An undigested bit of beef?

Sir, – Aptly, the Irishman’s Diary on Halloween deals with Irish ghost stories, which seem, ironically, to have died off quite peacefully (“A snoring is heard every night... at the hour at which he passed away”, Derek Scally, October 31st).

It is often said that haunting became rare after the electrification of rural Ireland, but well into the 1980s I can recall older relatives speaking with complete certainty of paranormal encounters.

Now, outside of fiction, such stories don’t seem to circulate. I wonder is the real explanation to do with “best before” dates on food as much as proper lighting? On seeing the first of his ghostly visitors, that of Marley, Scrooge suggests “you may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato”. Perhaps he was right? – Yours, etc,

BRIAN O’BRIEN,