Customer Reviews

Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've read Steiger's writings since he first started publishing and have always been amazed at how he manages to capture important nuances that seem to escape the average writer. Brad has put into practice all that he has written about. He is definitely familiar with a wide variety of paranormal phenomena and has been able to bring many theories and thoughts on the subject together in this book.

"Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places" is one of the finest compendiums of ghost stories I have ever seen. In fact, I doubt that it would be possible to find a book that features more information on the best known reports of a haunting, along with lesser known reports published for the first time. Along with the stories, Steiger furnishes many of the techniques employed by modern paranormal investigators. This information is simply missing from most other collections of ghostly tales and helps the reader understand the current theories and approaches investigators have in this field.

Everything in this book including the Appendixes, with movie recommendations, and a listing of paranormal groups makes this book a solid addition to anyone's library, whether it is for the serious researcher or those who love a good ghost story and would perhaps like more in depth information on ghosts and haunting activity.

I've spent over 35 years researching and investigating in this field and cannot think of anything that Brad has failed to at least touch on with this work. It is certainly a Magnum Opus, and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject.

Brad Steiger is one of the most credible authors on the paranormal out there IMO (and I've read, and own books by, them all), and he's really outdone himself here. In fact, I would go so far to say that it's the scariest book on ghosts I've ever read, and I slept with the light on for many nights after reading it. I'm not as articulate or eloquent as the reveiwers below, but I wanted to put my two cents in, because this book is simply extraordinary, full of the kind of original, interesting, and extremely unsettling material that we all hope awaits us when we open a new book on ghosts, but all too rarely does. Bravo, Brad!!!

Could a second-hand sofa in a California home have been possessed by an evil force? Are the mysterious spirits known as "Vardogrs" actually the ghosts of living humans who often precede them to appointments? Did the spirit of a woman's father appear before her as a translucent midget on the night of his death? Has the shade of Brownie, a beloved pooch, been photographed in Daytona Beach,Florida? Was the phantom ship, the Palatine, repeatedly materializing and dematerializing off of Block Island south of Rhode Island for a period of over 70 years?

These are just a few of the intriguing enigmas that are probed in Brad Steiger's encyclopedic new volume, "Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places." Covering everything from haunted inns to spirit parasites to phantom armies, the comprehensive nature of this work has set a new standard for the coverage of paranormal topics. Moreover, its 600-plus pages are richly embellished with fascinating photos and bold subject headings, rendering it especially reader-friendly. Finally, its detailed appendices covering haunted cities, ghost films, and parapsychological organizations are practically worth the price of admission alone!

Without a doubt, every student of the unknown should add this book to his or her library immediately, if not sooner!

I enjoy a good ghost story as much as the next person, and this book is full of great stories, but with the sweet comes the sour...
My biggest annoyance w/the book are the pictures. Here's why:

1. Some of the pictures are so obviously fake, it's laughable. What's worse is the author doesn't label them as such which is misleading to the reader.

2. Some of the pictures appear to be double exposures, a very reasonable explanation for some of the images.

3. The pictures of orbs, vortexes and mists could be explained by every day things such as water droplets on a lens, or a camera strap in front of the lens. Both of which are easily staged.

4. There are pictures interspersed randomly throughout the book that have no meaning to the stories in the section they're in. There is often a picture of a "ghost" on one page and you'd expect the corresponding story to be on the next page or at least somewhere in that section, but nothing. Maybe a section at the end of the book soley for pictures w/out stories would have been better?

Also, the author has seemed to capitalize on commom myths and urban legends (without trying to debunk them). For example, the "Amityville Horror" , wasn't that found to be a giant hoax? You wouldn't think so by this book. The author is either extremely gullible or very good at marketing (I will go with the latter). Keep in mind some of these stories are from a time when superstitions ran high and there wasn't much in the way of scientific explanation.

So, buy this book for the entertainment factor. Another plus is, it's a big book, lots of stories. The content is very interesting, but don't believe everything you read.

One of Brad's Steiger's best...if that is possible!!!
I've been a Steiger fan for a long time and over the years have always been so impressed by his detailed research and ability to come up with new storys told in his own special way....that certainly keeps a reader wanting more...and in this instance numerous times on the edge of one's chair.

There is something for everyone in this most recent book. "Real Ghosts, Resless Spirits and Haunted Places". And I think it is so complete...and so informative and so well written to activate one's interest to want to know more about this intriguing subject. It is certainly a book that must be read and re-read for there is so much to read about and then important for one to think about...Certainly some of the storys require an open mind...but then that's a good reason to read, to learn more...I was so interested in everything....a couple of really hair raising storys...but that's good..it truly gets you thinking.

But I truly must say I enjoyed reading about the late actor Ted Knight..that was a teriffic story...and really made you wonder 'what if'. Also liked reading about Mae West and what she said about the dimension she is in. But the one that really got my attention was when the intuitive/medium Clarisa Bernhardt was 'told' by a ghost that something was very wrong in a house she had been invited to check out ...and the family followed the clues from the information given and it actually prevented the house from blowing up. And then the same ghost, also told her about money buried, that the family later actually found. So it is interesting that sometimes the intangible things do come forth and prove to be very real and end up being a powerful demonstraton...of ghostly or other worldly information which this book is just filled with.

I sincerely believe this is one of Brad's best. However, I'm sure with his wonderful story telling and writing talents there are indeed unlimited new horizons for him to explore.!!!
It's a must have !!!

This book is a fantastic collection of stories and photos.
As a ghosthunter/researcher featured in this book, I honsetly recommend this book to anyone who likes or researches actual ghost and hauntings. A collection of amazing and very real stories from the world of the paranormal,this book is accurate
very detailed and a no-nonsense approach to ghosts and real hauntings that do happen. A collection of rare ghost photos and
a great reference on ghost researchers all over the USA/Canada
make this book a collectors item you'll keep coming back to.

I am well versed in the paranormal, I must say this book is one of my prizes in my large collection of stories! A+ Brad puts things into everyday terms. The stories are great with much background as possible.
I agree with other readers of this book that there is nothing that brad has failed to touch on.
Its a must for anyone interested in ghost stories. I myself cant get enough of them and this book is JAMMED with over 500 pages! It will keep you busy for many nights to come!
A must read!~

Have you ever spent an evening sitting around a campfire with a group of friends telling ghost stories? If you have, then you know what it's like to have a chill run down your spine on a warm summer night - and the feeling that unseen eyes are watching your every move. Now imagine being joined at that campfire by Brad Steiger. Listen as he shares with you his 50 years' experience researching all things paranormal. If you enjoy a good ghost story, this 600-page book has it all: First-person encounters with ghosts and other unearthly beings, haunted houses, prisons and cemeteries, messages from beyond the grave, deathbed descriptions of the other side and much, much more. If you've never experienced that night around the campfire, now's your chance.

I own numerous books about ghosts, the unexplained, and the paranormal and a lot of them are tedious to read. Some, have proven down right boring. Others try and make everything seem so realistic and dramatic, that its nothing but awkward to read.

This book is NOT one of those. I got this book as a gift several years ago and have read it multiple times, and each time I get completely spooked and became afraid to turn out the lights. This book isn't filled with photos of "orbs" and stories about cold spots and phantom footsteps. This book features some of the most truely incredible hauntings ever recorded, along with lots of famous photographs.

Brad Steiger is a fantastic author (perhaps the best of the lot in his genre) and this collection of his most interesting cases are a must have for lovers of all things ghostly.

Only Brad Steiger with his 40 years of research in the subject could have written this book. It spans the entire spectrum of the haunted world across the globe. It tells the tale of how spirits have intermixed with the living for purposes that have at times been for good, for evil and at times just to make their presents known. No other book I have read covers the subject so well or so completely.