The Little Book of Ghosts by Paul Adams

Starting with a comprehensive introduction to the various forms and categories of ghosts, Paul easily takes the reader through these pages with clear backgrounds and examples to explain different experiences.

The book is sectioned into ghosts within different locations – featuring tales in haunted houses before moving onto a chapter on ghosts in Churches, Chapels and Abbeys. Chapters also include specific categories such as poltergeists, phantom animals and haunted objects. Towards the end of the book Paul features famous ghost hunters and a good selection of ghosts societies, paranormal investigations and recommended reading.

The little book of ghosts really kicks off with the earliest record of a haunted house dating back to One AD and a Roman villa in Athens which scared away several occupants with strange disturbances. Other ghosts in this chapter include some well known cases such as The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, the photograph taken of this apparition became know as the classic ‘ghost’ image. Levens Hall, a fabulous Elizabethan house in Cumbria I’ve visited many times, boasts a number of ghosts including a Grey Lady which has been seen regularly since the time of horse-drawn carriages.

The following chapters all follow in the same vein – snippets of information which give you just enough to make it interesting, whilst keeping it light and easy to read.

Within the chapter on Poltergeists Paul features cases on The Bealings Bells, now thought to have been a practical joke played on the family, and also the Bell Witch, in America, which became the inspiration for the films, The Blair Witch Project and An American Haunting.

Haunted objects don’t tend to be covered that often in general books so it’s good to see Paul including information such as Screaming Skulls which can be found across the UK. Phantom coaches have been reported on for years, traditionally associated with an impending death a couple of reports are featured within the chapter on Planes, Trains and other Haunted Transport – sounds like it could make a good film!

Paul doesn’t critically analyse the various ghost accounts, and I’m not sure I would want him to either. There are more specific books, I suspect, on most of the various ghosts featured which the reader could look at if they wanted to know more. Whether you are new to paranormal investigations or not, if you want to get in touch with trusted societies and organisations having the contact information at the back of the book will be invaluable.  This is a great addition and one that I would suggest more books include.

As it’s coming up to Christmas this is, frankly, a perfect gift for anyone with an interest in ghosts and the paranormal…or in my case, just as a treat just to keep for yourself!