Evidently, normal people are the ones getting rung up by the dead.  Most cases floating around are everyday folks. There is one story involving the actress Ida Lupino that is referenced in Phone Calls From the Dead and also on the three or four other websites available on the subject. However, she's so old school that it's hardly impressive. It's not like a shocking confessional from Nicole Kidman or something.     Most cases are people receiving calls from deceased loved ones, often on dates of special meaning to the person. This doesn't mean that it's a touching reunion or anything. Most of the time, the calls are "simple" and no real conversation will take place. The callee will simply recognize the voice of a loved one, or the phantom caller will use a phrase that indicates who it is.     A fitting example of the above from Phone Calls from the Dead is the story of a mother who was called by her deceased daughter. There had been a joke between them that the daughter would call and ask her mom for twenty dollars before she made the trip home from college. Her daughter died in a car accident on the trip home, but the mother later received a call in which a voice she recognized as her daughter's requested twenty dollars for the trip home.      There are lots of variations on this of course. In some cases, deceased family members of people in trouble will call others to request assistance. Some examples of this include callers that identify themselves, somehow indicate a person needs help, and then once the recipient speaks with the distressed party, they will recognize the name as a dead loved one.     And, there's also the ever-popular mysterious third party, complete with scary mechanical voice. Coming soon to a voice mail option near you. . . .     The stories link has tales from regular internet surfers such as yourself who have written me with descriptions of phone call related strangeness. This guy gets phone calls from the dead.