Customer Reviews

Fear: A Ghost Hunter's Story

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Most books of this type, including the very best of the genre, are for the most part second hand accounts of ghostly encounters. In other words, the author has interviewed people who have had a run in with a ghost and the author then relates the story in book form. On occasion one will run into a book that was written by a person who had been closely involved with the haunt in question but even then the author usually just happened to move into the wrong house. Kriss Stephens on the other hand, actively hunts ghosts and has taken her team to some of the most haunted places in the world. The only other author of ghost books that I have run into who does this is Hans Holzer who is considered by many to be the foremost authority in this field. Dr. Holzer however comes nowhere near Ms. Stephens when it comes to contagious enthusiasm for the subject at hand. While reading this book one can just feel the enthusiasm and excitement bursting off of the page and it is hard not to get caught up in the author's excitement.

It turns out that Stephens grew up in a haunted house and it seems that she has been chasing ghosts ever since. Working with several TV shows including MTV's "Fear" has allowed her the opportunity to travel extensively in search of her elusive prey and has given her access to areas that most people will never see. She seems to be quite fearless in the pursuit of her goal as she wanders around in places that most people, myself included, would fear to tread. In the process she has encountered numerous entities and has even been physically attacked on occasion, including a pair of scratches that are shown in a photograph.

The photographs are another thing that makes this book so spectacular. There is page after page of photos taken at the sites being investigated and many show a large number of anomalies that just shouldn't be there. Even the pictures that are quite normal help to add to the ever so creepy atmosphere of this book. I do wish that she had managed to get a shot of Old Green Eyes at Chickamauga however because I have always wondered just what he looks like. But alas, even this author wasn't brave enough to take on this green-eyed monster. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention this book's modern take on the Bell Witch which provided a very refreshing look at the possible modern day activities of this most famous of hauntings.

There were only a couple of things that I would like to see change in future editions of this book, the first being a good editing to remove several typos. I would also like to see something along the lines of a cast list because it is sometimes hard to keep up with all of the author's ghost hunting friends. Finally, a small caption under some of the pictures in which the anomaly is hard to see might help out some of us with old and weak eyes. If these minor problems are addressed this book will in my opinion belong in the top five percent of all ghost books ever written.

Kriss Stephens knows one thing for sure: ghosts (whatever they are or however you choose to define them) exist, and she really knows how to find them. And take their pictures. She refers to herself as a "paranormal investigator and a professional photographer", and FEAR is the story about some of the hundreds of ghost-hunts she's done over the years.

There is, in Stephen's world, no such thing as a world without ghosts, and there's no point trying to prove their existence, because, well, they exist. She's very sure about that. What's worth investigating, though, is how and why a certain location becomes haunted. And yes, I agree, those are definitely questions worth asking. But just make sure not to do it they way Kriss Stephens does it.

Because I don't think I've ever seen a so-called paranormal book of such low quality. There's no reason doubting that Stephens believes in what she does; she's both honest and motivated, but honestly, if she's really a "paranormal investigator" and especially a "professional photographer", then my parents' dog could be that too.

The book is absolutely packed with black and white pictures, and they're all just as boring, pointless, uninteresting, and stupid. In each new chapter, Stephens alone or together with a group of "colleagues" goes to a haunted location, and wherever she goes she has some sort of ghost-related "paranormal" experience. As soon as she arrives at a new site, be that a house with a violent history, a battlefield from the American civil war, a cemetery and so on, she starts taking picture with her digital camera, and she always ends up with photographic proofs of the presence of ghosts.

Well, then, what are those proofs of hers? Orbs, orbs, and more orbs. In other words, perfectly natural phenomena that has nothing whatsoever to do with the world of the paranormal. And in case it's not orbs then it's fuzzy details or smoke or something else very much mundane that in Stephens' eyes turn into ghosts.

And that's how the story goes throughout all of the book's 234 pages. More or less every single page has at least one picture, and most of the pictures don't even show anything interesting at all. The book is not one bit investigative, there's no critical thinking to be found, and I doubt that I've ever read a book where the author has been as gullible as Kriss Stephens.

Yet, I still had a good time reading it, because gullibility can be extremely entertaining. Still, I cannot help but to feel sorry for Stephens, who apparently lives in her own little fantasy world where ghosts almost seem to outnumber real life humans.

zzzzz! I was really disappointed! The book offers nothing new, interesting or exciting. The author claims to be a professional photographer as well as a ghost hunter, but I didn't see any photos in the book except some orbs, mist and a vortex or two. Considering the fact that the author has visited some of the most haunted places in the world, I would expect a more detailed and believable account of her experiences. In checking out her web sites I found the same information and photos which that were in the book, which left me wondering why anyone would choose to buy it.

This is a well-written and very well-illustrated narrative of Ms. Stephens's ghost-hunting experiences. The many black-and-white photos in the text are graphic evidence that she actually has been to all the places she writes about. But none of them have captions so you never know precisely which part of the "haunted" scenery you're looking at. Many of the photos show "orbs" which Ms. Stephens assures us are "evidence" of paranormal activity, specifically, ghosts. She makes no attempt to analyze these image anomalies scientifically, just flatly presents them as evidence a place is haunted. In the absence of any objective analysis one is justified to assume they may really be light refractions on her camera lens caused by her flash equipment. I don't know what the hazy, foggy stuff is in some of her photos. The author assumes it's ghostly emanations or "ectoplasm." Ms. Stephens worked on MTV's "Fear" as a photographer and researcher. I admit I've never seen an episode of that program but if Kriss Stephens' "research" on the sites featured in the series is any indication of the producers' sincere interest in the paranormal, it's no wonder "Fear" is no longer in production. This book is as ephemeral as the "ghosts" Ms. Stephens has captured on her camera.

I would definately say to borrow this one from the Library instead of buying it. I love this topic, and have read everything I can get my hands on about ghosts and the paranormal. I have to say this one did not impress me. The stories were weak at best, and my main gripe is the pictures! The pictures are intended to show some sort of paranormal activity, but all you really see is either nothing, a big cloud of mist or smoke (which is not distinguishable from fog or cigarette smoke), or orbs, orbs, and more orbs. Which may or may not be dust, considering they are snapping pictures in dirty old abandoned buildings most of the time. I am sure the author is a very talented ghost hunter, but she should stick to hunting, and not writing books. To summarize, the book was lacking any real substance, filled with useless pictures, and at times very unbelievable and anti climatic.

Drawing off of years of paranormal investigation experience, Kriss pens compelling tales of personal encounters with strange and hair-raising entities.

Kriss takes us from her childhood spent in her grandmother's home which hosted a haunted room over their garage to her time spent as a technical advisor scouting locations for MTV's Fear. I was impressed with the amount of detail and readability in her accounts. She does a really good job of bringing the reader into the story. Several people to whom I've spoken said that they experienced a heightened experience when the reading was done alone and at night.

Kriss is able to accentuate her stories with high-quality photos taken at most every location described. She is able to capitalize on her "day job" as a professional photographer to rule out photographic anomalies caused by reflected flash, water vapor, camera straps, and secondhand smoke. Since she actually does want to uncover the truth, she is unlikely to fall prey to excitability normally experienced by novice ghost hunters.

I was surprised at the sheer number of investigations Kriss has conducted or in which she participated. Although she is based near New Orleans, her professional recognition and credibility has given her an advantage in "travel-ability". She's not stuck to the twenty or so sites within fifty miles of her home. She describes hunts in Europe and all over the United States. There's a great deal of mileage in those 260 pages.

If there were one thing I would ask Kriss to do if she writes and publishes another book, it would be to include the color versions of her photographs. Although the black and white photos in the book are excellent because of her profession, color would enhance the experience a great deal.

Overall, a very good and credible read...

This is the best scary book! I couldn't put it down and when I finally did I had a hard time going to sleep. I recommend this book to anyone who likes ghosts and scary things!

This book would have benefited from a professional edit, as it contains numerous typographical and other syntax errors; nevertheless, I savored every story. I thoroughly enjoyed the dark, creepy stories with detailed accounts of numerous hauntings and the many photos. I couldn't put this book down, and I read it in one night. I even learned about a few haunted places, such as The Waverly Tuberculosis Hospital, that I'd never heard of. Now I have a yearning to visit the hospital myself.

If you're into supernatural tales, you can't miss this one!

very well written good photos makes you feel like you are part of whats happening

I own over 50 books on ghosts and the paranormal and this is in the top 3 as being the best, great pictures and first hand accounts.