Ghosts

Ghosts are the spirits of people who have died. They appeared in a few episodes of Dani's house and were regular characters in Dani's Castle.

In Dani's House

Ghostly characters appeared in the episode 'Ghost Mutterer' and 'Scrooge Tube'. In both cases they were not confirmed ghosts and therefore could be considered as not being canon.

In 'Ghost Mutterer' Ben, Max, Sam and Jack try to convince Dani her house is haunted, so Dani hires a ghost hunter. When a lady called Esmerelda shows up Dani discovers the truth and gets Esmerelda to help her give the others a taste of their own medicine.

They pull off a convincing haunting and the gang make up - but then another person arrives - claiming to be the ghost hunter Dani hired. The gang realise that Esmerelda isn't who they thought she was - and maniacal 'horror' laughter is heard from the house - implying that Esmerelda is a ghost.

In 'Scrooge Tube' Max is visited by three ghosts (a parody of the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens); the ghosts appear out of Max's stocking and one is a robot - but as this is a dream it is not canon.

In Dani's Castle

Two of the main characters in Dani's Castle are the ghosts Gabe (Gabriel) and Esme (Esmeralda- not connected in any way to the Esmerelda from 'Ghost Mutterer'). There are also a poltergeist (only shown as a ball of smoke and energy) and several other ghostly characters.

Gabe and Esme died 250 (approx.) years ago when they contracted flu a few days before Esme's eleventh birthday.

Abilities and Limitations

Ghosts poses a number of special abilities, these include:

• Teleportation- the ability to disappear and reappear somewhere else
• Walking through and hiding inside walls
• Levitation
• Causing objects to fly
• The ability to write from a distance
• Invisibility
• Exploding (mentioned not seen)
• Possession (mentioned not seen)

They also have some limitations, including:

• Being unable to leave the place where they died
• Being unable to touch the living (there is a loophole that states that for one day a ghost may be allowed to touch one human)
• Being incompatible with communication devices (ghosts can pick up signals and will be forced to repeat any message sent through a phone)
• Being unable to live in too large groups (one building can only hold so many ghosts. If one too many joins another will have to swap out)
• Certain spells exist that can banish ghosts from their homes

The Afternet

As they cannot visit each other, ghosts communicate through the Afternet - an internet for ghosts.

The most popular website appears to be Ghostlybook - a facebook parody where ghosts can post videos and messages and 'friend' each other. Another website mentioned is 'Spookazons' - an Amazon parody. It is not known when the Afternet was set up or how laptops were distributed to ghosts.

Stronger and Weaker Ghosts

The poltergeist appears to be the strongest ghost- as even other ghosts are scared of it. It stays dormant most of the time (often hidden in old wardrobes) but can be awoken by loud noises. It is not affected by any of the things that interfere with the other ghosts.

Gabe displays only a few of the abilities shown in the list, and is viewed as not in the least bit frightening by nearly everyone who meets him - in fact, he is often scared by his sister and things like thunder and wasps. He is always the first affected by anything damaging to the ghosts (electronic signals, Dani's banishing spell etc.) and when Aunt Marjorie arrives he is the one who is shunted out. Gabe is the weakest of the main ghosts.

Esme displays nearly all the abilities shown in the list and is fully capable of scaring people (especially Kait). She is affected by all the things that interfere with the ghosts - but always after Gabe, suggesting she is stronger than him. This could be because Gabe (though he doesn't mind being a ghost) prefers to live a life as similar to his old one as possible, while Esme openly embraces her death - or it could be because Esme tends to be more stubborn and spirited, while Gabe tends to be more of a pushover.

Other Ghostly Characters

• Lottie
• Aunt Marjorie
• Basil (Cedric) Woodford
• Others