The metapsychic faultline runs down Chalakanesia and produces bizarre magical effects on the population.
So Heineman went to bed exhausted, and it is not surprising that he ghosted in the night. Thanks to the activity of the metapsychic faultline, the good citizens of the islands of Chalakanesia are apt to ghost unless they exercise the most stringent self-control; and, while even the most grievously beset Chalakanesian will seldom ghost while wide awake, the more extreme forms of emotional distress often lead to a loss of self-control during sleep, the resulting ghosting being the metapsychic equivalent of bedwetting.
Heineman ghosted when he was asleep. He slept on, and his ghost initially slept likewise. The ghosts of Chalakanesia are sometimes so heavy that iron cracks beneath their weight, but they are more commonly so light and insubstantial that they can float through walls. Heineman's ghost was of the insubstantial kind, and, at first, it occupied the very same space as his own body. Then ghost separated from flesh, passed through the walls of the House Jubiladilia, and exited into the night beyond. [EoH Ch13]