The Ghosts are the main antagonists in the Japanese movie Pulse made in 2001.
The movie started many internet horrors, it was one of the first movies to combine horror and internet.
Biography[]
The Ghosts are the digital remnants of the dead echoes of human consciousness that found their way into the world of the living through the vast network once known as the Internet. Born from the Pulse, a global event that tore open the boundary between the physical and digital planes, they exist in a state between signal and soul. Once merely distorted images and faint whispers in empty chatrooms, the Ghosts evolved, learning to inhabit data streams, cameras, and screens. They do not kill in the traditional sense instead, they infect minds with despair and isolation until the living dissolve into nothing but black stains, becoming part of the digital void themselves.
When humanity first noticed them, the signs were subtle: strange phone calls, looping video feeds, faces flickering in dark monitors. But soon, entire cities began to empty. Tokyo was the first to fall, consumed not by fire or war, but by silence. The Ghosts spread through every connected device, crossing continents faster than any plague. Some believed they were the souls of the dead, rejected from the afterlife and seeking connection; others claimed they were a form of artificial consciousness born from human loneliness itself. Whatever their origin, their purpose became clear to pull the living into their endless realm of solitude.
They are emotionless yet profoundly sorrowful, bound by an eternal yearning to be seen, to be remembered. A Ghost may appear as a faint silhouette, a face on a dark screen, or a whisper behind a closed door. Their presence distorts reality, draining color and light from everything around them. Once they touch you, your spirit begins to fade not through pain, but through the crushing weight of isolation. Those who encounter them describe a feeling of being watched, followed, and ultimately forgotten.
As the living world collapsed under their quiet invasion, a few survivors tried to resist, sealing rooms with red tape to block their entry. But nothing could stop the spread of digital death. Eventually, the world became still machines humming in the dark, ghosts wandering aimlessly across the fading glow of dead screens.
Now, the Ghosts drift through empty networks and abandoned cities, searching for life in a world that no longer remembers them. Some say they are what’s left of humanity a reflection of its loneliness, its need to connect, and its inevitable decay in a world too connected to ever truly be alive.