Susy Smith (1) (1911–2001)

This book is by an experienced journalists and, according to her, psychic, who has visited many well-known American haunted houses and done some serious research on their backgrounds. She describes the cases from the viewpoint of a beliver in ghosts and as she describes them, some cases sound very credible, but she honestly admits some of them were regarded with skepticism in their time. She also includes some Hawaiian stories about supernatural beings I would not call ghosts -- gods and little people.… (mer)

This is an artifact of its time - published in 1971, it's very breathless and Age of Aquarius. So if you approach it with that in mind, it can be a delightful little book. The best article in this book is about Susy Smith's search for a talking cat named Whitey. This story serves as my second entry in my Halloween 2017 discussions on Odd Things Considered. Here's a snippet:

Before we begin in earnest, it needs to be said that the Whitey tale was verified by a certain Bennett William Palmer, a retired minister, and therefore more trustworthy than the average Floridian who hears cats talking to them. He vouched for Mr and Mrs James Deem (seriously, those were their names) so Susy flew to Florida, picked up the Good Reverend and drove on over to the Deem house. Sadly, Whitey did not speak while Susy was in his house, and his owners seemed skittish as well, but after the humans in the house realized that Susy Smith was not going to mock them for claiming their enormous white cat could talk, they began to open up to her.

Mr Deem found Whitey when he was a tiny kitten. Mrs Deem heard a pitiful meowing coming from near the house, and sent Mr Deem out into the rain to find Whitey, miserable and sick. Mr and Mrs Deem spent 48 hours nursing the wee kitten until they restored him to health. Whitey found his niche in the Deem household, a nice counter-balance to the Deems’ other cat, aptly named Blackie. Then, when Whitey was six months old, he began to talk.

…he jumped on the bed one morning and said, “I’m hungry.” Mrs. Deem was not asleep, but she knew she must have been dreaming. “I thought I was hearing things,” she told me. “A cat can’t talk.” She turned over and looked at her pet. Whitey spoke again. “Mama, I’m hungry,” he said.

After verifying that Whitey had indeed said he was hungry, she did what any sane person would do. She got up and fed the cat.

There's more over on OTC if you want to have a look but unless you find the concept of a fat white cat talking rather charming this small snippet may suffice.… (mer)