Green Ghost: my favourite vintage board game ever!

✯ Day 301 of Vintage 365 ✯

It's interesting, you know, as I sit here and reflect back on this topic as an adult, to think about the items that my parents kept from their own childhoods. Honestly, the number isn't that huge, but in all fairness, I don't exactly have a room full of things from youth either. There were a few toys, a large record collection, the odd photograph and a few knickknack, and one board game that enthralled me as a little girl like nothing else.

The name of that game was Green Ghost, and though it's been many, many years since I last played it (as far as I know, it didn't make the cut during one the moves my family made when I was growing up). I can still remember it with stark clarity, and it is impossible for Halloween season to arrive without memories of playing this awesome game - always sitting on the cold tiles of our basement floor, often with the lights dimmed low - as a youngster.

First created in 1965, Green Ghost was a relatively popular board game throughout the 60s and early 70s that tied into both the campy horror movie genre of 50s and 60s, as well the popularity of spooky sitcoms like The Munsters and The Addams Family. Though it wasn't based on a particular TV show, film, or classic scary story, its main character (a large green ghost) vaguely resembled The Blob.

Beyond its playfully spooky appeal, what makes Green Ghost standout is the fact that it was one of (if not, the) first game that featured glow-in-the-dark pieces and which was therefore intended to be played with the lights off.

Featuring a good sized playing board (made of luminous plastic) with a multitude of 3D game pieces, all of which come together to create an eerie ghost town, the premise of Green Ghost was for the large green specter figure to track down twelve little ghostie children, one of which was his own child, Kelly (whichever players finds Kelly after a series of spins on game spinner and other moves is the winner).

It was, by no means, a hard or complicated game, and it wasn't one that needed to be in any regard. Most of the thrill of Green Ghost game from the fact that you got to play a board game in the dark (or near dark) that glowed eerily and included a ton of fun little pieces (the player identification pieces included a vulture, cat, bat, and rat), a rather cute lime green spirit, and a haunted, completely Halloween worthy landscape.





{Green Ghost shown with all of its spooky, delightfully fun game pieces, remains my all-time favourite vintage board game, thanks to the childhood memories and Halloween ties it houses for me. Image via J.Y. Corporation.}


Though a 30th anniversary edition of Green Ghost (pictured above) was issued in the 1990s (it's nearly identical to the original), for all intents this classic 1960s game has been off the market for decades now. These days, those who are hoping to track down a copy are wise to check garage sales, thrift stores, and eBay.

While it certainly never rose to the same degree of popularity as board games like Clue, Life, or Monopoly, through the internet I've discovered that I'm certainly not the only Green Ghost fan still out there.

In fact a complete vintage Green Ghost game from the sixties with all of its little pieces can run you a hundred dollars or more on eBay (it's common to see people selling incomplete games, which can sometimes be had for lower prices, as it was quite tricky to not lose at least a few of the tiny plastic pieces over the years). Given its high price tag, it means that a copy of Green Ghost remains firmly planted on my vintage wish list.

It's been nearly two decades since I last flicked off the lights and sat down to a spirited round of Green Ghost. Yet it's impossible for Halloween season to arrive without me thinking about the good times I had as youngster, when I spent many an evening in the company of a glow-in-the-dark green ghost and his illuminated, haunted make-believe world. Fond, fun memories for sure!