Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Revisiting "Ghost of a chance" (and other ghostly bits)

Throughout October I'll be pulling up some previous slang-o-rama posts appropriate for the month. First up: Ghost of a chance (and more!). Enjoy!

Ghost in and of itself is a word that goes a long way back. According to the Online Etymological Dictionary it starts with:

Old English gast "breath; good or bad spirit, angel, demon; person, man, human being," in Biblical use "soul, spirit, life," from Proto-West Germanic *gaistaz (source also of Old Saxon gest, Old Frisian jest, Middle Dutch gheest, Dutch geest, German Geist "spirit, ghost").... The gh- spelling appeared early 15c. in Caxton, influenced by Flemish and Middle Dutch gheest, but was rare in English before mid-16c.

What about idioms such as ghost of a chance, give up the ghost, and the ubiquitous Old West ghost town? In fact, could my 1880s characters use any of these phrases?

Hmmmm.
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Delving a little further down in the OED entry:

[Ghost in the sense of] "slight suggestion, mere shadow or semblance" (in ghost image, ghost of a chance, etc.) is first recorded 1610s; sense of "one who secretly does work for another" is from 1884. Ghost town is from 1908. Ghost story is by 1811.

Checking The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer, I see they peg ghost of a chance from the mid-1800s. I'm glad of that! In fact, in Americanisms, Old and New by John Stephen Farmer (c. 1889), this phrase shows up in a VERY long definition of bucket-shop (which would be another fun bit of slang to explore some day).

I find it hard to believe that ghost town doesn't appear until the early 20th century, but Ammer's Dictionary of Idioms and Google's Ngram viewer concur.

Ngram: Always a good check for the first appearance of a term in books.

At least, my 1880s characters can indulge in a ghost story and certain non-returning fictional unfortunates can give up the ghost (c. late 1300s).

Might I have a ghost of a chance of sighting a ghost in the ghost town of Bodie, California?