The afterlife is much more crowded than you might imagine

Cultures · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: When Sam Arondekar died for three minutes, she didn't find peace. Instead, she found Woodstone Manor, a historic estate inhabited by a colorful cast of spirits from across American history, each bound to the property by the unique circumstances of their deaths.

The American sitcom *Ghosts* follows Sam and Jay Aronde/dekar, a couple attempting to run a bed and breakfast in a beautiful country house. The premise hinges on Sam's near-death experience, which granted her the ability to see and hear the manor's resident ghosts, though her husband Jay remains unable to perceive them. These spirits are not merely echoes; they are individuals from various eras, each possessing unique abilities tied to their life or manner of death.

The spectral residents represent a diverse timeline of American history. Thorfinn, a Viking who arrived over 1,000 years ago, can manipulate electricity due to a fatal lightning strike. Captain Isaac Higgintoot, a Continental Army officer, died of dysentery in 1777 and possesses a particularly unpleasant power: living people can smell a foul odor when he passes through them. Even more recent spirits haunt the halls, such as Trevor, a 2000-era stockbroker who died of a heart attack at age 33.

The manor's history is layered with even deeper secrets. The basement is occupied by a group of 'cholera victims' who died during a 19th-century outbreak and can transmit non-contagious symptoms to the living. Meanwhile, the upstairs hierarchy includes Hetty Woodstone, a woman who died by suicide in 1895. The show explores the complex interpersonal dynamics of these spirits—ranging from the 1513 Lenape hunter Sasappis to the 1920s lounge singer Alberta Haynes—as they navigate their inability to reach the afterlife while interacting with the modern world.

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