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Good Ghost Books

What are the must have books on ghost phenomenon?

I'm not looking for stories, or even compendia of true stories; and I'm hoping to find something neither too credulous nor too skeptical. A book which looks over the evidence, a bit like the way FT articles do, without necessarily having a point to prove.

What are your recommendations?
 
I'd be interested in these recommendations too. It's rather a tricky subject because there are many threads that make up discussions of ghosts - belief, experience, popular cultural attitudes, folklore, perception, psychology, media, etc. Each person may prefer a slightly different flavor to their ghost discussion.

One recommendation is from the cultural perspective:
Ghosts: Appearances of the Dead and Cultural Transformation by R.C. Finucane.

Another is about ghost impersonation:
Spirits of an Industrial Age by Jacob Middleton
 
Ghost-books are usually pure entertainment and seldom have much in the way of footnotes and references; they often ignore better information in favour of chills. All too often, they aim for breadth of coverage, wanting to include ghosts in every square of the map. Depth in this subject is much harder to find or even imagine. Theories seems to boil down to spiritualism versus Stone Tape.

I would guess that one of the best repositories of ghost-lore is on this very thread! Of course, a lot of the earlier links may be dead. Unlike any specific book, you will get a range of viewpoints, from highly sceptical to highly receptive.

It will also be easy to search for online updates to cases. The truth is, of course, that sensational reports get wide coverage and that boring developments are ignored.

If you find anything better, please let us all know! :)
 
For me I like 'Hauntings & Apparitions' by Andrew MacKenzie which was part of a series of books on behalf of the Society for Psychical Research. It is neither sceptical or credulous but looks into some cases and discusses the strong and weak pints of different explanations.
 
It's difficult to recommend a specific book on "ghosts". Many books are so padded with thrills and chills that no one could take them seriously. I know of one author of ghost stories who latterly sees ghosts everywhere and even talks to them. How could anyone take this person seriously. Other books on "ghosts" can become so bogged down in detail that they bore the socks off you. The real trick is to discuss hauntings as they actually occur and then try to explain them, if possible. Such books are few and far between. You might start out with Hans Holzer, who can also get bit carried away at times, Or try some books from the better known paranormal organizations.
The fact remains that very few people believe in ghosts until they actually experience one. Personally, I made fun of ghost tales until I was well into my 30's when series of odd phenomena occurred that changed my thinking. As to whether or not a ghost is a spirit of someone, I do not know. "Ghosts" I have experienced could also be playbacks of extreme emotions, or any number of other possibilities. The photos that I have of what we consider to be a "ghost" or something radically abnormal is still unexplained. The search for answers is what keeps me fascinated with the subject of "Ghosts".
 
There are a lot of pretty poor ghost books out there, with most books falling into two categories:

  1. The local history ghost book recounting unsourced and often quite unlikely ghost stories connected to a particular area. Normally these are told in a rather plodding and pedestrian manner, without much structure to the book, or analysis of particular tales.
  2. The survey history of ghosts; these typically retell all the "great ghost stories" from British history, even though we have heard them all before. The English Ghost by Peter Acrkoyd is one recent offender from an author who should know better.
Saying that, there are a few books which present interesting and different angles on ghost history. I would second Sharon Hill's recommendation for Spirits of an Industrial Age; there's a lot of content that I haven't seen in any other ghost book, and the approach taken seems to be one of open-minded enquiry, rather than going into the subject with pre-conceived ideas.
 
Spudrick68 said:
For me I like 'Hauntings & Apparitions' by Andrew MacKenzie which was part of a series of books on behalf of the Society for Psychical Research. It is neither sceptical or credulous but looks into some cases and discusses the strong and weak pints of different explanations.
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For a serious read I'd second Spudrick's recommendation. Also, Seeing Ghosts - Experiences of the Paranormal, by Hilary Evans.

Also, it might be worth hunting down Gillian Bennett's work, which I think may be quite difficult to get hold of, and possibly not to everyone's taste - Bennett's POV is more folklore than paranormal investigation. I read Traditions of Belief back in the late 80's and recall being fascinated, but I don't remember much of the detail now.
 
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Oh, wow...it's here - all of it, I think.

Although the title is slightly different to the one I remember, so it may not be the exact same work - I have a feeling it may have been one of those titles based on degree work which later appears in a slightly different format for general publication.

Or I might have just made that up!
 
Ghosts often leave me cold (pun optional!) but I really would vouch for:
Will Storr Versus the supernatural by Will Storr (2006). This is a gripping page turner(which I read in one sitting) where the sceptically inclined journalist meets up with ghost hunters and demonologists from the UK and USA and takes off on spook seeking escapades with them. The individuals so profiled do come out of it rather badly, but then again there are enough incidents which Storr finds difficult to explain to get you wondering.

Storr must be one of the best journalists in Britain, certainly in the field of the paranormal.
 
I have just finished "investigating the paranormal" by tony cornell and its a must read, he gives ghosts and mediums and close hard look and is a sceptic in the proper sense of the word
 
I am presently reading Asylum 46. Its supposed to be a study of a highly "haunted" Asylum hospital that was closed down some years ago. It was bought by paranormal investigators and in order to finance it they run ghost tours through it. I'm a bit skeptical about it because I think too many ghosts tend to spoil belief.
 
Having been bad in bed all week I've had a chance to read some books I sent off for last week. The combination of ghost books, listening to the Ghost Pod and intermittent high temperatures has made for some interesting nightmares. :eek:
 
escargot1 said:
Having been bad in bed all week I've had a chance to read some books I sent off for last week. The combination of ghost books, listening to the Ghost Pod and intermittent high temperatures has made for some interesting nightmares. :eek:
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Ha. I did that when I was suffering from flu some years back (proper flu - not man flu). I binge listened to the second Craftsman Audio Books collection of MR James stories and totally fucked my dreams.

Two Doctors was the one that did it - certainly not his best story, but it contains a murderous pillow and bedlinen that turns out to have been burialwear...and I was unable to move from my bed.
 
You want to try drifting off to Casting the Runes on Librivox, just reaching the bit where Karswell makes a horde of disgusting slimy creatures escape from a lantern slide and invade a roomful of children when your cat considerately nuzzles your face... :eek:
 
My book is Asylum 49 not 46, sorry about that. I have a formula that combats flu and colds if you are interested. I have had neither since 01.
 
I discovered this by accident. I had a badly infected jaw tooth. the dentist said it would have to be pulled or have the tooth drilled out and permanently filled. Can't remember the name of the procedure. Anyway its an extremely pinful procedure. I had just read an article about the powerful anti-bacterial properties of garlic. I figured I had nothing to lose so I started taking large amounts of Garlic. I was teaching school the time so I couldn't be overwhelming my students with the smell of garlic. I discovered one type of garlic that does not smell. It's a gel pill called Oderless Garlic and is available at most drug strores. I used 20 of the gel pills a day. It was rough going for a few days then the pain started to subside. It is possible that a larger dose might have worked faster. It took about 6 months to be totally free of the tooth problem. Funny thing....and my fellow teachers noticed as well...I did not lose any work from colds or flu that year. Schools are notorious for both. We had two flu epidemics that year; one was so bad they had to close the schools for a couple of days. Almost everybody was snorting around with a cold....except me. After the tooth pain went away I continued to take 10 garlic gels a day plus one Vit D 5000. I have not had either the flu or a cold since 01. My Doctor quit even asking if I want a flu shot. But he does remark that the flu tends to mutate and I may run into a mutation my herbals won't stop. I remind him that his flu shots are not always effective either. Though he won't admit it, one of his office staff told me he uses a variation of my formula himself. If you get the Oderless gel pill you will NOT smell of garlic. If you get anything else, heaven help the people around you. There is one called "Oder-Free" don't you believe it. I figure its called "Oder-free" because theydon't charge you extra for the oder. The reason for the vit D 5000. I read an article in the local newspaper about a flu epidemic that hit the Akron area. The VA hospital had that flu rampage though all the wards but one. That single ward had no cases of the flu. Upon investigation they discovered those patients were being given heavy doses of Vit D for whatever was inflicting them. They never said how big the doses were. I read up on Vit D a bit and concluded a regular dose of 5000 units would be enough.
But, as I said, I have not had colds or flu in 16 or so years. I don't know if this formula will work for everyone but it has worked for me and a couple other people I know. But you have to take it on a regular basis.
 
My Dad uses that garlic. He also has the raw stuff.
20 a day is a lot, but I guess it worked for you.
 
Myth: When I was using 20 a day, I was combating an infected tooth and trying to avoid a root canal. The lack of colds and flu during that period was coincidental. I dropped back to 10 garlic gels and 5000 units of Vit. D; and that seemed sufficient to get me through the cold and flu seasons. I have two on line friends who use this formula and they claim they have also been cold and flu free and that includes the mother of one who said her 80 year old mother was cold free for the first winter in her life. But there are no guarentees. My doctor says the garlic is good treatment for most any bacterial infection. I said I thought colds and flu were virus's. He just grinned and said, "If it works, use it".
 
I think all my root canals must have been reamed out in my thirties.

The sight of that little corkscrew thingy became quite horribly familiar!

Life after root-canals is relatively peaceful. :)
 
JamesWhitehead said:
I think all my root canals must have been reamed out in my thirties.

The sight of that little corkscrew thingy became quite horribly familiar!

Life after root-canals is relatively peaceful. :)
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Not always.
I had a root canal done, and a couple of years later - the tooth disintegrated when I bit into a bap. Fortunately not painful, but it looked awful. Had to have a fake tooth made.
 
Brig said:
Myth: When I was using 20 a day, I was combating an infected tooth and trying to avoid a root canal. The lack of colds and flu during that period was coincidental. I dropped back to 10 garlic gels and 5000 units of Vit. D; and that seemed sufficient to get me through the cold and flu seasons. I have two on line friends who use this formula and they claim they have also been cold and flu free and that includes the mother of one who said her 80 year old mother was cold free for the first winter in her life. But there are no guarentees. My doctor says the garlic is good treatment for most any bacterial infection. I said I thought colds and flu were virus's. He just grinned and said, "If it works, use it".
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I might look into that myself. I normally use high dose vitamin C, which helps me to fight off colds. I rarely get colds and can't remember the last time I had flu.
 
I think that as long as I can keep the pain and infection under control wit garlic that is what I plan to do. At my age, I might as well.
 
Unmutual said:
What are the must have books on ghost phenomenon?

I'm not looking for stories, or even compendia of true stories; and I'm hoping to find something neither too credulous nor too skeptical. A book which looks over the evidence, a bit like the way FT articles do, without necessarily having a point to prove.

What are your recommendations?
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For me it was 'Ghost Hunting- A Practical Guide' by Andrew Greene. Way back then the only other source was a certain author who routinely churned out two books a year, fleshed out with talk of spiritualists, mediums and seances. Green was a revelation after this and it seems this book has stood the test of time with Fortean Times very own Alan Murdie commisioning a reprint.
 
Yes, I used to have one of Green's "just the facts" books, a compendium of various locations around Britain where ghosts had been seen. Never felt moved to visit them in the hope of seeing a phantom, but he was a very fine chronicler of the stories.
 
Try Death Dreams and Ghosts, by Aniela Jaffe, published by Daimon.
 
Earlier I said I had a formula that prevented Colds and Flu. I have an update. Late winter, a year ago, I had a runaway heart, (170 bpm). Put me in the hospital where naturally they took me off ALL my natural herbs and replaced them with phamacetical chemicals. Told me I was wasting my money on the herbs. With in a little over two months I suffered my first cold in well over 16 years. It was bad enough to screw up several tests they were running on me. I said I should go back on the Garlic and D. "OH NO, don't do that, use the vitamin D but forget the garlic"' I was told. Three months later I got another cold right in the middle of their tests again. I ask them if garlic was going to interfere with my medication? They hummed and hawwwed around and avoided the question. I asked my family doctor if I could resume the garlic and he said "If you think it helps, sure". I so informed my heart specialists and they said, "Go ahead and waste your money". So I went ahead and wasted my money and I haven't had a cold symptom now in four months even though this area was hit hard by colds and flu. Most doctors seem to take a great displeasure in anyone using natural remedies. It's a shame because most medicines start out from "natural remedies" it's the phamacetical companies that create the monsters. Do you know that prescribed medicines are the third largest cause of premature death in the USA? Look it up for yourself. You can bet these medicines weren't natural herbals. I now sit around in a waiting room for a doctor's appointment with people all around me hacking, snorting, coughing up a storm. I don't worry about it as much now that I'm back on the garlic and vit. D. Takes 2 or 3 months to bring your resistance up to maximum.
 
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