#phasmopunk

[erandiblack]

An idea I got last year while watching Nowhere Productions on YouTube around Halloween that I'm finally sharing.

Phasmopunk!

What is Phasmopunk?

Phasmopunk revolves around the existence of a ghost world and the relations between the living and dead. Ghosts could range from cute little guys who poses no harm to great evils that need to be stopped. Mortals in phasmopunk stories tend to fear ghosts.

Technology

Technology in phasmopunk stories tend to be whatever we have in the "now" with the exception of a few where some people made their own ghost hunting gear. Often phasmology, the study of ghosts, is a thing and there are phasmologists with proof of the ghost world.

Ascetic

There's not an established ascetic, but the exemples I've found are all set in the "now". Some stories may refer to ideas such as ley line, the ethereal plane, and ectoplasm. Spirit mediums and exorcists are also common place.

Exemples of Phasmopunk

Ghostbusters

I haven't watched Ghostbusters besides "Answer the Call" in years so that's the example I'll be referring to. In the story, academia won't help them study ghosts and when they went indie the government told them to lie about the existence of ghosts.

Danny Phantom

The story focus on Danny Fenton, a high-schooler and son of two phasmologists, who became half-ghosts after an accident with his parents portal to the ghost world. He then went and act vigilante with his two friends, fighting ghosts who want to wreak havoc while he avoid being captured or having his secret identity discovered.

Casper the Friendly Ghost

In Casper's stories, he always want to befriend the living despite it being the norm for ghosts to strike fear in mortals. No matter what, he tries his best to fight against conventions to make friends.

(maybe) Beetlejuice

This is a maybe because I'm not too sure. Barbara and Adam Maitland died and found that their home was bought by the Deetz family, who they try to get rid of within the rules of the ghost world. When that doesn't work they get the help of the bio-exorcist, Betelgeuse, who's malevolent methods lead the Deetz to preform an exorcism of their own.

The Haunted Mansion (2023)

I'm referring to the 2023 version because the 2003 version feels more like a standard ghost story. In the 2023 version we follows Ben Matthias, a former astrophysicist who was developing a camera to detect dark matter, who's running a ghost tour his late wife Alyssa once ran. One day, an exorcist priest name Father Kent hires him to use his dark matter camera to photograph the Gracey Manor's ghosts for doctor Gabbie and her son Travis. This tying him to the manor until he and the others can break the curse.

Where did Phasmopunk start?

Paranormal research dates back to the nineteenth century, with organizations such as the Society for Psychical Research investigating spiritual matters, but people had tried to understand the paranormal long before that. Latter in the twentith century, psychic researcher Harry Price published his "Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter" in 1936. Just sixteen years after that in 1952, Alfred Harvey, founder and publisher of Harvey Comics began producing Casper comic books. In terms of ghost hunting, the practice existed in the 1900s but was popularized in the 2000s by television series such as "Most Haunted" and "Ghost Hunters", combined with the increasing availability of high-tech equipment. The Atlantic Paranormal Society reported a doubling in their membership in the late 2000s, attributing this to the television programs. To this day, ghost hunting content remains highly popular even when some amit to acting and editing stuff into their videos.

Real Life Phasmopunks

Any paranormal investigators or researchers who are actually looking for evidence to the existence of ghosts.

I guess also anyone who tries to live harmoniously with ghosts.

How do I feel about Phasmopunk?

I love it and want more of it. There's an idea that some believe, that ghosts feed off of electricity. I think someone could do something with that and Nikola Tesla's wireless electricity. He was interested in the paranormal and created gear people are still using to hunt ghosts such as spirit boxes and infrared sensors. Also, Beetlejuice's whole bio-exorcist thing is an interesting idea. I can invision a group of ghosts keeping other ghosts' properties safe from the living. If someone try to make phasmopunk music a thing, I want a lot of theremins. The theremin sprang up around the same time as research into the paranormal, are often associated with ghosts, and have been used before in rock music.

Questions

Do you guys think there's something here or am I just seeing things? I believe there is but one can easily blind themselves in their beliefs and need the help of others to see clearly.

Also, I was considering listing "The Ghost and Molly McGee", "ParaNorman", and "R.I.P.D" as exemples of Phasmopunk but couldn't decided if they should count. So tell me what you think should count.