicy paranormal cocktail.
According to researchers, humans have always woven eroticism into myths about spirits, demons, and otherworldly beings. Remember the Salem Witch Trials and all the “Goody Sarah had relations with the devil!” stories? Ghostly seduction has roots in folklore from all over the world. If you’d like to see just how long we’ve been telling stories about sexy spirits, Wikipedia has an entire entry on spectrophilia (also called phasmophilia), which describes attraction to ghosts or supernatural beings. Turns out the idea has been around way longer than night-vision paranormal TV shows.
There’s also a very human psychological element at play. The supernatural creates a safe space to explore taboo fantasies without involving real people or real danger. Fantasy gives us a buffer between “this is what I’m curious about” and “this is something I actually want to do”. Psychologists often highlight how kink and fantasy let people explore emotions like fear, thrill and surrender in a controlled way – and fear and arousal can overlap, says cognitive neuroscientist Irving Biederman: “A flood of fear paired with the relief of safety can release naturally occurring opioids like endorphins that signal pleasure, along with a hit of dopamine, a chemical linked to the brain’s reward center.”
Supernatural kink also has a big storytelling component. For many, it’s not about the ghost itself, but the scenario. A creaky Victorian mansion. A mysteriously helpful spirit. A bit of roleplay in low lighting with a partner who knows how to whisper like they’re from the other side. It’s theatre. It’s mood. It’s vibes.
And thanks to the internet, ghost kink has had something of a pop-culture glow-up. Thirsty tweets about Casper? Fanfiction about seductive demons? Ghost dating sims? Entire online communities exploring paranormal romance tropes? You bet. Many of these spaces emphasise consent, creativity and humour, which lines up with what researchers have observed in fantasy communities. One academic review of online erotic fan cultures even notes how fantastical beings provide a playground for identity and desire exploration in a way human characters sometimes can’t.
Well, a recent poll says that 39% of American adults believe in ghosts. But are ghosts actually real? Various “tests” have been performed by dubiously credentialed people, but there is no irrefutable, scientific proof. Some research links the phenomenon of “seeing ghosts” to degenerative brain disease, which, if that’s true, is actually scarier than ghost sightings, in our opinion.
Let’s set the science aside for a moment. What would attract people to a ghost – to someone who isn’t here any more, in the world, alive with us? One big reason ghost-attraction appeals to some people is the psychological safe-space it offers. When your “partner” can’t push back, reject you, or demand emotional labour, you’re freed from the messy, real-world complications of consent, expectations and conflict.
In addition, loving or being attracted to something intangible can feel like a perfect canvas for longing, fantasy or unfulfilled desire, especially for people who feel disconnected or misunderstood. The ambiguity of a ghost allows your mind to project ideal traits onto it: Safety, mystery, intimacy without pressure, unconditional acceptance. Some psychologists even draw parallels with the concept of “supernormal stimuli” (extreme or exaggerated cues that hijack our instinctive desires), arguing that supernatural beings exaggerate the traits people find alluring, making ghosts potent objects of fantasy.
So is supernatural kink weird? Honestly, no. It’s just another example of how fertile (and delightfully chaotic) the human imagination can be. As long as fantasies stay safe, consensual, and grounded in reality when it counts, your paranormal preferences are just part of the wonderfully varied menu of human desire.
If your ghost kink ever stops being fun and starts being genuinely frightening, or is getting in the way of “normal life”, it might be time to pause, check in with yourself, and return to fantasies that feel emotionally safe. Even the spiciest haunted-house scenario should still feel like play, not an exorcism waiting to happen. Happy haunting!
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