Five ghosts draped in plain white sheets, each with simple cutout oval eyes, are grouped in a pyramid like a formal family portrait: two taller figures stand behind while three smaller ones sit or stand in front. The staging borrows from 17th-century Dutch and Flemish domestic interiors, with a carved wooden armchair, a small side table, an ornate gilt-framed mirror and a warm terracotta wall.

A single soft light from the front left picks out the ghosts while the background sinks into near-black shadow. Soft blended brushwork, slightly heavier highlights on the fabric folds, a varnished old-master glaze and faint craquelure give the painting a timeless, quietly eerie and gently humorous feel.