Faceless Ghosts

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Today is Faceless Ghost Friday over on Theresa's Haunted History's Facebook!  Throughout the day, I'll be posting different spooky stories from throughout the tri-state featuring blank-visaged entities.  And, as promised, I thought I'd share some of my own ideas and theories behind this fascinating paranormal topic.

My inspiration for today's blog came from an awesome article by Ashley Hall of the Paranormal Guide.  Posted in 2013, Hall's article discusses several reasons behind the faceless ghost phenomena.  One theory (because, after all, this is a field of study that rarely makes it past the conjecture stage) that is proposed is that these faceless ghosts appear in such a manner because they have no identity---they have forgotten who they were in life.

This is the theory that most closely aligns with my personal beliefs on the subject because I tend to think that ghosts (in this case, meaning human entities that have died, but have not crossed over and come back) have the ability to manifest themselves to witnesses in a way that reflects how they feel or perceive themselves.

The idea of ghosts being able to manifest themselves this way is a handy theory that can help explain more than just the faceless ghost phenomenon.  It can explain why some ghosts are seen bloodied and battered---literally how they appeared at the time of their death.  It can explain why some ghosts appear 'normal,' or even younger than they did in real life.  It can also even explain why ghosts manifest wearing clothes.  If it can do all that, then it makes sense to me that the theory can also cause an entity who has no idea who they are to manifest as faceless.

Another theory that I don't think Hall covers is one that I have also come across several times during my research, although not directly linked to faceless ghosts.  Ghosts manifest in a variety of ways.  They can appear as full-bodied apparitions, partial-bodied apparitions, or even just a singular body part.  They can manifest as indistinguishable from a living person, as a misty cloud, or as a shadowy humanoid.  Again, with no real scientific evidence available from which to draw, all we can go on is conjecture.  But, what if a manifestation takes a certain amount of energy and/or skill to achieve?  A ghost may not have the energy or ability to fully manifest (or perhaps was interrupted during the process), resulting in missing pieces.  With individual facial features being fairly detailed, manifesting an actual face may be difficult.

Anyway, these are some random ramblings.  I hope I've made myself clear enough to understand, lol.  Go check out Hall's article on Faceless Ghosts, and then hop on over to Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page to let me know YOUR thoughts on these strange entities of the paranormal world.  Happy Haunting!

FACELESS GHOST BONUS

In Japan, there is a type of faceless ghost called the Nopperabo.  These classic yokai are generally seen as harmless pranksters who appear in human form, but then scare unsuspecting witnesses by wiping their face clean of any facial features, revealing a blank visage underneath.