Customer Reviews

Ghosts Caught on Film 2

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

 

 

The previous reviewer seems to have an axe to grind where none needs sharpening. Firstly, he misses the point entirely regarding the why's of these books (there are a series of them). They make nice, space-saving but most interesting coffee table additions. They are nicely done, undersized hardbound books with pleasant art work and high quality reproductions of the selected photos. The reviewer might also consider that some people simply prefer to hold a book in their hands rather than being a slave to a monitor. And finally, the author states early on that although there have been thousands of photos on his web site, he wanted to select the pictures which have proven to be the most intriguing, effectively separating them from the multitudes of hoaxes and fakery.

There are some genuinely interesting and hairraising photos between the covers of this book. And it is certainly worth the price asked here on Amazon. Captions for each photo are kept short and sweet, as it should be. Afterall, the reader will clearly be most interested in the photographs. That said, I always enjoy knowing as much as possible regarding both equipment employed as well as conditions etc. as this information can be helpful as well as interesting. But the lack of a more technically oriented presentation really matters little when enjoying this book. It's designed to be flipped through quickly, enjoyed, and put back down.

I do, however, have a few problems with these books.

Although the books are hardcover and cloth bound, it's quite clear that the binding will not hold up to years of use. So I would recommend that you prepare this book by properly breaking it in as you would with any hardcover title. This might give it a longer life. More importantly, I was roundly disappointed and distracted by the fact that either an editor wasn't employed or that said editor was quite poor in his/her duties. I noted numerous, glaring examples of bad grammar within the text. This both takes you out of the moment, so to speak, as well as revealing that the book is low-budget. This is unfortunate as the presentation is otherwise, done very well. I would strongly recommend that the author/publisher address this problem in future editions or new releases. A subject such as this, already mocked by most, can only suffer further by such poor publishing standards.

Finally, I found the inclusion of some photographic subjects to be far less interesting and relevant than others. The chapters on 'Heavenly Visions' and 'Into The Physical Realm' strike me as filler rather than legitimate paranormal investigative subjects. The author would do well to stick to pure photographic evidence rather than spinning off into very questionable areas. But this criticism is purely subjective. I can accept that many will be as interested in the aforementioned chapters as I am disinterested. But where the expected focus of tangible evidence is concerned, such aforementioned chapters studies does more to invite criticism rather than deflecting it.

Genuine photographs (genuine being the operative word) comprises only about ten to fifteen percent of reliable paranormal evidence. The overwhelming balance is made up of auditory evidence as presented most convinvingly by EVP pioneers like the late, Sarah Estep. As a sound professional, I have been involved in EVP research, employing a bevy of high-quality audio gear for some years now. Such stunning results as those which I have obtained are, to me, far more compelling and far less assailable. That said, photographic evidence, easily manipulated by present day high-tech equipment and software, must be carefully scrutinized. To this end, Mr. Eaton has, to his credit, presented some good subjects for analysis and consideration. These books, with the exceptions I have mentioned, are worthy of a good look.

After enjoying the first book in this series, I was dismayed at the drop in standards for this second one. Here are some issues:

- The author, Jim Eaton, usually doesn't mention the locations where the images were taken, and sometimes the dates are missing without acknowledging that the date is unknown.

- For many of the photographs, the author doesn't guide the reader's eye to help explain the interpretation of the image. For example, there is the photograph of the grilled cheese sandwich that supposedly shows the image of the Virgin Mary. Why the Virgin Mary? It looks more like Marilyn Monroe to me. On page 120, "A Cry For Help" is a dark murky image, and there are no arrows, circles, enlargements, or verbal descriptions to help the reader find the "ghost." Dr Melvyn Willin in the first book gave detailed descriptions with most of his images, never presuming that the reader was seeing what he expected them to see.

- On page 25, the photo of the "Creature by the Water's Edge" has a red circled insert with an enlargement of the "creature," but without an arrow to guide the viewer, it's difficult to find this creature in the dark, murky original.

- Sometimes the book includes a second image alongside the original to make the "apparition" clearer. Most of the time these are simple enlargements of the original, but some are manipulations, like B&W outlines. In some cases, these manipulations contain extra parts or elements that are obviously not in the original image. Examples include "Floating Lost Soul" (page 18) and "Bobbi's Ghoul in a Hot Tub" (page 48)

- There are numerous grammatical errors in the text, indicating sloppy editing.

- The writer is simply not skilled enough to re-state the same thing on every page, but he tries. How many times can you read "this could be this or that, but maybe it's a ghost!" before skipping the last paragraph on every photo? It didn't take me long.

- On page 20, the author makes this statement about It's Behind You: "We can establish that the photo is at least ten years old (and by the looks of it, much older) and that therefore photo manipulation is unlikely." Dr Willin points out in the first book that photo manipulations have been done since photography was first invented. If Eaton means photoshop, he needs to be more specific.

- For "The Green Family Ghost" on page 113, the author doesn't discuss why the "ghost" is only as tall as an average dog, which is the most interesting aspect in my opinion.

- Eaton is too much of a willing believer to be credible and objective about the authenticity of the images he presents.

I wouldn't be so critical of Ghosts Caught on Film 2 if it wasn't classified as a teen book by my local library. I don't honestly know if teenagers these days are more or less discerning and impressionable than I was, but I wouldn't give this book to my teenagers. They deserve better.

Jim Eaton and his website Ghoststudy are undoubtedly popular amongst those paranormal fans who pretty much like to believe everything they see without questioning too much of it. The site has been going strong for years, but it's also been the victim of many hoaxes, ouright fakery, and other shenanigans that were intially believed without question until they were revealed to be quite explainable.

Hence the problem with this book, a collection of photos that have been seen on the Ghoststudy site for quite some time. Eaton himself hasn't proven to be very reliable when it comes to knowing what is and isn't fake. A quick glance at the Ghoststudy photo gallery and Eaton's comments often reveal an attitude that is far too eager to accept the most mundane photographic "evidence" as true paranormal phenomena. The same can be said of the rest of the "staff" and the visitors who deluge the messageboards and enjoy throwing out reasoning and logic at the drop of a hat.

The fact that one can literally see so many of these photos online makes buying the book pretty unncessary, unless you'd like to read the stories behind the photos, although, again, this info in also easily gleaned online. "Ghosts Caught on Film 2" is nothing more than a quick cash-in, with real ghost photo buffs finding most of this book's contents outright laughable. Of course in these modern times when such (in)famous TV shows as "Ghost Hunters" cast a blind eye towards the obvious, anything can be sold in this day and age. If you absolutely need to have this book, wait for a cheap used copy to show up. It won't take long.

160 pages filled with truly amazing ghost pictures from all around the world. These photos aren't the run-of-the-mill stuff that you constantly see on the Internet. I was impressed with the selection and quality of the pictures presented. Most people I show this book to want to either borrow it or find a copy for themselves. Apparently the pages are high quality photo paper because every page displays brilliant color. This book has prompted my family and some of our friends into going through our photo albums in search of ghostly phenomena. We have even begun organizing our first ghost hunt! I look forward to the author's next book!

My family is really enjoying this book! We have it on our coffee table & everyone that comes over just HAS to look at it! The pictures are amazing & the stories are SO interesting! My favorite part of the book was when the author described the different types of ghost photos, I learned a lot. My teenagers & their friends LOVE this book also. (I've had a couple different moms call me to see where they can get it. Great gift idea!) With all the use I thought the book would be showing signs of wear by now but it still looks as amazing as it did the day it arrived. I would recommend this book to anyone, ghost lovers or not...this is a very cool book!

Loved the photos!

Susan Kelley, Author

Ghostly Encounters of the Paranormal Kind

If you want a few good laughs, seeing all the things people fall for, then this may be right up your alley.

On the other hand, if you get tired of spotting obvious film artifacts, and can't easily spot ghosts, then this may not be for you.

I find it strange the author claims to be a ghost hunter, yet can not seem to put basic logic together.

my book arrived in just a couple of days after I placed the order! I will be buying from you again! also, I love the book. Great pic's! Thank you!