Paranormal Somerset by Sonia Smith

Everyone loves a good ghost story, as a kid it’s what got me interested in the paranormal and it’s what will hopefully get the next generation interested in finding out more. Most ghost books review accounts and experiences but this one takes a story and gives it a fictional twist with characters so that you become involved in the story and identify with the events surrounding them.

In writing this book, Sonja Smith invites you to experience the paranormal events that take place in Somerset, she recreates spine-tingling tales that include what really happened when a man was almost lured to his death in the quicksands of Burnham-on-Sea, and what horror was encountered in the middle of the night on Glastonbury Tor. We find out what it felt like when the hunters became the hunted at Cadbury Castle and share the experience of a troubled soul at Chalice Well Gardens. Sonja also writes about the evil poltergeist that haunted an old farmhouse near Bath, and the terrifying ordeal of a young girl in Dunster beset by an evil spirit after an encounter with a Ouija board.

The tales are short and light enough to enjoy as a casual read and will hopefully intrigue readers to find out more about the county and it’s long supernatural history.

Adding a fictional twist to the tales isn’t an approach that will suit everyone but there are plenty of other books available that are more factual, Sonja has set out to write ghost stories, and that’s exactly what this book is. Sonja explains that all her accounts are based on true tales told to her by people from all walks of life, the places are real but names have been changed in the course of telling the tales. With no references it’s a little hard to prove but then I don’t think that really matters. It doesn’t stop you from simply enjoying the story. You’ll hardly believe it – but, as they say, truth is so often stranger than fiction. Prepare to be scared!