When we think of ghosts, we tend to think of the heavy hitters: the girl from The Ring, the librarian in Ghostbusters or even the Candyman. But there’s an elite level of ghosting that often goes unrecognized: patently unscary ghosts you might want more than the neighbors you actually have. Whether it’s because of their humor, handsomeness or just downright lovability, we’ve crafted a list of the absolutely sweetest supernatural specters around.
Beetlejuice
Depending on your sense of humor, you might find Beetlejuice a little creepy; but scary? Nah. After all, he’s “the ghost with the most, babe!” In the end, the only thing that’s going to scare you is his personality. Oh, and you can also count Adam and Barbara Maitland, the ghostly couple that was so terrible at haunting their own house they had to enlist Beetlejuice’s help.
Slimer
A shy ghost isn’t often a scary ghost, and for most fans of Ghostbusters, Slimer was downright loveable. A legendary character for haunting the Sedgewick Hotel’s 12th floor, Slimer raised more eyebrows for the immense trail of goo he left behind whenever he passed through solid objects. As the first successful capture by the beloved Ghostbusters team, he eventually became almost a pet of the group as they chased more threatening targets. 100% ectoplasm? We say that’s 100% loveable.
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Most famous for his “haunting” role in the baseball classic Field of Dreams, ol’ Joe is probably the most American of ghosts, with movie-star good looks, a pleasant disposition and an interest in only wandering out of a cornfield to crank out a couple of home runs.
Cyrus and Stuart
From one of Peter Jackson’s lesser-known films, Cyrus and Stewart are two wacky (and pretty terrible) ghosts that help a hapless Michael J. Fox jumpstart a ghostbusting business. Despite their best efforts at forming a perfect business scam, these two are more like comic relief than tried-and-true terrors.
Casper (The Friendly Ghost)
The name pretty much says it all with this one. On top of being a cartoon ghost (or a pretty cool CGI version in the 1995 film), he’s generally a pleasant little dude. Also, if you’ve ever thought the fact that he was a child ghost remotely creepy, you’ll be happy to know that his creators have told us that his “ghost parents” were already “ghost married” when he was “ghost born.” Yeesh.
The Ghost of Christmas Present
First of all, he’s a Christmas ghost, so being particularly frightening doesn’t seem like it would be in the holiday spirit. Though his other companions of past and future strike a more menacing tone, this rotund fellow pretty much just lives to party, so sit back and grab a turkey leg and a chalice of wine.
Obi Wan Kenobi
As Obi Wan warned Darth Vader, “If you can strike me down, I’ll become more powerful than you could ever imagine.” It turns out the Force was especially strong, and Obi Wan basically became the Jedi version of a ghost. But instead of scaring people, well, he just dispensed a whole lot of valuable wisdom to his friends.
Did we miss any additional loveable ghosts? Let us know in the comments below!