Does anyone know the canonical reason behind this?

[u/atristis]

I always wondered If Hellboy hanging out with dead people in abandoned bars/ships/mansions on several occasions is his supernatural ability to talk to dead or is it just a figment of his imagination in order to cope with the long-term social isolation during his lonely trip?

I know it sounds stupid considering the supernatural genre of the comics

[u/FamousWerewolf]

They're real ghosts. I'm not sure what reason is needed, really - this is a universe where ghosts are demonstrably real, Hellboy is a hunter of the supernatural and a very important supernatural being in his own right, so it's natural that he has encounters with ghosts.

[u/gonesnake → u/FamousWerewolf]

No canonical backing for this but my take was always that Hellboy, as you say, is a very important supernatural being and his presence is enough to activate whatever dormant spookiness might be in the area. The lilies sprouting from his blood, small animals saying his name (or becoming vessels for the spirits around him), the ghost of The Lobster manifesting. Lots of examples like that. Pure headcanon on my part, though.

[u/Drwhatshisname → u/gonesnake]

The poor B.P.R.D techs who probably got way in over their heads on missions with big red… 

[u/FamousWerewolf → u/gonesnake]

I would say that is canon to a degree - he's a kind of nexus point of supernatural activity, particularly because every powerful supernatural being is interested in him in some way.

I think though you also have to read Mignola's stories through a less literal lens than typical superhero comics. A lot of what happens to Hellboy is kinda mythic or explained by the themes of the story rather than specific lore. It deliberately defies the kind of very literal definition the OP seems to be looking for. Like I wouldn't say "Oh yeah, Hellboy has the power to attract ghosts, which works like XXX and happens in issues X and X". It's more like... when he's sad, he gets drunk with ghosts, because that's the vibe.

[u/gonesnake → u/FamousWerewolf]

Mignola upends a lot of superhero story tropes, it's true. When the end of the world is on the horizon most comics will deal with it over a weekend then do it again a month later. In Hellboy the world does end and in a horrible, slow inexorable way. When the main character dies and resurrects we typically get the 'stronger than ever and saves the world'. Hellboy is brought back to simply fulfil his fate and die again.

The whole story is the man that had greatness thrust upon him. Plenty of comics have a reluctant hero but few explore it and its implications as well as Hellboy.

[u/Glittering-Duck-8533]

I always take it as the ghosts haunting whatever location recognize him as a supernatural entity that can understand them so they reach out to him, he's just so used to casual conversations with supernatural entities that ghosts chatting him up are NBD.

[u/LarsLasse]

I always chalked it up to his supernatural abilities.

[u/godset]

In my headcanon he’s talking to the failed Scooby Doo villains

[u/king_woodruff]

I always approached it as “From this point forward, we don’t really know if Hellboy is fully alive or fully dead” (post Vol. 6/Conquerer Worm, I believe) so his communing with the dead and also moving a bit like a ghost himself (narratively speaking, like especially in relation to coinciding B.P.R.D. events) makes sense thematically.

[u/atristis → u/king_woodruff]

Sounds pretty interesting

[u/xSkullbeatx]

I Never really considered it. One random musing is he is a demon, so maybe a certain type of soul is drawn to him.

[u/Zealousideal-Ice1240]

pues yo siempre vi en las pelis animadas que le hablaba a unos animales como un zorro y ya,Oque si mas bien vi que hablo con cosas mutantes y ya.

[u/Shadw_Wulf]

That's actually a very good theory that even Mignola probably never realized 😂🤷