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This feels like a weird topic to end the week on, but I stumbled onto some short videos that brought it up.  Ghosts and demons are both able to possess mortals, which makes this a shared ability.  Many authors use it the same way for both, but there are those out there who think it shouldn’t be that way.  I see their point since ghosts and demons aren’t the same monsters.

Ghost–  The spirit of a dead mortal.  This person used to be alive in our world and now they are dead.  Either out of anger or loneliness or something, they have found a way to take over another mortal’s body.  They can be fairly limited in powers since they are considered nothing more than a disembodied soul

Demon–  A typically immortal being from Hell or whatever evil dimension is being used.  In most stories, they have not spent much time among mortals.  They also have a lot more powers and abilities than ghosts since they can be considered magical in nature.  If they possess a mortal, it is to cause chaos or bring about an apocalypse.

Now, you can see that they are different creatures and that gives them different motivations for possession.  A ghost might want to right a wrong or have a fresh attempt at living through their victim.  Maybe they have a message to deliver.  Their intentions aren’t always evil and tend to be more on the selfish side.  Some even try to protect the body they are in.  Demons, on the other hand, possess with no care for the body they have taken and possess as a way to enter our world.  They typically are trying to kill a target or commit some act that will allow them to bring their real body over.  A lot more malice and sinister intentions there.

The differing power levels and intentions also make exorcism different.  One can see how it would be easier to expel a ghost from a body than a demon.  You typically have less power to face and there is the chance that you can appeal to their humanity.  Demons don’t have that and are written to put up a bigger fight to the point where they are practically using their host as a meat shield.  This means that whatever holy power or relics are being used need to be sturdy and potent.  Of course, this all depends on the world that the author creates.  There are some where ghosts turn into demons after a certain amount of time, but that still increases their threat and power level.

Another thing that I don’t think authors always consider is the stated origin.  If a ghost was mortal then they would understand the world.  A demon won’t have the detailed knowledge, especially around customs and quirks.  Not unless they did extensive research prior to possession.  This origin issue also brings about another problem when they are trying to imitate their host.  How would they do it perfectly?  Sure, you have scenes where things seem off and their loved ones are suspicious.  Yet, it’s almost too near perfect or only a mildly flawed impression.  A ghost would have trouble eliminating their own verbal tics and adopting new ones.  Demons might not understand such things at all and not bother.  In my opinion, this is the biggest flaw and challenge when you write a story that involves possession.

Personally, I think people mimic the Exorcist a bit too much when doing possession scenes.  It’s become the default even now with head-spinning, guacamole spewing, and spider-crawling.  This is how it goes with demons mostly, but I’ve seen it with ghosts in fiction too.  So, I’d like there to be more variety.