Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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88 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Read...., September 25, 2007
For those not familiar with "Ghost Hunters," it is a TV program aired on the Sci-Fi channel on Wednesday evenings and it has become a very popular program. Two plumbers who work for Roto Rooter, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from Rhode Island along with several other people run a paranormal investigation team called TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) in their spare time. Both Jason and Grant got into ghost hunting because of some paranormal experiences they had when they were younger which peaked their interests to dig deeper into this fascinating subject.
Since I am a fan of the TV program I decided to order and read the book thinking I might find some new material in it. There were many cases in the book which Jason recalls that happened in the early years when he and Grant first started TAPS - even before the now popular TV program "Ghost Hunters" came to be. So, in that sense I found some very good stories. Their first investigation of The Stanley Hotel is also documented in the book - which was very interesting to read about. Anyone familiar with Stephen King and his books know that The Stanley Hotel was the basis for King's novel "The Shining" which was later made into a movie with Jack Nicholson and later on in 1997 into a TV miniseries. As it turns out, The Stanley Hotel apparently is truly haunted and not just in King's book but in real life as well.
They also talk about some cases where they were "duped" into investing a "haunted" location because the owners of a home wanted to "cash in" on some fame at their expense and the hauntings turned out to be fake. Jason speaks about their approach to investigating a haunting and how they decide whether or not they feel a location or home truly has paranormal activity. There are many cases documented in the book - most of them are very short chapters but you get the highlights of the investigations including some on "possession."
My only criticism of this book is that I feel Jason Hawes was a little too liberal in his criticism of Brian Harnois. Brian is a former investigator/technician who worked with TAPS for a long while and was one of the first members of the group. He had some personal issues during his work with TAPS which caused some tension in the group. While I do agree that Brian had his shortcomings with TAPS, Jason "peppered" the book with remarks about these faults, much of which I felt was unnecessary in my opinion to include as part of the book. Jason does mention a few of Brian's "good points" but the bad outweighs the good and I just felt it really did not add that much to the book to keep bringing this up. I suppose Jason felt it necessary to add for "dramatic effect?" But the cases in the book are far more interesting than any problems Jason and other members may have had with Brian and the biting remarks just got old for me. In fact, this is the only reason I didn't give the book 5 stars.
Brian and Donna LaCroix (another former TAPS member) and a few other former members have now formed their own paranormal investigation group labeled "The Project" which is just getting started up. I wish them the very best of luck and success in this. :)
So, overall if you are a fan of "Ghost Hunters" or not familiar with it but enjoy reading stories of investigations of hauntings and paranormal activity, then by all means I highly recommend this book. I don't think you will be disappointed.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Did not offer anything new!, December 21, 2007
I am a fan of the scifi channel show "Ghost Hunters", and I was very enthused when I had heard that this book had been published. The show "Ghost Hunters" is a show about a group of paranormal enthusiasts on the east coast. "Ghost Hunters" shows what this group experiences on their paranormal investigations of private and public locations.
I fully expected to become completely immersed in Jay and Grant's tales of paranormal investigations, and their organization - TAPS. After reading about twenty pages, I became rather curious about how the rest of the book was going to read.
The basic premise of the entire book, apparently, is to give the reader a 3 to 5 page recap of TAPS investigations. Most of the earlier book contains investigations that pre-dated the show, so those in itself had their fascination. However, once the book hits the point where the "Ghost Hunters" show started, there is almost nothing added beyond what was contained within the show. And that is the biggest problem with this book: Jay and Grant seem to have written this for 'newbies' to "Ghost Hunters". I fully expected for this book to be a sort of suppliment to the show, and take me out and away from what the scifi channel decided to edit into the series. Still, I can't see why newbies would plunk down $11 (let alone spend the time reading) or so for a book about a television series that they have never seen.
And therein lies the problem, and my conclusion: I can't even recommend this book to newbies, because they are better off watching the show. The evidence, both audible and visible, is better seen and heard rather than read. And I can't offer this to those familiar with the "Ghost Hunters" show. Giving a five page recap of a "Ghost Hunters" episode is boring, particularly for fans of the show, but also because Jason's ability to write descriptively - and compellingly - is mediocre at best. In any case, I would've been much more satisfied if, for example, Jay and Grant had taken five of their favorite cases, (whether they have been on the series or not) and really delved into the evidence that they had collected - and gone into it all in great detail.
I can only hope that Jay and Grant have received feedback on this book, and will go about writing a much more 'meatier' book for the fans of the show and their organization.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
nothing special, October 15, 2007
There's not much content to talk about; one wonders how much fans of the show "Ghost Hunters" will get from the book.
"Ghost Hunters" is on the SciFi channel, hosted by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, members of the paranormal research group TAPS. This book is written primarily by Jason, with some additional quotes and material by Grant. The first chapters briefly deal with Jason's background in the paranormal and the beginnings of TAPS. A few TAPS members are mentioned by name, most notably Brian Harnois, who is roundly criticized by Jason several times. While I'm aware this plays into the drama aspect of "Ghost Hunters", I admit to being put off by the constant put downs.
In the first chapter, there is some discussion about TAPS' scientific methods and the equipment they use with the intent of bringing legitimacy to the field of paranormal research. The remaining chapters recount cases TAPS has gone on, both before and after TAPS became the subject of their "docu-drama" show. As everything is written from Jason's point of view, Grant's view is relegated to a small box called "Grant's Take" at the end of each chapter.
Those wanting more information about the scientific methods and equipment will be disappointed. Nothing beyond the first chapter deals with the scientific aspect of the show. The case chapters are only about 4-5 pages long, enough room to barely summarize the case and nothing more. For being a group supposedly dedicated to using the scientific method, absolutely no description of their use of the scientific method has been included at all, and precious little description of the equipment is included. In several cases, it's obvious that Jason has confused "technology" with "science."
The cases TAPS went on before the show began are notable for the amazing phenomena they allegedly saw, such as huge flying lights and objects rolling across entire rooms. Nothing like that has been caught on "Ghost Hunters" (yet), and one has to wonder why. The TAPS cases which have been on the show very rarely have any additional evidence or information beyond what we saw on the episodes.
The weakest point of the book is the photos. First of all, the "spooky photo insert" (as the cover calls it) has nothing spooky about it. Secondly, almost no pictures have anything to do with the cases in the book. Finally, the pictures are mostly double-exposure tricks of the camera or lighting. There's nothing legitimate about any of the photos. One picture of "ectoplasm" is absolutely ludicrous - if you turn it sideways, it looks suspiciously like a photo of an island in the middle of the ocean, as taken from an airplane. According to Grant Wilson's blog, they had no control over the photos and a second edition will have more accurate pictures. So how did the book get released with such weak, obviously faked photos in the first place?
The writing is rather pedestrian and uninspired. The difficulty level was much lower than I expected from the book. I don't mean to sound snotty in saying that, it's just that I had expected something aimed more towards adults.
This would be a nice book for kids and young adults. It's the kind of thing I read when I was young and just becoming interested in the paranormal. Fans of the show will probably like it as well, although as a fan I wanted something with more substance and insight.
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