Film: 13 Ghosts (1960)

Alias: The Screaming Woman, the Floating Head, the Flaming Skeleton, the Hanging Woman, the Clutching Hands, Emilio the chef, Emilio's wife, Emilio's wife's lover, the Tamer and his Lion, Dr. Zorba

Type: Mystical

Location: Haunted Home

Height/Weight: Varies.

Affiliation: Neutral, leaning on Good

Summary: One ghostly roommate is one thing, but how about sharing the household with more than a dozen of the restless undead! Each one has its own little quirk, and some are more amiable than others.

History: These 12 inhabitants of the Zorba household will not leave until a thirteenth spirit joins their ranks. Show of hands, anyone? Didn't think so. Some ghosts are just here, while others have much more tragic backstories, such as Emilio murdering his wife for seeing another man, or the headless lion tamer still with the beast that killed him. Dr. Plato Zorba used to own this occult place, but his lawyer, Benjamin Rush, killed him with a falling balcony, making him the twelfth. When Zorba's relatives come to move in, things get more complicated.

Notable Kills: See Final Fate

Final Fate: Rush is about to kill Zorba's youngest relative the same way he killed the occultist, but that man's vengeful spirit rushes to the rescue, and forces Ben to get crushed instead. The seal having been broken by the death of Rush, the spirits can finally depart the house.

Powers/Abilities: Total omnipotence.

Weakness: None.

Scariness Factor: 3.5-The ghosts don't actually kill anyone (who didn't deserve it), but they can be pretty intimidating. After all, no one reads "ghost lion" without a hint of caution. Not only that, Zorba's ghost, despite being the most moral arguably, is downright hideous in its decaying state.

Trivia: -As with any William Castle production, this came with its own theater gimmick. Namely, "Illusion-O", which involved audiences wearing special prototype 3D glasses so that the ghosts, rendered in red in the film proper, would look more vivid through the red side of the lens, and less so through the blue lens.

-The lion ghost was played by Zamba, a particularly famous lionine actor who miraculously went his entire life without mauling a single human co-star thanks to his upbringing. The headless tamer played by his real-life trainer/adoptive father, Ralph Helfer.