Customer Reviews

Ghosts: True Encounters with the World Beyond

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I like to refer to this book as the complete Hans Holzer because it appears to be compilation of his books mostly from the 60's and 70's, but the stories are still fascinating to read. If you want scary ghost stories, try something in the Michael Norman series, but if you want to read about actual investigations of hauntings, I highly recommend this book. A HUGE book with over 750 pages printed on high quality paper and lots of photographs, there is enough material here for at least three books!

Ghosts: True Encounters With the World Beyond by Hans Holzer is a comprehensive volume of the author's extensive research into the world of ghosts, spirits, and poltergists performed over the past 30 or more years. Whether one believes in these phenomenon or not, the book makes interesting reading. While many of the stories have appeared in other books, Holzer adds interesting updates and background information which give them a new perspective. Of particular interest to me was the historical research done with respect to the life and times surrounding some of the occurrences. The author discusses the American Revolution and Civil War and some of the events of early European history as well as some of the central figures of these events. Where he is able, he also adds information about the history the specific houses and other buildings he inspected. He gives advice to the would be ghost hunter, and describes some of the mediums with whom he worked. It sounds as though Dr. Holzer had a fun and exciting career that has taken him all over the world.

If you have followed Hans Holzer's books through the years, you know every other ghost writer comes up wanting.
As always, this book does not disappoint. If you have read his other books, you will find much of this repetious of stories that have appeared in other titles, but that does not detract from the enjoyment of having so many good tales or reports (depending on your beliefs) in one location.
A fine book for reading outside on a warm day, or indoors on a winter's night.....depending on what you think that creak in the floor was last night.... Enjoy

Good research, great stories (and plenty of them), make this worth purchasing and keeping. Not only will the extensive collection of incidents and hauntings hold your interest, the definitions of types of spirits and the Do's and Don't of encountering them are absolutely fascinating. And who knows, the information could come in handy one day! Informative enough to consider a study guide , but long enough to provide hours and hours of reading satisfaction. I have read my copy three times in five years, and always look forward to the next time.

I remember reading Hans Holzer when I was just a kid and loving everything he wrote. This massive book collects all those thousands of stories he has told over the years into one. It's a valuable book for paranormal researchers (I'm a Certified Ghost Hunter) because it so complete, however, it doesn't break any new ground. This is simply a compilation of his other, older books rolled into one. It's a disappointment if you were looking for new material, but a treasure trove if you've never read Holzer before.

Although there are many illustrations, they are dark and badly reproduced and the text often repeats itself, a result of careless editing of old material. Still, I was able to live with these quirks (except for the tiny printing, which is annoying) and found many important stories here and information that helped me as I wrote "Ghosthunting Illinois" and "Ghosthunting Ohio."

An excelent book, by an excelent author, over 100 True stories complete with transcripts from seances, photographs, descriptions of ghostly phenomena, and also how to tell ghosts from non ghosts. The book covers all kinds of spirits and tells about each one of them. Covering famous ghosts like bloody mary,robert louis stevenson, even the guy who played MR BELVEDERE!!! Chapters include THE NATURE OF LIFE AND DEATH, WHAT EVERY WOULD-BE GHOST HUNTER SHOULD KNOW, GHOSTS AND THE WORLD OF THE LIVING, WHAT EXACTLY IS A GHOST, FAMOUS GHOSTS,THIS HOUSE IS HAUNTED, HAUNTED PLACES, HAUNTED PEOPLE, STAY BEHINDS, POLTERGEISTS, GHOSTS THAT ARENT, AND PHSYCHIC PHOTOGRAPHY-THE VISUAL PROOF. The most thorough ghost guide I have ever read

This handsome (if oddly organized) hardcover book turns out to be just a compilation of Holzer's cheaply produced paperbacks from the 1960s. If you've never read Holzer before, then this latest book will serve as a great introduction to Holzer's dogged pursuit of the supernatural. On the other hand, if you have read those earlier Holzer's books, then you may feel, as I did, disappointed. Holzer could have produced a truly interesting book had he returned to the scenes of his forty-year old ghost stories. Are the ghosts still active? Who owns the haunted houses now? Have changes in the neighborhoods affected the hauntings?

Believe it or not--as big as this book is, I've pretty much read the entire thing cover to cover. That's how good I think it is. Really, it's the only book on ghosts you need...not that anyone really needs a book about ghosts. Okay so some of it is just a bunch of scientific mumbo jumbo, but the actual ghost stories are pretty interesting. It also contains some cool photos. My only complaint, really, is that it's size makes it a bit awkward to carry around. I guess it's well worth the workout though.

I like this book so far. He writes about a lot of ghost hunts he's been on...but I'd rather read a book about things that actually occured than read a book about things that MAY have occured. I'm glad he stays on the topic of stuff he knows happened from personal expieriences rather than possible urban legends about small towns. I really don't agree with the review above.

You get a huge book and lots of information for your money here!

I'm an 18 year old high school student and I borrowed this book from my shop teacher. I expected it to just be a collection of ghost stories, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how fascinating it was. The real cases of hauntings are great too but the best thing is reading about Dr. Holzer's ideas on death. I never really believed in Heaven or Hell and things like that, but I always felt there was something there after death. For all my life I have had ideas on death and they will always be changing untill the day I die. But this book taught me some fundamental things I'll always remember. If you're just looking for ghost stories you may or may not want this book, but if you are really looking for a reason or idea on life and death you should get this book. It is fascinating.