Wanting to Have Sex With Ghosts Is a Real Thing

But are normies like you and I engaging in paranormal activity between the sheets? In his article “Ghost Modernism: A Beginner’s Guide to Spectrophilia,” Mark Griffiths, Ph.D., of Nottingham Trent University, a psychologist who explores “addictive, obsessional, compulsive, and/or extreme behaviors” on his blog (he’s given Glamour permission to cite him in this story), writes that spectrophilia as a condition is probably real, even if ghosts themselves aren’t. He points to the numerous historical and folkloric tales of spirits having sex with humans as proof that people have always been intrigued by raunchy wraiths.

In fact, most world cultures have some version of a lingering spirit that lives on beyond death. The most famous mythic examples of sex ghosts coast-to-coast were the incubus and succubus. First referenced all the way back in Mesopotamia, incubi are male demons who engage in sexual activity with sleeping women (succubi are their female counterparts). Though, historically, it wasn't a sexy as it sounds: Copulation with an incubus is how they believed witches were conceived. (Just because your dad is a creepy sex demon doesn’t mean you can’t go on to have a totally fulfilling life, though. After all, Merlin was said to be fathered by an incubus.)

For his part, Griffiths notes that there’s (unsurprisingly) no empirical evidence that anyone’s truly had sex with a ghost. That said, most spectrophiles actually don’t admit to going all the way—they’re merely aroused by the idea of having relations with a spirit. Therefore, he writes, “the main sexual outlet for spectrophilia would appear to be masturbation." And if you were also super into Thackery Binx at an impressionable age, this definitely tracks.

For that reason, millennials who were into Devon Sawa for the three minutes of Casper he wasn't a cartoon, knockoff ghost Leo for the three minutes of Hocus Pocus he wasn't a cat, or even Patrick Swayze makin’ horny spectral pottery with Demi Moore can consider themselves, in a way, spectrophiles.

How’s that for unfinished business?

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