Ghost Hunters: A Guide to Investigating the Paranormal

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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. It's a very interesting book. There are not many big twists in this book, but still, the story is enjoyable. There are one big secret thing; Sarah Grey's secret that she hides from Harry Price. But, that never felt like a secret. I don't know how it was for others that read the book, but I guessed it right away and then it was just waiting for her to tell him. And, honestly, I thought that she was a bit too cruel to him towards the end when everything was revealed. Although he did treat her appalling sometimes. In the end, one can say that the case of Borley Rectory became something that bound and tore them apart. The book itself claims Borley is surrounded by 'Essex marshes' but that's not true - it stands on a small hill (Suffolk is fairly flat) and is surrounded by arable fields. 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. So, it might seem reasonable to expect that I didn’t like this book. Well, it is a strange thing. Parts of this book annoyed me – but not for the content so much as how it was told. I got a bit lost at times as there seemed to be too many stories going on. But this was less a book about the cheats (oh, sorry, spiritualists) and more about those who had been cheated (oh, I mean, their scientific investigators). I did warn you that I was prejudiced.

The "ghost" was slightly interesting, at least, but she wasn't nearly strong enough to carry the rest of the tale, or possibly, the tale would have been served a great deal more by glossing the early debunking stuff and focusing on the manor entirely. It turns out that this is Neil Spring's first published novel. It turns out he's working for John Lewis (blame Goodreads; it's not stalking - I promise, Your Honour), it also turns out that this novel is one of the best ghost stories, historical novels or gothic novels that I have read in years. Bravo, that man. Wow. Seriously, damn (said in an American accent).What if a world-renowned professor of psychology at Harvard University, a doctor and scientist acclaimed as one of the leading intellects of the time, suddenly announced that he believed in ghosts? At the close of the nineteenth century, to great public and professional astonishment, William James-the great philosopher, a founder of the American Psychological Association and brother of Henry James-did just that and embarked on a determined, lifelong pursuit of scientific evidence to prove it. But maybe it’s meant to get you to question your stance on spiritualism/psychical research by presenting cases like Eusapia Palladino and Leonora Piper? But while I was interested in their stories, I don’t think there was ever properly and data presented that would kind of show how odd or unusual their guesses or powers were. I’m not convinced that there was anything spiritual or supernatural about Palladino and Piper’s stories. But, I would have liked to have read some proposals, or conjectures, on how they could have done what they did. So what about Sarah? I liked her quite a bit, but not enough until after she had left Henry the second time did I really get attached to her. And that was well past the half-way point of the novel. So could the debunking really carry the novel? No. Not really. They were mildly curious oddities, and I've watched tons of b-movies, read lots of silly tales, and I've even read a lot of the greats within both sides of the issue, from Manly P. Hall to Madame Blavatsky, and this novel just kinda... moved along. What the SPR researchers sought to do was apply scientific methods of research to psychical phenomena; they questioned whether there could be communication with the dead, either through physical manifestations (ghosts, rapping) or verbal ones (automatic writing, trance mediumship). In the late 19th century, Spiritualism was a growing movement, and seances were popular, particularly among those who had lost loved ones in the not long past American Civil War. While most scientists scoffed at the idea of "talking to the dead," this small group of researchers chose to look at the problem scientifically.

I read the kindle version and it was peppered with typos. Also the 'continuity' was often incorrect. The whole book is badly in need of a decent editor to get rid of these numerous amateur errors and problems, and give it a good tidy up. 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. This book is an imaginative account of the haunting of Borley Rectory, apparently "the most haunted house in England" and the investigation of it by ghost hunter, showman, charlatan - make up your own mind which - Harry Price. Set between the 1920s and the 40s, it takes us to a world where the relatives of those who fell in the First World War are exploited by false(?) mediums. The mediums who are in turn turn hunted down by the indefatigable Price. But Price has a problem. He is being supported and his "laboratory" accommodated by the Spiritualist movement, whose pet mediums he keeps debunking. So it may seem very convenient when an opportunity arises to investigate a serious haunting. Will Price, and his assistant, Sarah Grey, encounter something much darker and much nastier than they expect? I love the Victorian period. It was a time of great invention and creativity. I've always loved stories about the paranormal so I was sold on this book when I read the blurb. If you're interested in spirits and mediums this is a must read. Well written and researched Blum looks at the history of the Society of Psychical Research and its key membership. Through their personal stories and obsessions there are many questions raised. 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.

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I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book. When I was studying philosophy I first met James – the brother of the author and father of psychology in the US. I wasn’t all that keen on him, but was a bit addicted to Hegel at the time and so found the fact that he had clearly read and understood Hegel something of a treat. Nonetheless, his and Dewey’s pragmatism (or Instrumentalism) was a bit too simple for my tastes. The implicit denial of objective truth also caused me problems. 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.

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?". It doesn't help that the writing is, in paces, slightly garbled. For example, consider this description of a haunting: The Ghost Hunters is really several stories meshed into one -- first, there is the story of Sarah Grey, a young woman living with her mother who in this book became confidential secretary to Harry Price, the subject of the second story, a "psychical researcher" and debunker of fake mediums during a time when spiritualism was at its heyday. The third story focuses on the "most haunted house in England," Borley Rectory. When I first bought this book I thought I was getting a horror story, and even though it didn't completely turn out that way, I was totally amazed at just how good this book is. While there is a bit of overdo on some parts of the drama, the novel as a whole is highly atmospheric,and there are definitely parts that will send shivers up your spine here and there, and parts that will satisfy any ghost-story lover's craving for a solid ghostly tale. Blum counters this positive portrait of a remarkable medium with the more ambiguous and disturbing portrayal of Eusapia Palladino, a rough-around-the-edges Italian medium who was often caught "cheating" during her seances, but also seemed to manifest some genuinely puzzling phenomena (including the first reported instance of "ectoplasm"). The two mediums similar and yet, in many ways, contrasting reputations and fates and Blum skillfully uses these two women as a means to structure the second half of her study.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. 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. This fascinating and hard-to-put down volume (although I was a bit unnerved while reading it at night) follows several scientists who spent much of the 19th century (and a bit of the 20th) trying to reveal whether there was a scientific basis for many supernatural phenomena, including telepathy, telekinesis, communication with spirits, and haunted houses. In the process, they debunk many fraudulent claims (including Madame Blatavsky and the Fox sisters), but they can't quite explain away all the reports they collect.

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.The Setting - It seems obvious to count the setting as a major plus point in a haunted house novel, but there is something undeniably creepy about old mansions in the British countryside. For some reason I'm always more willing to believe in spooky going's on if they're said to be happening in the middle of nowhere and the Borely Rectory fits that description well.