The Ghostlands

I came across this idea in a Forgotten Realms graphic novel.  I don't know much about the Forgotten Realms but I liked this idea very much and thought it was well handled.
 
Spreading through the forest in a dale where a great and bloody battle was fought, this is a region of some forty ruined castles and mansions, and a town ruled by the ghost of the land's long-dead ruler, called by some the Ghost King.  The town is mostly made up of out-of-work and on-the-lam pirates, crooks, smugglers, ne'er do wells and mercenaries.  All manner of things are traded and traded for there. Fantastical monsters roam the area, especially at night, including undead things, some of them created by the Ghostking himself.

The Ghostking is bound to the region and has no real motivations.  He helps or hinders by whim.  He encourages the monsters and outlaws to roam his lands for his own entertainment.