Yeah, but the corpse-bearers wouldn't have been "real" ghosts, more like imprints on the ether.

I think it's entirely possible to haunt a place while still alive. I remember a story about a house that was haunted by the "ghost" of a small child who used to run about the rooms having a high old time. One day the owners had a visit from an old man who had lived in the place when he was a boy. As he was leaving he said, "happy memories; you know I often dream that I'm back here, playing with my sister...."