Day 663

The city wasn't so much haunted as it was overcrowded by the stubborn dead. They clung to their former lives and relationships with great desperation. Anything to keep them anchored to the here and now instead of drifting away into the "Great Wind" that they claimed was constantly howling around them and trying to sweep they away into whatever afterlife there was. As they refuse to specify, one can only assume it's somehow more chaotic than the one they currently reside in.

At first sight it's quite a spectacle for sure, seeing their vague wispy forms flutter about like shredded grey scarves or wrapping themselves around people seemingly at random. This brought in a lot of tourism at first, all of them hoping they'd have a spirit attach itself to them (a lost loved one or pet - the list of reasons is as long as it is bizarre at times).

On the odd occasion it would happen and they'd try to leave with the spirit in tow. It never worked though and nobody can quite figure out why. The dead have claimed various reasons from the "Great Wind" being stronger outside the city limits, they have difficulty leaving somewhere they've been for so long, great portals of void lurk out there and are drawing ever closer to the city, threatening the very fabric of society.

Spirits can't always be trusted though, their heads are full of the past, a constant loop of their best and worst points in life. Most were unstable to the point where random screeches at all hours are commonplace and glassware just stopped being a thing (too easy to break, to annoying to clean for the eighth time that week because old Uncle Roy just re-remembered that he got fired back in the 70's for "no damn reason").

Multiple attempts at putting the dead to rest over the past fifty or so years have all resulted in nothing but upset ghosts who keep re-remembering it and asking everyone why they're so hated and why they have no respect for the dead who just want to look out for them. At least we found out what these methods do to them.

Exorcisms annoy them, while they cause pain to the dead that's about it. They liken it to dying all over again "but without the fun of coming back fine and dandy", as they have said.

Completing their unfinished tasks just makes them smug. With no niggling things to distract them they can divert their full attention to the living and by god that's irritating.

Asking them to leave puts them in a sulk which can last anything from days to years but always ends with them remembering you exist and coming back to you.

Cleansing your home does unsettle them for a while, puts them on edge and makes them less likely to stay for too long but again it doesn't last.

While most of the city's residents now accept that the dead are a part of their lives and that they will eventually join the annoyance that they've become, attempts are still being made to remove the wandering souls once and for all. Even the living need a little peace.