SPECTRAL FASHION
Why Do Ghosts Favour the Bedsheet? Spooky Isles Traces a Familiar Costume
A Halloween-day article promises a history of the spectral wardrobe, from burial shrouds to the stage to a friendly cartoon ghost.
THE INTERNET — The question of why ghosts are so often pictured in bedsheets receives a historical treatment from the website Spooky Isles, which published its inquiry on Halloween, 31 October 2026.
According to the site's brief summary, the answer begins with ancient burial shrouds, the cloth in which the dead were wrapped. From there, the article says, the trail runs through Victorian theatre and arrives at Casper, the cartoon ghost known to generations of children.
The summary offers no further detail, and this newspaper has not been furnished with the full text. Readers seeking particulars on how the shroud became a stage convention, or how the stage convention became a children's character, are directed to the original article.
Still, the outline given is a tidy one. It suggests that the sheet-clad apparition owes less to any report from the other side than to the habits of burial, the theatre and popular entertainment. The site presents the matter as a piece of cultural history, and makes no claim, in the portion available, that any ghost has been seen in a sheet.