Who Are All the Ghosts in the Ghostbusters Movies?

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire hits theaters today! The highly anticipated addition to the horror–comedy franchise promises to add action, laughs, and low-stakes doom and gloom. Oh and of course, some brand-new ghosts and ghouls! But before we meet the new spectral faces, it’s only good manners to revisit the older ones.

From the classics to the newly departed, here are the most famous ghosts our heroes have busted over the years.

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New York Library Ghost

The Library Ghost haunts the New York Public Library. She is the ghost of librarian Eleanor Twitty, and also the very first ghost that the Ghostbusters ever met. When the Ghostbusters make a plan to deal with her, she shifts and twists her body into a massive, frightening form.

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Zombie Taxi Driver

Don’t worry — he knows a shortcut. If you thought New York City traffic was crazy enough before, just wait until the Containment Unit blows up. This unique zombie-ghost creature escapes and gets behind the wheel of a yellow cab to take some unsuspecting drivers for a bumpy ride. Tip is not included!

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Ray’s Dream Ghost

Everyone dreams about their job. Ray, however, gets more than he bargained for with the gorgeous ghost who appears to him in the night.

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Slimer

Slimer is one of the most recognizable and iconic ghosts in the series. Made of pure green ectoplasm, this wide-mouthed, hotel-dwelling nightmare likes to cause trouble for the Sedgewick guests. Slimer also leaves behind a foul stench and murky slime wherever he goes. And he goes everywhere, especially to steal food.

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Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Mini-Pufts

When an all-powerful God tells the Ghostbusters to pick the harbinger of their destruction, Ray decides on an innocent enough item. However, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, a giant, animated form of that sugary treat, proves to be a worthwhile adversary. The Ghostbusters defeat him, though! But in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a whole army of Mini Pufts appear to sabotage the Ecto-1 and our heroes’ Proton Packs. It’s like the age-old conundrum about having one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses.

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Zuul and Vinz Clortho

Zuul is a demigod. She is also the Gatekeeper of Gozer who protects the god’s temple. Her most well-known form is the Terror Dog (pictured above). Vinz Clortho is Gozer’s Keymaster. He is also another demigod and Terror Dog, often working alongside Zuul. Both entities wish to bring about Gozer’s return to this world — and also help Gozer destroy it.

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Gozer the Gozerian

Gozer is also known as Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Destructor, Gozer the Traveler, Volguus Zildrohar, and Lord of the Sebouillia. It is an all-powerful deity from another dimension who is summoned to New York in 1984 and to Summerville in 2021. Its ultimate purpose is to destroy the world.

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Vigo the Carpathian

Vigo is an ancient, tyrannical sorcerer. The main antagonist of Ghostbusters II, he comes back to life through a painting in the Manhattan Museum of Art. The psychomagnatheric ectoplasm in the city boosts Vigo’s powers. He’s able to feed on people’s negative emotions and create energy to summon an angry spirit army. Then, Vigo uses this army to help him find a host in order to possess the body and come back to life. Thankfully, the Ghostbusters don’t let this happen.

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Scoleri Brothers

Order in the court! The Scoleri Brothers are convicted murderers who haunt the courtroom where they were once sentenced to death by electrocution. Talk about taking a grudge to the grave. They help kick off the afterlife antics of Ghostbusters II with a real shock.

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Possessed Dr. Poha

When you need to kidnap a kid, which ghost do you use? Running out of options, Vigo supernaturally empowers Dr. Janosz Poha, who is quite fond of his museum coworker Dana. He dons a classic black-and-white nanny costume and becomes ghostly, allowing him to fly through the skies of NYC to complete his mission.

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Bath Tub Slime

The infamous Bath Tub Slime scared thousands of kids away from ever getting in the tub again. This pink, solid, taffy-like goo seems to have a mind of its own as it attempts to kill Dana and steal her baby. We bet she only takes showers now. Vigo uses this “mood slime” as one of his main weapons in Ghostbusters II.

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Ghostbusters II Army of Ghosts

Encouraged by Vigo’s evil presence, and the grouchy attitude of New Yorkers, a River of Slime pushes forth crowds of ghosts into the city. From flying beasties to roaring behemoths, every corner of history offers up a terrifying taste of the afterlife. Here are some of the ghostly highlights from the last act of Ghostbusters II!

Titanic Ghosts

What if the Titanic continued to sail the ocean as a ghost? The ship and its passengers appear at the harbor in Ghostbusters II in an eerie display of historical tragedy.

Theatre Ghost

If you get on your phone during a movie, this massive pink bully will chase you. Silence, it turns out, is pink.

Ye Olde Ghost Train

All aboard! Like the Titanic, this historical tragedy comes to “life” once more in Grand Central Station. After derailing in 1920, it comes back to chug along the tracks forever and freak out anyone unlucky enough to cross its path.

Washington Square Creature

There’s a giant brown ghosts haunting the arch in Washington Square! Modeled after Ray Harryhausen’s Dynamation creatures, it halts traffic and scares the daylights out of all who come near.

Fur Coat

When ghosts get summoned back into the world, a wealthy woman’s fur coat comes back to life in a chimerical form of all the animals used to make it. Don’t think about it too much or you’ll get nightmares.

Ghost Jogger

Even ghosts gotta get those steps in. A ghost jogger runs through Central Park in a quick but memorable scene.

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Subway Rat Ghosts from Ghostbusters (2016)

Because it’s NYC — of course there’s a disgusting horde of little mean ghost rats running around the subway system. Watch your feet!

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Fun Ghostbusters: Afterlife Ghosts

Muncher

Muncher is one of the newer additions to the Ghostbusters canon. The free-floating Summerville specter likes to hang about and munch on metal. Although relatively harmless, his appetite causes trouble for the young heroes. However, they eventually use Muncher to escape from a metal jail cell. Who says ghosts can’t be temporary allies?

Bug-Eye Ghost

Lots of ghosts appear during the Summerville cross-rip. One such fiend is a purple, floating ghost with a huge, yellow third eye. He doesn’t do much, but boy is he creepy.

Flaming Phantasm

Think of a microorganism with its entire body ablaze. That’s the Flaming Phantasm, who got its kicks by chasing after people and fire trucks. Yowch!

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Garraka

Garraka is the major monster in Frozen Empire. This icy Eldritch God is intent on setting about a new ice age. Of course, the Ghostbusters can’t let that happen. And that’s all we’ll say because, spoilers!

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Who you gonna call? There are plenty of ghosts in the Ghostbusters live-action film series, but who are your favorites? Do you hope they reappear in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire?

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