10 Scariest Movie Ghosts EVER

10. Librarian - Ghostbusters (1984)

Despite its title and premise, the movie Ghostbusters is not a horror movie. This classic '80s comedy may seem like a strange place to start when looking at the scariest ghosts in cinema, since no-one is going to be losing much sleep over Slimer or the Stay Puft Man.

These comedy ghouls and Bill Murray’s dry quips are what many viewers remember most from Ghostbusters. But the movie’s opening scene in the library provides a genuine scare.

The librarian ghost appears as a spectral figure of an old lady silently browsing through books. When the ghost-busting gang advances on her, she transforms into a hulking, roaring, skeletal monster.

The humour leading up to the scare, including the ghostly librarian hushing Bill Murray, disarms the viewer before smacking them with the monstrous metamorphosis.

And it works for the movie that the first encounter with a ghost is actually frightening, because if the ghosts weren’t scary, why would anyone bother to call the Ghostbusters?