Customer Reviews

The Bell Witch : The Full Account

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"The Bell Witch-The Full Account" lives up to its name in that the author, Pat Fitzhugh, tells not only the classic folktale of Tennessee's infamous "Bell Witch," but provides the reader with in-depth and well-researched information about the people who were involved, their lifestyles, and religious convictions. The book doesn't stop there either.

Fitzhugh provides a detailed "then and now" discussion of the area where the story took place, including its Native American roots and how the area as a whole has evolved over the years. In the latter part of "The Bell Witch-The Full Account," Fitzhugh gives a detailed and well-documented discussion about many previously published material concerning the story, as well as numerous accounts of fairly recent paranormal phenomena in the area.

Rounding out the book is a superb and informative collection of appendices dealing with everything from true-life biographies of the story's characters to detailed and organized discussions of Fitzhugh's paranormal and religious beliefs, which ultimately formulates his opinion about what the Bell Witch really was.

The only negative aspect I found about this book was that a small number of the pictures appear to be light and somewhat hard, but not impossible, to discern. But, the fact that this book contains real pictures that the author/researcher took himself easily makes up for the few pictures which came out fuzzy.

Nothing more substantive has been written about the Bell Witch, and based on the heavy research of extant records and other data, I doubt anything more substantive will ever be written about the Bell Witch.

My wife and I have been students of the paranormal for almost 10 years and have found Bell Witch in Tennessee to be one of most authentic hauntings we have found and investigated. We visited the Bell Witch cave back in 1999 to see what it was all about, and that just made us want to learn even more. We read many books on the Bell Witch.

We got "The Bell Witch Full Account" for Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed it. The author does a superb job of joining together historical fact, folklore, religion, and the supernatural to provide a frightening and thought provoking read.

The book contains all of the old and familiar stories that have appeared in other books and been passed down through generations, but Pat Fitzhugh has taken the time and effort to retell them in such a way that the characters seem authentic in this long overdue retelling of the older accounts. He completes the book with accounts all the way up to this last year and in amazing detail. The book is well written and presented in a clear and easy to read format.

We found Fitzhugh's clever weaving of fact and fiction to be the book's strongest point. He separates fact from fiction in the form of footnotes citing his sources of information in meticulous detail all throughout the book, even down to the exact page numbers and publication dates of the sources. He also suggests several possible reasons behind the haunting and discusses them in detail including topics that have been associated with the story for years but not adequately covered in the past. "The Bell Witch Full Account" is also very well indexed and contains 3 pages of detailed endnotes with further discussion and sources of information.

The story (fiction) part of the book is clear and easy to understand. Our favorite story was the one about one of the slaves being turned into a mule. Fitzhugh did an excellent job of putting us right in the middle of the action and compelling us to read his book up until the wee hours of the morning. We had trouble sleeping even after putting the book down!!

We don't fully agree with Fitzhugh's views on religion and spirituality but respect his right to an opinion. We admire his willingness and ability to share and discuss his spiritual views in detail.

This is a great book about a great haunting, and we highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the paranormal or the story of the Bell Witch. Thumbs up!

I have heard the legend of the Bell Witch all my life and collected over twenty books and articles about it. I found The Full Account to be the best written and best documented of all.

I was pleasantly suprised by Fitzhugh's footnoting his sources and providing interesting and relevant discussions in the final chapters of the book. The story part of the book is also well-written and made me feel like I was right there in the room with the family as they discussed the haunting.

This book covers both the old and new stories of the Bell Witch, and covers much ground that the others don't. This is a thumbs-up read and a necessary addition to anyone's collection of books on the paranormal.

The story of Tennessee's Bell Witch has intrigued me since I was a child and I have read many books about it since then. "The Bell Witch: The Full Account" is the best I have found so far. I found some of the same stories that have been told by authors in the past without developing and bringing the characters to life like "The Bell Witch: The Full Account" does. The author brings both the old and new stories to life by creating conversations among the different characters and using each story as a building-block for the next. I feel this ties all of the individual stories together by creating a full sequence of events that serves as a story in and of itself. I also liked the modern stories of "Kate" that the author included. I don't know whether any of the stories are fact or fiction, but they seem very real and got me thinking about things I have never considered before. I also am glad that somebody has finally documented the historical aspects of the story with footnotes. Mr. Fitzhugh has made it easy to see where he obtained information about the historical aspects. This goes a long way in disproving much of what has been written about the historical aspects in prior publications. The endnotes provide useful discussion pertaining to the story and give the reader additional sources of information. The comprehensive table of contents and index were also a pleasant surprise. The author doesn't just stop after telling the story. He discusses possible theories, social and religious issues in the area at the time of the haunting, and addresses several popular myths that surround the story; all in a well-documented and easy to read format. Some of the pictures in the book could have been larger, but I feel that this is still the best and most complete account of the Bell Witch that has been written. I couldn't put it down and I am about to read it for the second time! Don't let the price scare you. It is worth every penny of it.

I was ecstatic when I learned that the world's most well-known and respected Bell Witch expert had finally written a comprehensive book. Fitzhugh's earlier work, "The Bell Witch Haunting," albeit short and raw, is still more informative than many works on the Bell Witch that I have read.

When I first opened the newer book, "The Bell Witch: The Full Account," and skimmed over its pages, it soon became obvious as to why this book was introduced to me as being the definitive book on the Bell Witch. Before I go any further, I will state that this book contains a good many of the stories that can be found in M.V. Ingram's account of the Bell Witch. I find this excusable since Ingram's work is the original source of almost all Bell Witch stories. Fitzhugh's renditions of these stories are better written and more colorful than Ingram's. I even found several old stories that Ingram never wrote about.

This is a history book, novel, motion picture, and encyclopedia all rolled into one. Fitzhugh brings us detailed histories of the area and people who lived there; a novel of love, horror, and tragedy; an encyclopedia of the supernatural terms; and a useful set of footnotes and index.

This is my personal favorite of all the Bell Witch books written. Despite my having read it twice, I sometimes find myself thumbing through the index or footnotes when I become curious about something Bell Witch related, and the answer is always there between the covers of The Bell Witch: The Full Account.

I've read most of the books on the subject and felt like I was reading the same book each time. While all good Bell Witch books take from the 1894 Ingram book, Fitzhugh takes up where Ingram left off. He gives the legend a well deserved exploration through what must have taken a lifetime of research. If you know nothing about the Bell Witch or think you've read it all, this is the one you need! A wealth of information that is, in my opinion, a breakthrough on a nearly 200 year old legend. This book will make you a believer!

I had not only the pleasure to read this fine volume but also the good fortune to interview Pat Fitzhugh about his new book.... and I came away very impressed with both the man and his work. I highly recommend "The Bell Witch: The Full Account" to all those interested in true stories of the paranormal as well as the accurate reporting of American history.

This story has been popular in my area for more than a hundred years and I've read several books about it over the years. "The Bell Witch-The Full Account" has done for me what none of the other books have.

As I read the chapters about the mysterious antics of this strange entity, the characters and setting came to life right before my eyes. I felt like I was there with the Bells and others as they experienced the terror. The author not only brought the characters and incidents to life, but did an equally fine job of narrating the story when necessary. The quality of writing went a long way in helping me to better understand the Bell Witch.

The thing I liked best about the book was the author's willingness to debunk some of the more popular myths and document his sources in doing so. His research and the pains he took in making the story as real and historically accurate as possible really impressed me.

"The Bell Witch-The Full Account" gives a wide but in-depth account of the Bell Witch. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Pat Fitzhugh may indeed be the foremost authority on the Bell Witch in the country, but his book does not reflect his breadth of knowledge. Prior to reading this book I spent several hours reading his website, and listened to a recent hour-long radio program featuring him as the sole guest. Both of these were interesting and informative, but the book was a disappointment.

Many pages have been taken up with a tedious account of the full haunting, told in a story-telling style together with elaborate fictionalized dialogs between members of the Bell family and the "witch." The dialogs are not the work of a professional writer and the whole idea of telling the Bell Witch tale as a very looong novella should have been scrapped in favor of the cold facts. I have to admit that after about 150 pages of this, my mind was wandering, and I lost almost all my original interest in the tale. If you can take dialog redolent with phrases like, "the adoration of my soul" and "I drink to the dregs" (these quotes on page 159 of the book both taken at a random opening), your stomach is stronger than mine.

Skipping to the back, where he discusses the various theories about the Bell Witch haunting, I didn't find anything original or thought-provoking.

His biographical sketches of the Bell family and members of the community who were involved in the events are good. If he researched all that information on his own, then I am impressed. I enjoyed reading the sketches. Other than that, and the appendices, I wish I hadn't spent the money on the book.

It's rare that anything makes me lose interest in a subject once it's gotten my attention. This book did.

Don't listen to the naysayers, this book is the most authentic and well researched book of it's kind. Pat goes above and beyond in this narrative of the history of the Bell family and their darkened past. Don't believe the naysayers and crybabies, this book is a must have for any student of history and the paranormal. If you want the best, you are on the right purchase page.

The facts are concrete, the flow is solid, and what you don't know of the Bell family, or it's haunting, is in these pages. Greatest gift to any Bell Witch enthusiast.