Ghost Hunters: A Guide to Investigating the Paranormal

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The main haunting--that of Borley Rectory--was the most intriguing part of the book, by far, in my own opinion. The "hauntings" themselves, as well as the various people that inhabited the Rectory throughout the years were really thought provoking. After reading this book, I plan on looking up some of the "real-life" happenings of the Rectory, as well as some more about Harry Price, himself. 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. Episodes of high comedy in the history of science are rare, but here is one: the investigation of Eusapia Palladino, a tempestuous and erotically charged medium from the slums of Naples, by a sober Cambridge don and his friends in 1895. Through hundreds of testings of people claiming to have a link to spirit guides or who put on spirit shows, they usually proved them to be fraudulent. Moving tables and ghostly “apparitions” were easy to figure out. Still they searched for proof of real spirits. Spiritualism was quite popular at the time, yet the scientific community gave the researchers little to no support.

This book explains so much about the very real war between religious thought, scientific process, and those of us; who in the famous words of Rodney King ask plainitively, "Can't we all just get along?". Everything about this story is enchanting. Not in a fairy-tale kinda way, but a ghostly kinda way, if you know what I mean. I really, really enjoyed The Ghost Hunters. I, like many others out there, find the paranormal mysterious and I've always enjoyed reading stories, seeing pictures of haunted houses and "apparitions". What's included in the book is exceptionally mystifying; maps of the actual Borley Rectory, illustrations of the house and newspaper clippings. It's terrifying yet entertaining and I just couldn't put this one down. There's something about this book... I can't put my finger on it, but there's definitely something different about it. And personally, I LOVE different. There's nothing better than it.As they repeatedly test remarkable mediums and hear overwhelming reports of ghostly warnings of loved one's deaths, these scientists become more convinced than ever that in the vast ocean of fakers, some events truly are supernatural in origin. But they face growing suspicion and ridicule from their fellow scientists and anger from spiritualists who find those they've put on pedestals tumbling down one after another. As usual, I'm left disappointed and wondering whether it's just me...I struggled to keep reading this until I got to 60% and then I thought, nah, life's just too short. This is basically a relatively simple story spun out and spun out and spun out and spun out and (are you tired of reading this yet?) spun out and spun out and (seriously, giving up yet?) spun out and... The Ghost Hunters is a fictional memoir of Sarah Grey, assistant to one of the most renowned ghost hunters in all of England, Harry Price. Sarah began working as a model, but changed careers to become a secretary for Mr. Price. So where the characters exciting and complicated and delightful? Well... they were serviceable. I wish that I actually liked Henry more or perhaps hated him more. I wanted to Feel something more. Did I want to see his downfall something fierce? Nah. Did I fear for his bitter end? Nah. This book is much more sympathetic to spiritualists and spiritualism than I would have thought likely. If I have one prejudice it is that this stuff does not deserve anything more than laughter.

Basic premise is girl goes to work for parapsychology professor in the late 1920s, early 1930s. He's trying to prove it's all bunk. She's not sure and is in love with him. What? People are disappointing? They're flawed and given to delusions no matter where you look? Noooo... it can't be! *sigh* Written in first person, everything we read is from Sarah Grey's point of view, except at the very beginning and the very end. I don't want to say too much about this as it will give a huge part of the story away so I'll leave it at that! I enjoyed the read despite so-called historical inaccuracies. Anachronistic as some elements may have been, it is for the author to have some poetic license and as much of the text is from Sarah Grey's manuscript written decades after some of the events in the story, it for sure could easily be explained away on this basis.I think the knowledge that Borley Rectory was a real haunted place and Harry Price was a real ghost hunter makes this book extra special. The author has taken some liberations with the story. This is not a true story, but there are some truths in the story. Sarah Grey has never existed, she is based on a secretary that worked for Harry Price a while. But still, it's really fascinating to read this book and I was intrigued by Harry Price and can fully understand why Sarah Grey was too. Even though as I understand it the Harry Price in this book was more charming than the real one. 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). This is historical fiction, a well researched story. Its focus are Borley Rectory, allegedly the most haunted house in England, Harry Price and his fictional assistant Sarah Grey. Books like this one, either written in support of spiritualism or against it, always follow the same formula. First you are given a series of miraculous tales. You are given time to ooh and ahh. Then some of these tales are completely discredited. I think that structuring the book differently might have alleviated this problem. For example, had the book followed fewer people, focusing more on their narratives, it might have felt more "over" when the people at the center of the story die. Or having the final chapter or two follow more recent follow-up studies on the same topic.

In the United States, William James led the charge at the helm of the American Society for Psychical Research, but his investigations seemed no more fruitful than those of his British counterparts. By 1886, Blum wrote, “their annual report… had degenerated into a list of exposures of professional practitioners.” Their experiments dismantled spiritualist claims one after another, and many members began to conclude that mental illness lay at the heart of ghost sightings.

If you're a fan of spooky tales, of things that go bump in the night, of gothic fiction, detective stories, or hell, if you just fancy a good old yarn around a camp fire that will keep you wondering from start to finish, give this one a go. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a five from me, and it's found its way on to my favourite books shelf; I'm sure it will for you too. I am very glad to be able to say, though, that the book did improve. As the story went on, it did become less of an account of "bumps in the night", flying bars of soap and heaving tables and turned into some much more subtle and chilling. It is actually difficult to say more without giving away some of the secrets of the book. But it is worth reading that first section for the sake of the ending. Mr. Price's character has several sides to him--and none of them match up to any one person's perception of the man. Sarah's character was a bit "over-the-top" and transparent to me, but I can see why the author added her as she made for several additional branches of this story. Blum does not outright state it, but implies that these investigations were most likely abandoned because they were extremely difficult, and also because science itself was becoming increasingly pedantic and reductionist. The final chapter citing Thomas Edison's evaluation of James's interest in psychic phenomena was both telling and sad. He claims that we human beings are essentially machines and that when our gears wear out, only a husk remains. This kind of thinking led to erroneous "scientific" advancements such as counting calories (where all calories are considered equally valid fuel) - wrong; the "stress" theory of ulcers (because no bacterium can possibly survive in an environment as acidic as the human stomach, one of the lowest pH values to be found in nature) - wrong; that baby formula, scientifically created from correct chemical nutrients, is better than breast milk - wrong.

I'll be honest, I'm more interested in William James than I am in his more popular brother, Henry, because Henry wrote really snooze-worthy books and I have it in my mind that he wasn't all that nice to my BFF, Edith Wharton. I haven't read all that much of James's philosophy/psychology (but I have some of his stuff!), but the concept of him has always fascinated me, probably because Henry gets all the attention. (And then sister Alice gets no love whatsoever; my heart has always gone out to her, poor lady.) Neil Spring's 'The Ghost Hunters' tells the tale of one of the most haunted houses in the entire of the UK, Borely Rectory. The house has been featured in many ghost stories before this and was famously the object of an investigation by the Society of Physical Research, around which this novel is based. The Hauntings - Taking facts and information from the original investigation worked well here, I mean, who doesn't want to read about a ghosty nun staring at you through windows while taking jolly walks across the garden?

How to Vote

In her groundbreaking book, Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Deborah Blum has masterfully retold the story of the birth of spiritualism and the scientific pursuit of “psychical research.” In the late nineteenth century, William James, renowned philosopher and psychologist, and a small group of eminent scientists staked their reputations, their careers, even their sanity on one of the most extraordinary quests ever undertaken: to empirically prove the existence of ghosts, spirits, and psychic phenomena. Deborah Blum artfully retells this story. Along with Raymond Moody’s The Last Laugh, this book should be required reading for any aspiring investigator of the paranormal. If you look at my read list you will find mostly romances & mysteries. Many of the authors I read include paranormal elements, or the "woo-woo" factor if you will, since that is the current fashion. William James & his colleagues would be appalled at how all their painstaking, reputation breaking work has become fodder for the mass market entertainment around the world. While the book was dry in places due to the wealth of factual information provided, I found myself unable to put it down. 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. It is hard to enjoy a book with characters as either despicable, infuriating or boring as these. I mean all of them. Their relationships are just presented to the reader. They are unexplained. Most of the time you will not see the connection beyond what you are told about them. Usually in books when you come upon something you don't agree with, that doesn't mean it isn't well presented and explained in a book. You don't even have to accept it to understand it. Here, that is not the case. Here, I spent most of my time gritting my teeth whenever characters' feelings were in the focus. Let's just say various relationships in this book are not its greatest strength.