Ghost Hunters: A Guide to Investigating the Paranormal

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In the process, the researchers spent a fair amount of time debunking fraudulent mediums, from the slate writers at Lily Dale (a popular Spriritualist retreat in upstate New York, still active today) to the world-famous founder of Theosophy, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. And yet, despite finding many con-artists, they also found a few genuine examples of paranormal activity beyond explanation. One was the medium Leonora Piper, who lived in Boston, MA. She was a subject of study for nearly two decades, and never once was found to cheat. In a survey of "crisis apparitions," taken in Britain and America, it was discovered that the number of people who had had seen spirits of dying friends or family, when limited to only the stories that could be verified in their particulars, was far above the normal statistical expectations for the surveyed populations. Perhaps the most striking experiments were the cross-correspondance ones, where four individuals, two in England, one in America, and one in India, all received the same messages from one of the researchers who had recently died. The messages corresponded to a specific poem of great meaning to the group, and the communication was further tested by asking questions of the "spirit" in Latin, a language unknown by the mediums who were receiving the messages. Regarding ghosts, in the end you are free to think whatever you want, to accept the hauntings as true or not. The way this book is written, both are acceptable. I think this is this book's greatest strength. I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been expecting a horror story. The most important thing is to start reading this knowing this is closer to historical fiction than horror. This is an first rate account by Deborah Blum of the emergence of a growing curiosity and serious research project regarding the existence of life after death, the possibility of communication with spirits, as well as the existence of mental telepathy. The parties involved were a group of well respected scientists and psychologists in the US, as well as the UK, in the late nineteenth century who formed the "Physical Research Society." It is hard to arugue with the respectibility of William James and Harvard as well as several other educated and determied participnts. In addition to their quest for knowledge and proof of an afterlife, they also set out to uncover the scam artists who were plentiful at the time. The work went on diligently for years by dedicated, educated people on both sides of the Atlantic, though many of their contemporaries spent a great deal of effort trying to dismiss any interest in this subject matter as pure folly. Those nay sayers and detractors made it their own mission to portray any of the documented findings in a negative and dismissive light. THE GHOST HUNTERS, by Neil Spring is a fantastic piece of historical-fiction based on the real case of the reputed haunted Borley Rectory. Harry Price sets out to debunk (where possible) the existence of supernatural phenomenon, and attempts to find proof of human manipulations. In this story, we are introduced to the fictional character of Sarah Grey, who becomes Mr. Price's assistant on these journeys, and other efforts to the same end.

I wanted to give this book 3.5 out of 5, because 3 seems miserly considering I did enjoy most of it, but I'm not quite at 4. It has some printing mistakes, missing letters, mis-spellings etc, which I mention for those of the grammatically pedantic persuasion, but this didn't overly bother me. However, I did find it somewhat long-winded and ponderous at times. The fact I've been interested in Borley since I was a child meant I ploughed through the first section where Sarah meets Harry and (eventually) becomes his secretary, but I really, really wanted them to get to the damn haunted house :). And when they got there, I was a bit disappointed that the experience wasn't more meaty. In all, it was frustrating to see this group of learned men and women consistently run up against vicious criticisms from the rest of the scientific community, who refused to participate or even entertain the notion that the work that they were doing had merit. I sincerely wish that some group of researchers had continued this work, which sadly lost steam after most of the main investigators, particularly Hodgson and James passed on. My personal feelings on the subject accord with those of James; I don't necessarily believe in life after death or spirit communication, but I have not ruled out such things, because there are some situations that current science cannot explain fully. I didn't know before I read the book that Borley Rectory had existed and that Harry Price was a real person. Or rather I have a vague feeling that I have known and forgotten about it and it hit me when I looked up the place and the man himself on the net during the time I read the book. Strange how the mind can forget things. Anyone who read my second book on the meaning of existence will understand the my current dilemma. For the longest time I found support for my existential convictions in the works of Camus, Sartre and Nietzsche. Their foundation was further fortified by my believe in the theories of evolution and the development of human societies as defined by the works of Darwin and Diamond.There was a period of time within the book which I questioned whether my idea was wrong yet that second guessing didn’t last long and my assumption was proven correct only a short while later. I think I would have been much happier had more effort been put in for the link not to be made quite so obvious, for more second guessing to be involved. I thought this was an okay novel. The thing that made it quite good was the fact that it was based on some reality, although the characters did enjoy some embellishment for the sake of the story. Obviously, a lot of research had been put into the novel, and for that, I can give it good props.

This excellent piece of popular scholarship has been on my "to read" list for many years and I was glad to finally get the opportunity to read it. Blum, a science journalist by profession, does an excellent job of telling a captivating story about the foundation of the SPR (in England) and the ASPR (in America) at the end of the 19th-century and into the first decade of the 20th, as well as the continual antagonism between the founding figures of psychical research and their more "scientifically minded" colleagues. Several times while reading the book I thought how this story would make a very interesting film. But even aside from Blum's talents as a writer the book showcases her excellent use of scholarly resources (particularly the tremendous amount of archival material she had to wade through to extract this story). It doesn't help that the writing is, in paces, slightly garbled. For example, consider this description of a haunting:

My major problem with the book is the conclusion. It doesn't really conclude! As the original scientists in William James circle die off, the book simply draws to a close. But the real excitement of the book is their research, and the questions which it poses -- which have yet to be satisfied. Thus, you find yourself a bit at a loss, without a nice feeling of "fini" at the end of the book. This is absolutely not a horror book, more a mystery would I say. A paranormal mystery book. Despite dealing with a house that is said to be haunting was the book never scary to read. And, it could feel a bit long sometimes. I can honestly say that if Sarah Grey and Harry Price had not been so interesting to read about had this been dull to read. But they give the book life.