CBS' Ghosts: Every Ghost Time Period & Backstory Explained

CBS’ Ghosts features a cast full of spectral characters that each hail from a distinct time, making fans wonder “How did the ghosts die in Ghosts?” Each ghost comes with a unique backstory and death. Though each of the eight ghosts has a wildly different perspective based on their experiences throughout history, they form a sort of family. After all, being stuck with the same people for all eternity allows plenty of time to get to know each other. Ghosts stars Utkarsh Ambudkar and Rose McIver as Jay and Sam, a young couple who inherit an upstate New York mansion.

In an adaptation of a BBC show of the same name, the couple discovers the house also comes with several ghostly inhabitants, who Sam can see after a near-death experience. These ghosts are Thorfinn, Sasappis, Isaac, Hetty, Alberta, Flower, Pete, and Trevor. Although other ghosts feature in the show, such as those in the basement “cholera pit,” the British soldiers from the shed outside, and even Hetty’s nefarious husband Elias, the main eight are the most fully fleshed-out throughout the first three Ghosts seasons.

Thorfinn

Thorfinn Was Struck By Lightning In 1007 BC

Unlike Marvel’s Thor from the MCU, with whom he shares a name, Thorfinn is not a god, although he does have some pseudo-lightning powers. The oldest ghost in the show, Thorfinn is a Viking who traveled to North America but was accidentally left behind by his compatriots. The Vikings’ historical voyage was about 1,000 years ago, meaning Thorfinn died in 1007 BC. He died after being struck by lightning on the land that would one day hold Sam and Jay’s house, which leaves him with the ghostly ability to make lights flicker.

Instead of a Viking like Thorfinn in
Ghosts
, the oldest ghost in the UK version of the comedy series is a caveman named Robin.

Never one to pass up a good discussion about fishing or fighting wild animals, Thorfinn is a Viking through and through. Instead of a Viking like Thorfinn in Ghosts, the oldest ghost in the UK version of the comedy series is a caveman named Robin. He is similar to Thorfinn when talking with monosyllabic dialogue and his ability to control electricity. He also died when struck by lightning.

Sasappis

Sassappis Died Of Unknown Reasons In The 1520s

When it comes to what order the ghosts died in Ghosts, Sasappis is about 500 years younger than Thorfinn, dying in the 1520s. He’s a Lenape man, an indigenous group from the Hudson Valley in New York as well as parts of present-day Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Unlike most of the other specters in Ghosts, Sasappis has yet to reveal how he died, but one of his favorite pastimes is reminding all the others of how they met their ends, most of which he was there for.

While this ghost’s backstory remains unknown, it is revealed in Ghosts season 1, episode 7, that a woman whom Sass loved in life, Shiki, is also a ghost, and he tries to get in touch with her. Sasappis is also a big fan of watching TV and often asks Sam and Jay to cook junk food so that he can smell it. Because Sasappis is a Native American, there is no real connection to the UK series, although the closest might be Romantic poet Thomas Thorne, since both characters have a way with words.

Isaac

Isaac Died Of Dysentery In The 1770-1780s

A Revolutionary War captain who knew the likes of real-life figures Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, Isaac Higgentoot unfortunately died of dysentery before he could make any lasting historical mark of his own. Killed by the disease sometime between 1775 and 1783, when the American Revolutionary War was taking place, Isaac now has the ghost power to make people smell sewage any time they walk through him.

Despite these circumstances, however, Isaac always maintains his pride, as evidenced when he has to negotiate with the Redcoats who also died on the property back in the day, including British officer Nigel, who Isaac has an obvious crush on despite having accidentally shot him. The U.K. version of Isaac is The Captain, who served in World War II and died of a heart attack. In both versions, Isaac and The Captain are both gay and express their love in each series.

Hetty

Hetty Died By Suicide (Strangulation)

Sam and Jay’s house, Woodstone Manor, was built in the late 1800s by a family of robber barons, and it’s this lineage and time period that Hetty hails from. But Hetty has started to gradually let go of her antiquated notions and bigotries as Ghosts goes on. For the first two seasons, Hetty’s death was a mystery, but given the corruption she was a part of during her life and the vile nature of her husband Elias, she certainly had no shortage of enemies who might have wanted to off her. However, season 3 revealed the actual reason.

When Elias went missing and his debts and crimes ended up transferring to her, she barricaded herself in the library and died by suicide when she strangled herself with the telephone cord. As for ghost powers, Hetty hasn’t displayed any unique abilities yet but does manage to possess Jay in season 1, episode 10, which is something all ghosts seem capable of doing. Hetty’s UK version is Lady Stephanie “Fanny” Button. Her husband murdered her by pushing her out the window after she caught him having an affair.

Alberta

Alberta’s Boyfriend Poisoned Her

A jazz singer from the 1920s, Alberta finally confirms her suspicions in Ghosts episode 9 that she was poisoned by her no-good bootlegger boyfriend. But while Alberta has an unfortunate Great Gatsby-style death, she also embodies a lot of what made the 20s roaring, as well. From her tasseled flapper attire to her lively vocabulary, and from her confident singing voice to her fiery passion for women’s rights, Alberta is one of Ghosts‘ most engaging and fun characters.

Fittingly, her special ghostly ability is that she can be heard humming by the living when she so chooses. Although Alberta offers constant reminders of all the low lives and two-timers she’s dated, she may have a romance arc with Pete in store later on. While Alberta doesn’t have a direct counterpart in the UK version of Ghosts, she is similar to 18th-century Georgian noblewoman Kitty thanks to their complicated background and family drama in their past.

Flower

Flower Was Killed By A Bear In The Woods

As her name suggests, Flower is a hippie from the 1960s who was killed by a bear on the Woodstone property after leaving a nearby music festival. If she looks familiar to some viewers, it’s because Sheila Carrasco, who plays her, has had brief appearances on other shows like The Good Place and Jane the Virgin. Flower’s ghost power is that people who walk through her get high for about an hour, and she herself is often forgetful and off chasing butterflies.

Much like Alberta, Kitty does not have a direct counterpart, but she is also similar to Kitty from the UK version of
Ghosts
.

But Flower has interesting depth to her character as well, as she was involved in multiple cults and cult-like organizations in her life, and even helped one such group rob a bank. Much like Alberta, Kitty does not have a direct counterpart, but she is also similar to Kitty from the UK version of Ghosts. This comes from their actual personalities, which is often joyful and clueless. As for the death, Kitty died after falling ill following a venomous spider bite.

Pete

Pete Died In 1985 From An Arrow Shot Through His Neck

Of all the eponymous characters in Ghosts, Pete’s death is the most apparent. Shot in the neck by one of the Scouts from the troop he was leading, Pete met his untimely demise in 1985 and still has the arrow in his neck to prove it. Despite the tragedy of his passing, however, and the later revelation in Ghosts episode 6 that his wife was cheating on him in life, Pete is perpetually chipper in Ghosts.

What is Pete’s ghost power? While he doesn’t possess a unique ghostly ability, Pete’s affinity for compromise and teambuilding makes him a crucial member of the ghosts’ de facto family and could earn him a shot at romance with Alberta later in the show. The UK version here is obvious. Patrick “Pat” Butler is also a scout leader who was also killed with an arrow through the neck. Both of them still have the arrow through their neck to prove their cause of death, and both are very kind and considerate ghosts.

Trevor

Trevor Overdosed & Died From A Heart Attack In The 1990s

Trevor is the youngest of the ghosts, whose special power is touching or moving solid objects (with great effort). A spoiled yuppie party boy who died in the late 1990s, Trevor is all about popularity and scoring attractive women. Trevor died when he and his colleagues went to stay in the Woodstone Mansion, and he took some pills with some alcohol while partying. This caused him to overdose, and he died of a heart attack.

His friends just dumped his body in the lake and never talked about it again. Only Sasappis originally knew the truth about his death, but Jake fished his head out of the lake in “Trevor’s Body.” There is a close version of Trevor in the UK version of Ghosts. This is Julian Fawcett MP, and just like Trevor, he is also missing his pants. He died in the 90s (1993 to be specific) in a supposed sex scandal, with his autopsy claiming his death was caused by “a combination of substance abuse and sudden exertion.”

Elias

Elias Was Locked In A Vault & Died There

Most ghosts in Ghosts are kind, funny, and often helpful. One ghost is none of those things. Elias Woodstone is Hetty’s husband (and cousin). While he was alive, his marriage was not good because he was controlling and had several mistresses. His death came when he ended up locked in his vault by its designer after Elias slept with his wife. He died in the vault and his ghost remained bound to the house. He was trapped there for a century until Sam and Jay found the vault and opened it, freeing him.

However, something terrifying happened to Elias. He was the only ghost in this house that ended up sent to Hell. Hetty gave her dead husband a chance to redeem himself from his past sins, and he refused, saying there is no such thing as good and evil. As a result, she told him to “go to Hell” and he did. Humorously, she made the other ghosts think that was her special power after that. He is loosely based on Mike Cooper from the UK Ghosts, a robber baron also trapped in his vault for a century.

Crash

Crash Was Decapitated In An Unknown Event In The 1950s

There are also some recurring ghosts on the show, and when it comes to Crash and the answer to what order did the ghosts die in Ghosts, it is hard to tell here. From his look, he appears to be from the 1950s, but he could also be younger and just dressed the part. Crash wears a black leather jacket, white t-shirt, and blue jeans, and looks like a James Dean-styled character, which explains the possible era where he died.

It is unknown how Crash died, but he was decapitated, so it is possible he was in a vehicular accident. He only appeared in the pilot and later in the episode “Ghost Father of the Bride” in Ghosts season 2. Crash is loosely based on the character of Sir Humphrey Bone in the UK version of Ghosts, another decapitated ghost who is always searching for his head. Humphrey was forced into a fight with the Majesty’s Guard, but when he tried to pull down a sword to use, it swung down and decapitated him.

Stephanie

Stephanie Was Killed By A Chainsaw Slasher Killer

Like Crash, Stephanie is another ghost from Ghosts who only appeared a few times as a recurring specter. She died in the 1980s, and while she was born in the same year as Trevor, she still looks like a teenager since he died a decade later. She was an ’80s mean girl who died on Prom Night. Stephanie was the victim of a slasher killer. She and her boyfriend were parking at Woodstone Mansion and were about to hook up when an escaped chainsaw murderer showed up and attacked and killed her.

She also has a nickname from the other ghosts, who refer to her as “Attic Girl.” She ends up dating one of the Chlorea ghosts. Stephanie has no actual UK version to match up with, but there are two similarities with the ghost of Lady Stephanie “Fanny” Button. First, both of them have the same first name of Stephanie. Second, Fanny’s husband pushed her out a window and killed her when she caught him cheating while Stephanie died while with her prom date — both murdered by unhinged men.

The Cholera Ghosts

These Ghosts Died Of Cholera Between 1832 & 1870

In the original British version of Ghosts, there were ghosts who lived off by themselves in the mansion known as the Plague Ghosts. The U.S. version of the comedy series has a similar group, known collectively as the Cholera Ghosts. As their name mentions, they died of cholera, and they all live in the basement of the mansion. There is no telling how many of them there are, but there are three named on the show (Stuart, Nancy, and Creepy Dirk) and three more named in the credits (Nigel, Catherine, and Cody).

These were all people infected with cholera who were placed in the pest house, where they were supposed to get treated, but were left to die by starvation, illness, or suffocation from living in the basement. While not trapped in the basement as ghosts, that is still where they live as it is where they feel most comfortable. These ghosts died sometime between 1832 and 1870, which puts their deaths between Isaac and Hetty.

The British Ghosts

These Ghosts Died In The Revolutionary War

Finally, the British Ghosts don’t live in the house. Instead, they live in a shed on the property based on an agreement made after they died in the Revolutionary War. Since they died then, they know Isaac, but they mostly keep in the shed and to themselves. Every few years, they come back up to the main house to redraw the boundary lines, although some ghosts feel it is because the British Ghost Nigel does it to flirt with Isaac. Outside of Nigel, the other two known British Ghosts are Baxter and Jenkins.

Nigel’s death was a terrible accident.

Nigel is a lieutenant colonel, while Baxter and Jenkins are his two officers. As for how these ghosts died in Ghosts, Nigel’s death was a terrible accident. Isaac was admiring Nigel from the telescope on his rifle when he accidentally sneezed, pulled the trigger, and killed Nigel, who was reading a book at the time. Isaac later apologized as a ghost 133 years later, and Nigel accepted the apology. In season 2, the two start a romantic ghostly relationship. As for Baxter and Jenkins, they led the fight against the Americans after Nigel’s death and died when their army fell in battle.

Which Version Of The Show Has Better Ghosts?

As many fans know, Ghosts on CBS is based on the UK show of the same name created by the BBC. Ghosts is also a rare example of a US remake of a UK show where both versions are more-or-less equally regarded – a feat few shows beyond Shameless and The Office have managed to pull off. One debate that continues to rage on in the Ghosts fandom, however, is which version actually has the better ghosts.

Comparing the two in this regard is difficult in many ways, since several of the ghosts in the CBS show are more-or-less the same character as their UK counterparts. Multiple ghosts in Ghosts US are taken from the UK show, such as Thorfinn, Hetty, and Alberta. They are based on Robin (a neanderthal), Fanny, and Kitty, respectively. While there are some changes made (Thorfinn is considerably younger than Robin, for example), they still serve the same rough narrative purpose.

Ultimately, which ghosts viewers prefer will be subjective, as for all their similarities there are many differences too. However, these differences are less attributable to the ghosts themselves as they are the product of the general tones of both versions. The UK version of Ghosts is generally regarded as the darker of the two, and explores emotional territory the CBS version in the US doesn’t really cover. The US Ghosts is more of a lighthearted sitcom, resulting in spirits that are perhaps funnier, but are somewhat less fleshed out.

However, many viewers in the US also prefer the CBS Ghosts specters because they’re based on American history, rather than British. This definitely goes a long way to making them more relatable for US audiences. Whether this technically makes them better is debatable, but it does mean that the majority of the fans of Ghosts on CBS prefer the ghosts in the US version to the original.