‘Guǐ gùshi’ literally means ‘ghost story’ — a narrative centered on ghosts, spirits, or supernatural occurrences. The character 鬼 (guǐ) means ‘ghost’ or ‘spirit’, often with connotations of the dead, the unseen, or the eerie; 故 (gù) means ‘old’ or ‘former’, but in this compound it functions as part of the fixed word 故事 (gùshi), meaning ‘story’ or ‘tale’; and 事 (shi) means ‘matter’ or ‘affair’, completing the noun ‘story’. Together, 鬼故事 specifically denotes fictional or folkloric tales involving hauntings, restless souls, or otherworldly encounters.

These stories are especially popular during autumn festivals like Zhongyuan Jie (Ghost Festival) or Halloween-influenced events in urban China. They appear in oral storytelling, online forums, novels, and films — often for entertainment, cultural preservation, or light fright. While sometimes used to teach moral lessons (e.g., consequences of wrongdoing), most modern 鬼故事 serve as suspenseful, imaginative entertainment rather than literal belief.