Peter Brookesmith

From a famous haunted rectory to spook lights and screaming skulls, Great Hauntings tells the story of several famous instances of supposed hauntings or supernatural activity. Each story is illustrated with photos or drawings showing the people and places involved in the tale. This is a fun and entertaining book that looks at each incident from all sides.

I enjoyed the stories and photos, but the best thing about the book for me is the fact that it remains neutral about each case. All information is presented, even facts from skeptics and debunkers who have over the years presented information against the veracity of these alleged hauntings. I found the information on Harry Price, a famous supernatural investigator who studied the rectory in the 1930s, to be very informative. Price was actually outed as a fraud in the 1940s following his death. I've been hearing the story of the Borley Rectory for years, but never read about several books published after his death that pointed out his shenanigans and blatant fakery during investigations.

All in all, this was an entertaining book. It's visually appealing. The cover is appropriately dark and spooky. I had read about most of these places or events before, but had never seen photographs of locations and people involved before.

Very enjoyable book!… (mer)

A fairly good miscellany of Forteana, this is a collection of articles that originally appeared in a weekly publication in Britain. It's a strange assortment of topics, ranging from the Money Pit to the Man in the Iron Mask to aliens from Sirius B. The best recommendation is that this book includes fairly long articles on several topics that very rarely turn up in these books: the talking mongoose, the moving coffins of Barbados, some British occult personalities that aren't widely known. The articles are all by different authors, and the level of credulity and rigorousness varies substantially, but overall it's not bad for this sort of book. There are lots of good color illustrations, including many original photographs; on the downside, it maintains the magazine formatting and styling, which I find immensely tiring to read after awhile.… (mer)

Astrology - As Above So Below
Tom Lethbridge - A Seeker After Truth
The Surrey Puma - Stalking the Surrey Puma
Ghosts - Understanding Ghosts
Men In Black - The Long Shadow of Fear
Astrology - How to Cast A Horoscope
Dreams - Science and The Dream Makers
Disappearances - The Day The Norfolks Disappeared
Coincidences - Coincidences and Connections
Other Dimensions - Intrusions From Elsewhere
Ghosts - In Search of Apparitions
Disappearances - Lost, Believed Kidnapped
Astrology - Out Of The Cosmic Storm
Tom Lethbridge - The Master Dowser
Coincidences - Against All The Odds
Uri Geller - The World of Uri Geller
Ghosts - Ghosts True And False
UFO - Photo File
Kirlian Photography - A Crack In Kirlian's Halo
Astrology - The Signs of Success
Coincidences - Strange Tracks of Fate
UFO Photo Analysis - UFOs and the Digital Computer
Timeslips - When Time Slips
Kirlian Photography - More Than Meets The Untrained Eye
Tom LethBridge - Gateway to Other Worlds
Coincidences - The Meaning Of Coincidence
Moon Mysteries - Are There Aliens On Our Moon?
Uri Geller - Under The Eyes of Scientists
Mass Hysteria - All In The Mind?
UFO Photo Analysis - Analyising the Trent Photos
Ghosts - A Ghost Hunter's Guide
Survival Of Death - What Happens After Death?
Uri Geller - The Psychic Superstar
UFO Photo Analysis - UFO Photos: Facts And Frauds
Cosmic Joke - Laughter In Heaven
Timeslips - Leaps Into The Future… (mer)