Will Storr vs. The Supernatural one man's search for the truth about ghosts - book review

 

 

Will Storr vs. The Supernatural one man's search for the truth about ghosts  

Author: Will Storr

First Published: 2006 

Publisher: Ebury Press

ISBN: 978 0 091901738 

What if ghosts really exist does that means there really is an afterlife?

 

"Will Storr doesn't believe in ghosts. Not that is, until he is sent on a journalistic assignment to follow Lou Gentile, a Demonologist from Philadelphia. What Will expects to be a straightforward piece, poking gentle fun at an amusing eccentric, turns into a terrifying nightmare of spectral ghost lights, suburban possession and horrific demonic growling. It is an experience that instantly demolishes all of his safe, adult preconceptions.

In an effor to unravel what happened, Will sets out on a journey to find the truth about ghosts. He meets spiritualists, trance mediums, professional paranormal investigators, expert druids, a sceptical monsterologist and a pair of black magic vigilantes from worthing. He stays in a haunted pub, a medieval priory and a couple of graveyards, and spends a week in the most paranormally troubled house in Britain. He takes part in seances and vigils; tries out divining rods, ouija boards and experiments with Electronic Voice Phenomena. He seeks out sceptical voices from the worlds of clinical psychology and philosophy. He also visits the legendary ghost investigator Maurice Grosse, goes on set with TV's Most Haunted, and is exorcised in Rome by the Vatican's chief exorcist."

This is a re-read, actually the 3rd time of reading, and, I suspect it won't be the last. Obviously the subject matter is one of interest to me, Haunted Isles in the company of Grace Clairmont is my blog, mainly, about British ghosts, but, I also enjoy Will Storr's style of writing.

An award winning investigative journalist, bestselling writer and educator, Will digs deep into the world of the paranormal. He starts out as a bit of a sceptic, is open minded and questioning, always respectful of others beliefs. He's looking for answers, all sorts of people appear to have paranormal experiences, but, what are they? The human mind playing tricks? Ghosts? And what is a ghost anyway? 

He spends time with and interviews many different people, some one could describe as Great British Eccentrics, but, not all of them are British. Some like Will are sceptical, others non-believers, the type that the famous Enfield Poltergeist investigator Maurice Grosse said wouldn't believe even if they saw a ghost themselves. And of course there are those who firmly believe.

It's a fascinating, entertaining, sometimes a little scary, sometimes amusing book. If you're interested in the paranormal I think you'll thoroughly enjoy it.

Highly recommended. 

 

What is a Ghost?

 The etymology of the word "ghost" comes from the now obsolete Old English word "gast" meaning "breath of life" referring to a soul, also "to scare". Quite appropriate really for something that has been known to scare the proverbial living daylights out of some folk!

But what is a ghost in paranormal terms?

According to AI "A ghost is generally defined as the disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person or animal, often believed to haunt specific locations or appear to the living in a translucent, shadow-like form."

Quite a good defintion really but it's much more than that. 

In psychical research parapsychologists have established 3 categories to define ghostly goings on: apparitions, hauntings and poltergeists.

 Apparitions:

 The term "apparition" is used when referring to a deceased consciousness that appears after death. A part of the deceased that has survived death and is able to interact with the living via a type of telepathy.

In his book "A PARANORMAL CASEBOOK: Cases from a Parapsychologist's First 25 (or so)Years" Loyd Auerbach describes this as when:

  "The apparition essentially broadcasts sensory information (what he or she looks, sounds, feels, and smells like) to the minds of us living folk. Our brains / minds process the signals and add them to waht our normal senses are picking up. Some people do better with visual input, some with auditory or other kinds of information. Some can process combinations."

Interestingly not all apparitions are of the dead there have been cases reported of living ghosts one eg of which is of a teenage girl seen crossing the road outside The Feathers Hotel in Ludlow, Shropshire before passing straight through a parked car as if it wasn't there. A paranormal investigator suggested that this living ghost was that of a woman who was still alive who had been remembering her stay in Ludlow as a teen.

Hauntings:

Hauntings are more like a replay of events, a environmental recording sometimes referred to as a psychic imprint. You could describe them as holograms repeating the same actions over and over again, or a video playback. There is no interaction with the living witnessing the event. 

Poltergeists: 

Poltergeist activity involves physical disturbances such as objects being moved, thrown, or actually disappearing, loud knocks and other noises, electrical disturbances, in some cases like the Enfield Poltergeist even levitation. Parapsychologists believe this phenonmenon to be activated, not by a ghost or apparition, but, by a living person. Usually someone in some kind of emotional turmoil unconsciously using a type of mind over matter called psychokinesis (PK).