Phasmophobia: The Ghosts of Lore

By Red B., Grade 10

Ghosts. We all know them and love them. In fact, we seem to love them so much that an entire game was created through the premise of investigating ghost types. 

That’s right, We’re talking about Phasmophobia. Created by Kinetic Games, Phasmophobia is a 4-player psychological horror game. Paranormal activity is slowly rising and it’s up to you and your friends to discover the different ghosts haunting the different in game maps. 

Now, Phasmophobia is still technically in development, so while it is possible to play the game, it isn’t finished. The game can, and will, bug out sometimes, so just a warning. 

The first ghost we will be discussing is a Banshee. 

Banshee’s are ghosts of irish origins. In fact, Banshee’s aren’t even really ghosts. The journal calls them “The singing siren, known for attracting its victims through song. It has been known to single out its prey before making a killing blow” (Kinetic Games, Phasmophobia) The word banshee is derived from an Old Irish word meaning ‘woman of the hills’ however it has come to mean ‘woman of the fairies’ in modern times. So are they fairies? Demons? Not really. Banshee’s are supposedly remnants of Tuatha Dé Danann, gods of Ireland that had been driven underground. They “grew smaller and smaller in the popular imagination, until they turned into the fairies” (Yeats, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry). However popular depictions of the banshees seem to imagine ghostly women. 

Now, Phasmophobia randomizes models, so really ghosts in Phasmophobia can be of any gender. But one thing is specific to Banshee’s in the game. A banshee will randomly choose a target player at the start of a game. Banshee’s will only check the target’s sanity when hunting, meaning a banshee could possibly hunt at an average sanity of 87%. They will only hunt down their target. Banshee’s are also more likely to produce singing events. But how accurate is this to folklore?

Banshee’s have always been symbols of death. The imagery of an eerie singing woman, coming to bear the news of a loved one passing with her screeching. Different stories depict her as the soul of a passed on loved one or a ghost simply coming to take a family member with her. Despite all the contradicting accounts, Banshee’s are very similar, both in game and in folklore. 

What else is a common trope in horror movies? Did I hear someone say…creepy children? Well, the next ghost on our list perfectly matches that trope. The Myling, according to the journal, is “a very vocal and active ghost. They are rumoured to be quiet when hunting their prey” (Kinetic Games, Phasmophobia). I have experienced Mylings only once within Phasmo, and I wasn’t even playing! My experience with the Myling was watching my friend play while I was suffering from a migraine. 

Now, Mylings within Phasmophobia are largely silent when not using a Parabolic Microphone, which picks up supernatural noises. On the microphone however, Mylings will produce much more noise than the average ghost. They are also incredibly silent during hunts, unless the Myling is less than 12 meters. But what are Mylings, I hear you say?

Myling’s are ghosts of Scandinavian origin. They are always the souls of children, Typically those abandoned or discarded. Myling spirits are often killed by their mothers, who usually gave birth to them out of wedlock. The children were often unnamed and unbaptized. They were known to haunt the areas of their deaths or even the homes of those who killed them. They are restless spirits who cannot rest until they are properly buried. Mylings will often sing of their mother’s crimes, begging passers by to help them rest by burying them properly. Although it is also said a Myling can be put to rest by giving them a name. They will jump on the backs of lone wanderers and demand to be brought to a graveyard, where it can be put to rest. They grow bigger and bigger until the person carrying them is buried in the soil if they fail to bring the Myling to rest. 

Obviously a lot of this doesn’t translate to Phasmophobia. Ghosts will alway have a full name, along with a randomized model. Myling’s are not guaranteed child-like models, nor will they ever have a name. In fact, most of the Myling’s folklore seems to be entirely ignored when it comes to gameplay. 

Finally, we will be discussing a ghost of japanese origin. Obake is a term for shapeshifting spirits and a class of yokai (which is its own ghost in Phasmophobia). They come in many forms and are typically called trickster spirits. “They refer to living things or supernatural beings who have taken on a temporary transformation, and these bakemono are distinct from the spirits of the dead.” (Wikipedia, Obake) 

The Obake in Phasmophobia have one very special ability. It is the only ghost that will shapeshift during a hunt. This means that every nine or so seconds, the ghost will ‘flicker’ and shift into a different model of the same gender. This can mean it is easier to figure out what kind of ghost you’re investigating, that is if you make it out alive. Obake also tend to mess with fingerprint evidence, cutting the time in half of how long you can see the fingerprints with. However, they do have a chance to show special fingerprints. Their fingerprints can possibly have six fingers, instead of the usual five. 

With how general the folklore regarding Obake is, there isn’t much more to go off of in regards to these shape-shifting creatures. 

So how accurate are these ghosts in Phasmophobia? Well, with how much this game tries to be accurate, I’d say they do a pretty good job. The game is obviously still in beta, so it isn’t perfect, but the ghosts are well designed.