Have you seen ghosts?

Categories: Nonfiction , Horror & Supernatural

Shortly before the turn of the 20th century there was a group that formed with the goal of investigating and either proving or not the existence of ghosts. Ghost Hunters: William James and the Scientific Search for Proof of Life After Death (2006) by Deborah Blum recounts the efforts this group put forth to prove the paranormal in a time when science and religion were at odds. It is fascinating.

Interestingly, William James was one of the founders of the American Psychological Association and brother of writer Henry James.

I'm always ready for a good ghost story. Brad Steiger's Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places (2004) is a book full of documented cases and oral histories of hauntings and paranormal occurrences. It is refreshingly grounded, offering a bibliography, a list of good ghost movies, and a listing of haunted cities. Cincinnati is there, citing among others a ghost lion at the Zoo.

This is a nice, thick book, numbering 568 pages before appendices, and it keeps the reader engrossed with a wide variety of rather short essays on diverse topics. Reading this book prompts one to realize how widespread paranormal phenomena really are, and how many people believe in them.