The timeline for the CBSGhostsseries spans more than 1000 years, far predating the Woodstone B&B that Rose McIver’s Sam and Utkarsh Ambudkar’s Jay have had up and running for the last few seasons. The harrowing tales of Woodstone Mansion date back to when Vikings roamed indigenous land and span until the modern day. The British sitcom of the same name inspired the AmericanGhostsseries. While the British and American share many elements, CBS refreshedGhostsfor an American audience. Still, the series covers variousperiods and ghost backstorieswith their characterization.
All the ghosts in the CBS serieshave a story to tell about how they died and became stranded on the property. Moreover, each ghost’s time of death dictates how they dress, the customs and zeitgeist they are familiar with, and how they died. A thorough understanding of what happened on the Woodstone Estate is a must. As the series continues, the timeline will expand in both directions – adding new stories in the present and uncovering old tales of the past.
1000 To 1500 C.E.
Thorfinn Dies And Lives On The Land
Thorfinn was the first known ghost on the property.Thor died of a lightning strikein 1007 C.E. after the rest of his Viking crew deserted him. As such, Thor discovered he could manipulate electricity at Woodstone Mansion once it was invented. From 1000 to 1500 C.E., Thor lived on the land. Thor’s son, Bjorn, came looking for him during this time. Bjorn ultimately died just a few hundred yards away, where the Farnsby family eventually made their home.
1500 To The Late 1700s
A Lenape Storyteller Joins The Dead
A Lenape storyteller namedSasappis died on the property in the early 1500sand became a ghost. Following Sasappis' death, he and Thor were the only known spirits on the property. They witnessed life together, including the Revolutionary War, until Isaac died and joined their cohort.
The first recorded contact the Lenape people had with Europeans was in 1524, meaning Sasappis lived around that time.
During Sasappis' life, a Lenape woman named Shiki lived in the area. A tree on the property also had historical significance to Sasappis, although it was cut down in modern times. When Sasappis was alive in the 1500s, he would mark the tree whenever Shiki talked to him.
The 1700s
Revolutionary War Soldiers Perish
During the Revolutionary War era, several soldiers joined the property. Nigel Chessum, a British soldier, became a ghost on the property after Isaac Higgintoot, an American soldier, accidentally shot him with a musket he had outfitted with a spyglass for more extended range.Isaac was using the musket’s scope to gaze at Nigel when he sneezed and pulled the triggerby accident.
Isaac lived in the Revolutionary War Era, officially from 1775 to 1783.
A few weeks later, after negotiating the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga,Isaac died of dysentery and joined Nigel, Sasappis, and Thor as a ghost on the property. Two other British soldiers, Jenkins and Baxter, perished from the war on the property and joined the group during this time. The British soldiers, Nigel, Baxter, and Jenkins, settled in a shed on the property.
The Early 1800s
The Cholera Pandemic
Many people died of choleraon the property after being locked in a pest house. The pest house was burned with them inside, so their clothes were covered in soot and ash. The ghosts likely died at the height of the cholera pandemic in the United States.
The United States had three severe cholera waves from 1832 to 1866.
The Mid-1800s
Woodstone Mansion Is Built
The Woodstone family officially established the Woodstone Mansion on the property in the 1800s. After the Woodstone Estate was established, Hetty lived on the property with her cousin, Elias. More specific details about Hetty and Sam’s ancestors and the origins of the Woodstone Estate have yet to be explored.
The Mid to Late-1800s
Hetty And Elias Live At Woodstone
In the latter part of the 19th Century,Henrietta “Hetty” and Elias lived at Woodstone Mansion. The pair were cousins but married sometime after 1875, when Hetty was 25 and single. They maintained an unhappy marriage but a successful family business as robber barons who operated factories with child laborers.
At some point, while Hetty and Elias were living in Woodstone, they had a telephone installed. This was near the beginning of the telephone era since Hetty and her husband were the only people in the state to own one. The telephone was patented in 1876, so Hetty and Elias' deaths occurred afterward.
At some time leading up to his death, Elias built a giant vault in the basement of Woodstone Mansion. He was locked in the vault by the angry husband of a woman he was sleeping with and died there, withHetty’sGhostsdeathtaking place shortly after that. The lady of the house strangled herself to save her son from his parent’s crimes.
The Early 1900s
Thomas Woodstone Murders Alberta
Although she didn’t live on the property, Alberta Haynes was murdered at Woodstone Mansion in the 1920s. Alberta, a jazz singer, was performing at Woodstone the night she died. After Alberta’s bootlegger boyfriend refused to leave Alberta to commit to being his lover,Thomas Woodstone left a poisoned bottle of moonshine outside Alberta’s dressing roomand poisoned and killed her.
Since Alberta was a trained jazz singer, her singing voice can be heard as a strange humming noise by living residents and guests at Woodstone.
After Alberta’s death,Thomas continued to live at Woodstone. Since Hetty died and remained a ghost on the property, Hetty kept close watch of her son’s affairs at that time but was ultimately frustrated that he could not see or hear her. She could not stop him from what she believed to be a doomed marriage.
The Mid-1900s
Crash And Flower Died At Woodstone
In the 1950s,Crash was murdered at Woodstone. It’s unclear whether he was connected to the Woodstone family or who killed him, but Crash had his head cut off, as is evidenced by how it can be removed. Crash wears a leather jacket with other defining qualities of a 1950s greaser. In the late 1960s, Susan “Flower” Montero died on the property. The hippie ghost wandered onto the property from a nearby music festival, andFlower was killed by attempting to hug a bear while on mushrooms. During this time, Thor developed a crush on Flower that he wouldn’t act on for decades.
The Late 1900s
Pete And Stephanie Face Unfortunate Fates
In 1985,Peter “Pete” Martino, a scout troop leader, was shot in the neck with an arrowby one of the girl scouts in his scout troop. When the accident happened, Pete and his scout troop were using a grassy area at the Woodstone Estate to practice their archery skills. Pete remained faithful to his wife, Carol, for many years, unaware she’d been having an affair with his best friend.
In the episode that explores Stephanie falling in love with a cholera ghost, the series spoofs John Hughes’Sixteen Candles,released in 1984.
In 1987,Stephanie was also killed on the Woodstone property by a chainsaw murderer. It was Stephanie’s prom night, and she was parked in a car and making out with her boyfriend, Tad, when they encountered the murderer. Since Stephanie is a teenage ghost, she slept for much of the time following her death.
The Early 2000s
Trevor Is Dumped In The Lake
In the early 2000s,Trevor Lefkowitz died at Woodstone Mansion during a partywith a group of his stock-trading friends. One of his friends was David Woodstone, Sam’s uncle and a member of the Woodstone lineage. After dying of a drug overdose from undisclosed pills stashed on the property, Trevor’s friends dumped his body in the lake.
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Sometime between the time that David Woodstone was seen at the mansion with Trevor and before the present day,David Woodstone died of a brain aneurysm at a strip club. Permanently trapped at the strip club, David believes that he is in heaven. David Woodstone was the son of Sophie Woodstone and would have owned the property instead of Sam had he survived.
Present Day
Sam And Jay Live At Woodstone Following Sophie’s Death
In 2021, when AmericanGhostsdebuted,Sam’s great-aunt Sophie diedof old age. Sophie, the last owner of Woodstone, was seen getting sucked off in theGhostspilot. She was briefly a ghost, exposed to the other ghosts, but quickly joined the afterlife. After Sophie’s death, the Woodstone Estate was legally transferred to Rose Arondekar, Sophie’s closest living relative.
In the present day, Sam and Jay Arondekar live at Woodstone Mansion. They enthusiastically moved from New York City and turned the mansion into a bed and breakfast called Woodstone B&B. After moving in, Sam fell down the stairs and suffered a near-fatal head injury. When she awoke, she could see the dead. As such, she gets up to wild schemes with the spirits that inhabit the property, continuing to build the Woodstone B&B timeline inGhosts.
Ghosts (US)
Cast
Ghosts is a comedy series about Samantha and Jay, who convert a country estate into a bed-and-breakfast. Unbeknownst to them, the house is inhabited by ghosts of former residents, visible only to Samantha. The show blends humor with supernatural elements as the couple navigates their unusual challenges.
