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I have two questions to ask my fellow readers out here:
1) can anyone recommend any books that deal with real ghost stories and discuss what ghosts are all about?
2) does anyone know about the validity of Hans Holzer? I know he wrote several books about ghost sightings and I am reading one of them now but I am wondering if he is "for real" or one of those "money making scam artists."
I have always been interested in ghosts and even more so lately so I am looking for some good and truthful reference books. Websites are also welcomed and those can be DMed to me. Thanks in advance to all who can help.
I'm not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for, but we bought this book, and as one of the reviews says, it has the ring of authenticity to it.
We met one of the people who told his story in the book, and he said that everything happened just as the author described. He became a believer. Ghosts of Nantucket
This is not a reference book, nor does it truly explain ghosts, though the introduction offers a couple of ideas.
I guess it would be a number of things but one thing that really sparked it was the movie THE OTHERS. And no, I never saw the ending coming . It totally threw me for a loop and then following up with other films like THE SKELETON KEY and other ghost stories. I have always been fascinated with them and slightly believed but I am questioning the validity of ghosts being real less and less these days. I have never had any actually "sighting" but I still find it a fascinating topic. I also write short stories and one I would like to try is a ghost story but I would like to make sure I have my facts straight before I attempt it. That is one of the main reasons why I am searching for information/reference books and any books of people who have dealt with ghosts. The thing is I would like to steer clear of any authors who write about the topic but are not considered "true authorities" on the topic. Those are the reasons for my interest in this. When I looked in the bookstore there wasn't much of a section on it and my local library hardly has any books at all, which I find hard to believe. I thought for sure this topic would be widely written about.
I guess it would be a number of things but one thing that really sparked it was the movie THE OTHERS..
For anyone intrigued by The Others or the Sixth Sense, I always tell them to check out the much earlier (1962) movie, Carnival of Souls.
More on topic, a couple years ago I read a biography of a 19th century ghost researcher and his assistants. This team investigated the paranormal. The occult was very fashionable back then; these researchers were very dedicated and methodical. They ruled out what they considered to be false.
Frauds were unmasked.
No solid conclusions were reached, but not everything was ruled out.
One medium, Mrs. Piper, seemed to actually have physic ability.
The bio was written by a science journalist. Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death A review of the book More reviews
As to Hans Holzer - I wouldn't call him a scammer, more of a compiler of ghost stories. I had dealings with him over 40 years ago. In the case of hauntings he was directly involved with, he'd bring a medium with him and they were always top notch. He always wanted rights to publish from the people involved. I don't feel he was dishonest, but he wasn't averse to making money from these cases, too.
Thanks jmarkey. I had found out that he passed away as of April this year I believe. I know from his book GHOSTS he does use mediums and one of them was Sybil Leeks. Although I would never fault him, or anyone, for making a buck on his findings I just wanted to make sure he was credible in his writings and not some, shall we say - carnival palm reader.
"Ghost Hunting" by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson is good; Holzer is good. There are a lot of books out there.
There is also a magazine with true ghost stories, "FATE" that has been around for years; I have sold them several of my real-life encouters with the paranormal.
Thanks jmarkey. I had found out that he passed away as of April this year I believe. I know from his book GHOSTS he does use mediums and one of them was Sybil Leeks. Although I would never fault him, or anyone, for making a buck on his findings I just wanted to make sure he was credible in his writings and not some, shall we say - carnival palm reader.
was priviledged to be in their company briefly years ago-----both were genuine---he was more of an investigator/writer---sybil was an excellent medium!
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. It totally threw me for a loop and then following up with other films like THE SKELETON KEY and other ghost stories. I have always been fascinated with them and slightly believed but I am questioning the validity of ghosts being real less and less these days. I have never had any actually "sighting" but I still find it a fascinating topic. I also write short stories and one I would like to try is a ghost story but I would like to make sure I have my facts straight before I attempt it. That is one of the main reasons why I am searching for information/reference books and any books of people who have dealt with ghosts. The thing is I would like to steer clear of any authors who write about the topic but are not considered "true authorities" on the topic. Those are the reasons for my interest in this. When I looked in the bookstore there wasn't much of a section on it and my local library hardly has any books at all, which I find hard to believe. I thought for sure this topic would be widely written about.
