Book Review - Ghost Hunting Books I Keep



I started out getting all the books I could on ghost hunting, then I began to weed out the “dead weight” (pun intended). It's probably something akin to that pet hoarding issue, I just passed by a book on ghost hunting and "had to make room for it." Unfortunately, I have a book addiction and limited space, so some just had to go to new homes. I ended up with only a choice few that satisfy different needs:

“Confessions of a Feng Shui Ghost-Buster” by Anna Maria Prezio. I really enjoyed this book because it could be applied to ghost hunting, as well as your own home planning. In ghost hunting, I’ve found some real correlations between clutter and darkness and haunting issues. I’m working to develop my knowledge in this area and experimenting to see how a change in environment can kick things up (like hauntings go wild during renovations) and how they can settle things down (like people cleaning and settling into a place). When you add new occupants or take them away, hauntings seem to go on the rise, as well. These things had me considering if homes can just be good magnets for paranormal issues because of the manner in which people are living in them. This book was very helpful. I would take it on a home follow-up to go through and give occupants ideas for making their home a bit more peaceful. I learned the worst place to place a windchime inside your home is the southwest corner, which is my bedroom corner where I happened to hang a windchime. I thought it was a good idea because during the night I often hear things shifting in the room and I thought it might be an early warning system. What happened instead was I had horrible nightmares. I removed it and they stopped immediately. Don’t know yet if Feng Shui is the way to go, but it should be in everyone’s arsenal, ghost hunter or not.

“Ghost Hunting” by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson with Michael Jan Friedman. Not an exceptionally well-written or witty book, but if you like the SciFi series “Ghost Hunters” and wish you could see more episodes, this book covers much of what we missed in their early years and is laid out kind of like how their show is, so it’s easy to follow. It’s not particularly informative, but if you want a read-able episode of GH, this book does it for you. Jason and Grant still reveal very little about why they’re in the biz, which I find a bit aggravating. We all study ghosts because something happened that surprised us, but we’re usually not so defensive and protective of what exactly started the quest. I’d really like them to open up about it, even if they think it’s some kind of sacred secret. They won’t sound any sillier than they do when they talk to four walls with a recorder in their hand.

“Communicating with the Dead: Reach Beyond the Grave” by Jeff Belanger. This book is a good concise one that explains the devices, how they’re used, and some things we might not have known about like Einstein’s plans for a device to talk to the other world. I found it intelligent and not superstitious.

“How To Be a Ghost Hunter” by Richard Southall. This book was good for anyone who wants to start a group. It’s got some practical ideas about documentation and how to handle interviews and all the details you need to know.

“Ghost Worlds” by Melba Goodwyn. Although we’re not on the same page about ghost hunting, she does have a wealth of experience and knowledge about spiritual matters, so if you tend to follow ghost hunting as an exploration of demons, ecto-mist, and vortices, then this a great book for you. I like to know all sides of ghost hunting and refuse to dismiss anything. There’s always a grain of insight in even the silliest supposition.

“Ghost” by Katherine Ramsland. This is a guilty pleasure and I admit to reading this book so many times I wore the pages out. I could jump into this book and live. This is written by a psychologist who works in forensics. She actually followed a group of vampires in New Orleans and when one of them passed on, took his ring and basically set out to find his ghost. She has connections with his partner vampire that are bone-chilling and she sets off trying to learn all she can about ghosts and experience them. Her search is very much like any budding ghost hunting but the details are chilling and the experiences hair-raising. This is a great curled up in bed book that feels like fiction but is her own account of what happened. You often see her interviewed on paranormal shows and when major crimes happen in the news because she is an expert in the field.

I wouldn’t recommend buying any books new. Go online to Amazon.com and check the used versions—they’re usually much cheaper, sometimes only pennies. Enjoy your guilty pleasures and be sure and tell me if you find a book worthy of keeping on my limited shelf space.

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