Depending on what you have heard or know about the paranormal, you may have heard plenty about demons as well as ghosts and spirits. Sometimes people may refer to them interchangeably or at the very least, the line distinguishing the two categories  can become blurred. The first thing to do when determining the differences would be to define what each of them are. 

The defining features of ghosts, spirits, and hauntings have been presented in a previous article, but for the sake of review, ghosts are the souls of those who have died with “unfinished business” and are unable to pass on. Spirits are the remaining personalities of people who have passed on and can travel between realms. Place hauntings are the “recordings” of past events in a place that are conveyed over and over, similar to a song on repeat. All three would fall under the category of paranormal being.

On the other hand, demons are in the category of religious beings. According to paranormal.lovetoknow.com, the concept of demons come from many religions, both ancient and modern. These would include religions such as Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Though often generalized as being evil spirits, demons can be more specifically defined by western religions as being fallen angels or minions of the devil. Different from ghosts or spirits, who cannot be banished from a place against their will, demons are said to be able to be removed by the rite of exorcism.

When trying to determine what you could be dealing with, you must know the identifying characteristics and activities of the different entities. Ghosts and spirits tend to be seen rather than anything else. According to the ASSAP and SPR, they can appear at any time of day, don’t usually say much, and many people don’t realize that they didn’t see a normal person until they notice out of date clothing or see the ghost or spirit disappear. The presence of a demon, on the other hand, is generally made known in other ways. Many occurrences that accompany such beings include unexplainable bad smells, loud knocks or bangs (these tend to come in threes), growling noises, and destruction of religious objects.

When dealing with different entities, knowing who to call is helpful. When dealing with a ghost, spirit, or other haunting, you could call a paranormal expert to verify it and to learn more. If you suspect a demon, the people to call would be those trained in exorcism or removing demons. Some Catholic priests are trained in the rite of exorcism and there are some groups of people, called demonologists, who believe themselves experts in the field.