ghoulish
Creepily death-obsessed
Ghoulish describes a morbid fascination with death, corpses, or the macabre—like a ghoul, the grave-robbing demon of Arabic folklore.
Someone with ghoulish interests might collect crime scene photos or linger at accident scenes.
The word also describes things gruesome or death-obsessed: ghoulish Halloween decorations, a ghoulish sense of humor.
Causing horror and disgust
- grotesqueDistorted, bizarre figure
- morbidUnhealthily drawn to darkness
- grislyShockingly horrific
- ghastlyTerrifyingly horrible or pale
lurid · cadaverous · corpse-like · grave-robbing · charnel · sepulchral · carrion · necrotic
Evoking extreme fear
- horrifyingCausing extreme fear
- nightmarishFrightening like bad dreams
- chillingCausing fear or cold
- creepyDisturbingly strange
eerie · disturbing · unsettling · unnerving · spine-tingling · blood-curdling · hair-raising · dreadful
Resembling a specter
- spectralGhostlike or wavelength-related
- phantasmalLike an apparition
- undeadDeceased yet animate
- zombie-likeResembling reanimated dead
vampiric · wraithlike · otherworldly · haunting · apparitional · demonic · hellish · infernal
gruesome
Causing horror and disgust
ghastly · lurid · cadaverous · corpse-like · grave-robbing · charnel · sepulchral · carrion · necrotic · decomposing
terrifying
Evoking extreme fear
- horrifyingCausing extreme fear
- nightmarishFrightening like bad dreams
- chillingCausing fear or cold
creepy · eerie · disturbing · unsettling · unnerving · spine-tingling · blood-curdling · hair-raising · dreadful · appalling
ghostly
Resembling a specter
- spectralGhostlike or wavelength-related
- phantasmalLike an apparition
- undeadDeceased yet animate
zombie-like · vampiric · wraithlike · otherworldly · haunting · apparitional · demonic · hellish · infernal · creature
menacing
Conveying threat or danger
- malevolentHarboring ill will
- fiendishExtremely cruel or wicked
- diabolicalExtremely wicked or cruel
demonic · evil · wicked · twisted · sadistic · cruel · vicious · perverse · depraved · unwholesome
costume
Clothing for portrayal
- maskFace-worn concealment
- trick-or-treatHalloween candy solicitation
- monsterFrightening imaginary creature
skeleton · zombie · vampire · witch · werewolf · jack-o'-lantern · cobweb · graveyard · tombstone · cackle
- horrorhorror, terror, fear, dread, haunted
- grotesquegrotesquerie, grotesque, grotesquery, deformity, freaks
- uglyugly, hideous, unsightly, grotesque, repulsive
- scary feelingsterrified, frightening, dreadful, creepiness, goosebumps
- infernalhellish, demonic, diabolical, satanic, devilish
- macabrecorpse, corpses, skull, skulls, skeleton
ghoulishreverent
Feeling profound respect
respectful · sensitive · compassionate · empathetic · tasteful