Customer Reviews

How to Hunt Ghosts : A Practical Guide

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is well written. It is professional. It's great for those who know next to nothing about ghosts and how to hunt them. The book should be re-titled however. The first half of the book (almost exactly 50%) is nothing more than a study of WHAT GHOSTS ARE. Now, I understand that in order to hunt something, you need to know what you're looking for - and the whole "plasma" theory was cool - but the book's title is simply "How to Hunt Ghosts". The title should be "Ghosts - What They Are And How To Hunt Them". A short introduction on the current theories of what ghosts are would've sufficed. I wish the entire book had gone into a lot more detail about the "hunt" itself. Joshua should have given much more detail about his actual experiences in his investigations, especially in the use of the equipment. For example: We used such and such piece of equipment at this investigation and got these results, rather than just speaking in generalities about what the equipment does. It definitely needs more focused, detailed info if it's going to be appreciated by anyone but a true novice in the field.

Joshua Warren's book is a fascinating look into real-life ghost hunting and paranormal investigation. It is clearly written, and the fact that Warren has really been doing this kind of research for a long time comes through on every page. I heard about the book on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory (Warren has been a guest numerous times, with both Noory and Art Bell), and ordered the book the next day. I got my copy before the release date (pleasant surprise) and found it even better than it had sounded. It has lots of practical advice on equipment to use in hunting ghosts from very simple things most people can use up through sophisticated cameras and scientific equipment. But it also has a section on different kinds of ghosts and hauntings, including some that aren't really ghosts but have other kinds of explanations. It is also filled with lots of anecdotes and examples from Warren's work that makes it a really interesting read.

I imagine that its going to get a lot of negative reviews from people who put down anything having to do with the paranormal, but if you have experienced ghostly things yourself or at least have an open mind, give it a try. Warren's approach and the kind of information he presents is definitely not the usual new-agey spiritualism or hokey "ghost-hunting" book by amateurs. Warren is a pro, and it shows. Buy it.

There are roughly three types of paranormal investigation books. Simple for the beginner,dry for the more advanced, and crud written by people looking to make a buck who don't care about the science,or who are of questionable investgative ability to say the least. Joshua Warren has tried to write a book that splits the difference between the simple and advanced, and has done a pretty good job of it. I don't feel it presents the beginners view as well as Southalls book,and it doesn't explain some of the more complicated ideas as well as other books either. However Mr Warren has done a good job presenting information on a varied and complex subject, that unlike some of the scientific disciplines there are no known absolutes. Most of the people investigating out there have their own take that is slightly different from the next. Mr Warren gives you his. This book should be read by everyone interested in this subject.

I would call this a YA (Young Adult book) because it is a very basic introduction to a myriad of concepts.

Mr. Warren does an excellent job touching upon a huge array of topics and concepts, but his in-depth analyis falls a little short.

I think he tried to fit too much into an abbreviated book. It would have been much better if he had just concentrated on "ghost hunting" instead of summarizing the numerous subjects he tried to cover in his book.

I find his analysis of negative hauntings to be especially superficial. I would suggest reading Ed and Lorrain Warren's book, "The Demonologist" for a more proper assessment of negative spiritual situations. I don't think a humidifier is going to do the trick in most situations of this type; although it is a very interesting fact that Joshua Warren discovered.

This is all not to say that this is a bad book. I'd say it's slightly better than average, and I would definately give it out to teens and beginners. Actually, it would make a good textbook.

I'd like to see what this author does in the future, perhaps in a longer, more focused book. I like his scientific, methodical approach, and he seems like a talented ghost hunter. I hope to see more of his books in the future.

I personally am grateful to PennText for shipping this book to me. I've skimmed over the book and it seems to be okay for a beginner interested in hunting whether ghosts exist or not. The book itself I needed for college and to be truthful I know a little about ghosthunting so I'd probably not buy this spec. book if I hadn't a future book report due in English 100.

Anyways its a good starting point for any beginner, but the reader should know even though this book is informative vaguely enough to give a good idea about the topic itself, it lacks enough info to actually leave questions in a good investigator's mind. Also lack of some information may lead the beginner to believe s/he is doing certain areas of ghosthunting justice when in truth they may have missed several proper and important steps.

Now would I buy another book from PennText? I'm not psychic, but if they would have a product that I've be wanting when the time comes then most likely.

this guide should be in every investigator's library and is the one book that every amateur investigator should start with before jumping into the field. some criticize it as being merely a cursory overview; fact is, the author sticks to the necessary (and factual) while pruning out the speculative hogwash typical of other authors in this subject area. he does delve into some of the prevailing theories of the field and in doing so discusses quite of bit of what i believe to be sensationalized garbage (while seemingly abandoning his "hard science" stance), nevertheless this is THE paranormal investigator's bible; it will give you the tools and knowledge you need to conduct solid investigations.

This book in my opinion is targeted more towards people who are completely brand new to the idea do paranormal investigation (or ghost hunting). I did a small amount of research online then bought this book before going out on my very first investigation. Everything I would need to know I (a) Already knew or (b) already found online. There were only a few parts in there that explained something more detailed, but other than that, I learned nothing.

If you've just decided to go ghost hunting and you haven't done any research on the topic, this would be a good book to start with, but if you already had an idea about equipment & techniques, this is nothing but a review.

I am a professional investigator (police) and I investigate ghosts as a hobby. The book is as well written as any law enforcement training textbook I have read and a great guide for people just starting to ghost hunt. The only drawback is the book doesn't provide many resources for the equipment. (...)

July was interesting this past year(2003). Went to Savannah, Georgia, and stayed in a haunted bed and breakfast inn (The 17Hundred90--main ghost named Anna Powers), and then went up to Bay Street to get locked overnight in a haunted pub with 13 other lunatics (two of them from the Savannah Morning
News. a features writer and a photographer). The Inn was interesting. "Something" walked out of a bathroom for us that night, sat down with a creak in a creaky chair, waited a few, and then creaked its way back across the creaky floor and re-entered the bathroom. Cool, huh? Well the inn had NOTHING on the Moon River Brewery & Pub!!!!! The basement was spook central. Try a water spigot that would defy you and turn itself back on in front of you after you turned it off. Not once. Not twice. THREE times. Then there's the storeroom where you could plainly hear the sound of chairs dragging across the floor. Open the door, flick on the light, and...nothing. But the spook DID like chairs. A most frightening incident was walking from one room to the next and passing some restaurant chairs and bar stools stacked against a far wall and having one of the chairs just launch itself into the air and smash to the floor right in front of the person behind you, the nice little old lady from St. Augustine, Florida. And when I say smash, take that literally. Broke itself upon the floor. Sorry, bubbas, you can't manage that kind of force with funhouse wires, so you can forget that little bit of self-delusional debunkery. Besides. There WEREN'T any wires. We checked. And lastly, there was the stupendous event of a huge crashing noise that shook the building and had three and four-person investigative teams rushing up and down stairwells and bumping into each other, because EACH group "heard" the crash as coming from the floor either ABOVE or BELOW their own. NOBODY heard it on THEIR floor. And nothing was EVER found as a cause for the noise.
And all these doings were looked at with tri-field meters, thermographic sensor guns,digital cameras, night vision viewers, tape recorders, motion detectors, and other kinds of paraphernalia covered by Joshua P. Warren in his book "How To Hunt Ghosts". So, am I shilling for Warren? No. Wasn't one of his investigations. It was worked by The American Institute of Parapsychology (AIP), out of Florida, and co-cordinated by Savannah Walks, Inc. Fact is, though, everything Warren says in his book matches up with the ideas and methodologies used by AIP in Savannah. Dovetail matches. His assessments of equipment squares with theirs and his concepts of the nature of spirits and hauntings matches up.
To my mind Warren has a solid piece of work here and things I have heard about his professionalism in the past lead me to place him up there with Loyd Auerbach, Troy Taylor, Richard Southall, Dave Oester, or any of the other "name" investigators of "things that go bump in the night". This is a good book and it deserves a wide readership. Buy it, read it. You'll find it quite practical, level-headed, perceptive, and credible. And then look up the guy's website and order the VHS "Alone In A Haunted House" from him. In it he takes YOU on an "overnight" and shows all this equipment in use. Then he shows you the results of the photography sessions and sound recording analyses. You will find it both interesting and informative. And if you don't know what an "orb" is going into this, you will before the tape is through (at least you'll know what one LOOKS like..."paras" will argue all day over exactly what it IS!). Watch the tape, read the book. Joshua P. Warren is for real. He can't help it if he looks like your little brother...he's a prodigy whose intellect is a bit out ahead of your run-of-the-mill "ghostbuster's". And, since he lives and works out of Asheville, NC, only about 55 miles north of me, I think I may hunt him up one of these days and say "Let's go hunt some haint's, fella"!!! No Scooby Snacks required!!

This is by far the very best out of the "How to Hunt Ghosts" books in circulation! It is clear that Mr Warren is knowledgeable on this topic and has provided not only terms and definitions, but case histories as well - even a simple guide on building your own home-made EMF Meter! This book is essential for both the beginner and professional ghost hunter / paranormal investigator!