The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ghosts & Hauntings, 2nd Edition

by Tom Ogden

Book Overview

History shows that living and breathing human beings have been as intent on seeking out the undead as they've been on seeking out us. This text is a chronicle of that mutual love affair through the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592572502
• ISBN13: 9781592572502
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Alpha Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 9.1" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Great read - full of interesting stuff

Great book - well layed out and written I really enjoyed this - being a ghost expert - I found this to be well researched! Great read!!

who you gonna call

great book on this subject. a whole lot better than everything ghosts. a few misspellings and some stories could be elaborated on.

A Good Read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Though it's an "Idiot's" guide, the author does not insult the intelligence of his reader. The tone of the book is just right. The author does not give himself away as a dyed-in-the-wool believer, and neither is he a rock-em sock-em skeptic a la the CISCOP gang. Instead, he presents the information in a light,fun,informative manner. The bibliography at the back of the book warmed the cockles of my heart, as they've gotten to be rare as hen's teeth in these days of vanishing literacy. In addition there are addresses of groups and other resources for those interested in learning more. Maybe this book was not written for Rocket-Scientist- stiff-upper-lip-all-night-in-the-crypt-ghost hunters (a little joke there...a little irony...) but it covers many topics and it does a masterful job at doing so. For instance, it gives a good accounting of Urban Legends as well as phantasmagoria...now where are you going to find that range under one cover? Yes, Odgen does get a fact or two wrong, but that's a far cry from the usual rote repetition of hearsay that passes for fact in almost every paranormal book on the market. (And, sure, it's a good book for kitty-box reading if that's what your passion is!) I also like his presentation of the historical beginnings of spiritualism, tracing them directly to Swedenborg (an old buddy) and Andrew Jackson Davis, the 19th c. seer before the Foxettes shuffled off with the show in Hydesville, N.Y. Ilustrations are good too--many classics here, including that cute Drummer of Tedworth! And--as a bonus--he includes a mini-Ouija board for some do-it-yourself yesyes fun.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings

Okay, don't let the title of this book fool you -- it's for everyone. Don't expect any in-depth discussions of ghosts, spirits or paranormal issues, but you can expect just a good, general overview of all things ghostly and haunting. I purchased it as light reading material. Well I'm proud to say that my copy is getting rather dog-eared because I find myself referring to it time and again to look look up things like names, definitions, places, etc. It's well worth the money!

we use it often

I too expected an under-representation in this book but have found it very useful in refining our use of terms and expressions. At Metrolina Paranormal Research Labs we use this text as an intro for new field investigators. At the very least it gets us all speaking from the same dictionary - it is also very entertaining.