I've thought this would be a good approach to ghosts, provided you weren't afraid of them. They may want something. Why not ask them what it is-- if they can remember?

It's interesting that the locals think the house is haunted, but they don't seem to remember exactly WHY that might be so And yet, that doesn't seem unrealistic. Lots of tragic things can happen in a house over time, and ghosts tend not to move on. Who knows how old the ghosts might be, and which incident they stem from?