Traditionally, there are three basic types of haunting: Intelligent, Residual, and Poltergeist

Intelligent Haunting:

Intelligent haunting are perhaps the most often type of haunting reported. In this circumstance, the entity is aware of itself, and aware of the living. The entity remains in a location for whatever reason, and continues to dwell perhaps as they did in life. Sometimes the entity manifests itself and even tries to communicate with the living.

Residual Haunting:

Residual haunting are often reported in locations marked by large-scale violence and tragedy, such as battlefields or mass genocide sites. A residual haunt can be thought of as a video set on repeat. An entity manifests at a particular location, at a particular time,and consistently repeats its actions. In this style of haunt, it is believed that the entity is unaware of itself or its surroundings, it is merely a form of energy that remains in a given location, bound by the location and circumstance of death. The energy that makes up its manifestation is residual; there is no consciousness attached to the apparition. Many people report witnessing the replaying of battles with ghostly manifestations. It is merely the leftover energy in the location playing itself over and over again.

Poltergeist Haunting:

Perhaps the most compelling type of haunt is poltergeist activity. While rare, dozens, if not hundreds, of incidents have been reported around the globe. Poltergeist haunts could be considered a subgroup of intelligent haunting in that the entity is certainly physically interacting with its environment, usually quite violently, and is therefore certainly aware of itself and the living. Objects are moved and often thrown. People are sometimes attacked, slapped, scratched, bitten, or assaulted in some other manner. It is believed that most poltergeist activity centers not necessarily around a location, but often around a living individual. Many reports have been made of families fleeing their homes due to such hostile activity, only to be confronted again with the same activity in a new location. While more rare than pure intelligent or residual haunts, poltergeist haunts are perhaps the most compelling of all haunts, as pure interaction between the spiritual world and the living is at play.
It should be noted, however, that many researchers attribute "poltergeist activity" to increased psychic "flare-ups", often brought on by changing and increasing hormones in preadolescences.