Everyone likes to tell a ghost story that "really happened" and I am not doubting supernatural phenomena in any way. But sometimes, you have to raise an eyebrow when some people jabber on about this or that specter that haunted them. Typically, these stories don't come out until the ambiance is ripe for bringing on a scary tale, such as around a campfire.
You can tell when a person has had a real encounter with the supernatural. The retelling is not just for entertainment. The tone is not theatrical. The teller sometimes is hesitant to talk about it.
I remember my uncle telling me that he never watches war movies because once you go through a real war, it isn't entertaining to watch a made-up war. He rarely spoke about his time in the war and I think it is similar to a supernatural experience. You may talk about it, but it won't be something casual or glib.
An encounter with the supernatural leaves you somehow changed. I can't say for better or for worse, just different. It's like losing one's innocence in some way. Now, it is impossible to go through life naively focused only upon the physical. There are unseen energies around us all the time, and you have to reckon with that intellectually and spiritually.
I have had so many experiences that they no longer rattle me, but, like my uncle, I do not watch Hollywood horror ghost movies unless it is based on an actual, documented true life event. Anything else is just a waste of my time.
Ghosts, spirits, demons. They aren't mere characters to give us an amusing fright. They are suffering souls.