Lore of the Ghost: The Origins of the Most Famous Ghost Stories Throughout the World [Paperback]

Brian Haughton (Author), Daniele Serra (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2008

Lore of the Ghost is an original and thought-provoking exploration of the numerous categories of ghosts and hauntings throughout the world. It discusses the possible motives for each type of haunting--from phantom white ladies and spectral black dogs to haunted highways and ghostly vehicles--what they represent, why they occur, and their possible functions. Unlike the vast majority of books on the subject, Lore of the Ghost is not a gazetteer of ghost sightings or a ghost hunter's manual, but an investigation into human belief in the supernatural and its effect on the nature of ghosts worldwide.

Most people are familiar with at least one local tale of the supernatural, but how many of these "ghost stories" are genuine examples of hauntings rather than folktales or modern urban legends? Why are similar types of ghosts--headless ghosts, spectral armies, and phantom white ladies--reported from so many diverse cultures all over the world? What do reports of particular types of ghosts tell us about the societies that see them?

In Lore of the Ghost you will discover:
* What it means to witness the Headless Horseman and the Death Coach
* The real history of the Vanishing Hitchhiker
* Extraordinary accounts of phantom battles and armies seen in the sky
* The origin of Poltergeists, as witnessed in the Bell Witch case and the Epworth Haunting
* The truth behind Screaming Skulls and other Haunted Objects

Packed with evocative illustrations, Lore of the Ghost adds a fascinating new dimension to our understanding of supernatural lore.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Haughton is a qualified archaeologist and researcher, with an interest in the strange and unusual. He is author of Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries, and Haunted Spaces, Sacred Places (both published by New Page Books) and Webmaster of Mysteriouspeople.com, devoted to the lives of enigmatic people. He has written on the subjects of ancient mysteries and the folklore of the supernatural for a variety of print and Internet publications, including the BBC's Legacies Website, Doorways Magazine, New Dawn, Awareness, and Paranormal Magazine in the U.K. He currently lives and writes in Greece.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: New Page Books; 1 edition (September 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601630247
• ISBN-13: 978-1601630247
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,069,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A qualified archaeologist, Brian Haughton is an author and researcher on the subjects of prehistoric megalithic sites, ancient sacred places and supernatural folklore.

Haughton's first book, 'Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries' was published in January 2007, and has been translated into eleven languages, including German, Russian, Greek and Thai. His second book 'Haunted Spaces, Sacred Places', which concentrates on the folklore and strange tales surrounding ancient sacred sites, was published by New Page in July 2008. His third book for New Page, 'The Lore of the Ghost', was published on 15 September, 2008. 'History's Mysteries' - the long-awaited follow up to 'Hidden History', will be published in May 2009.

Brian's work has been featured in various print publications across the world including Doorways Magazine, Awareness and All Destiny and on web sites such as the B.B.Cs Legacies, World Mysteries and the Book of Thoth. He is a member of the Folklore Society (England) and serves as a consultant for U.K-based research and investigative organization Parasearch. He long ago fell for the lure of the ancient world and tales of the supernatural, initially inspired by visiting the Neolithic chambered tombs of the Cotswold Hills in England and by reading the ghost stories of Sheridan Le Fanu and M.R. James.

In his spare time Brian plays guitar in the band - The Electric Rays.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the best in this field, January 23, 2010

By 

Fiona Broome "author and paranormal investigator" (NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lore of the Ghost: The Origins of the Most Famous Ghost Stories Throughout the World (Paperback)

This book is a treasure among cookie-cutter books of "ghost stories." This book delves deeply into the roots of the folklore and urban legends... the same tales that are often the foundation of ghost stories we try to investigate.

The book is described as an "investigation into human belief in the supernatural and its affect on how ghosts are interpreted and recorded."

The author, Brian Haughton, is an archaeologist and a researcher, and his expertise shows. He's documented the history of stories such as:

* the Wild Hunt
* phantom "white ladies"
* vanishing hitchhikers
* screaming skulls
* phantom vehicles and haunted roads

His research is thrilling if you're a history buff.

For example, he not only translates the often-misunderstood terms "doppelganger" as doublewalker or doublegoer, he also tells the story of when Queen Elizabeth I's doppelganger was seen in her castle home.

If you consider yourself a "ghost hunting geek," this book is a must-read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best book on ghost folklore ever written., January 17, 2009

By 

Kyle Van Helsing "The Demon Hunter" (Fort Wayne, IN) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lore of the Ghost: The Origins of the Most Famous Ghost Stories Throughout the World (Paperback)

Most books on ghosts today consist of nothing more than scary stories and the stories of encounters that people have had. This book offers real information, based on folklore. It has answered many of my questions in this area of research. It includes information on the Headless Horseman, which is very hard to find elsewhere. Overall, this is a great book! I recommend it to all who are trying to look past the scary stories and study the real thing.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Left a bit empty, December 3, 2008

By 

Christopher L. Balzano "Alosa1066" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lore of the Ghost: The Origins of the Most Famous Ghost Stories Throughout the World (Paperback)

This review originally appeared at www.hauntedamericatours.com


Brian Haughton knows his stuff. Over the past few years he has gained a reputation as one of the strongest researcher in the field when it comes to odd people, weird places, and the folklore that lives just this side of unexplainable. With his past work he has always made an effort to keep one foot in legitimate history while stretching the possible past with his work in older cultures and text. His new book, Lore of the Ghost, focuses his skills at looking into several of the haunted motifs that form the tales we hear in old ghost stories and that help to mold the true hauntings we hear about from down the street.

Lore of the Ghost suffers from being written by the smartest man in the room. While his previous work has always taken advantage of his knowledge, it becomes a hindrance in Lore. The book looks to explore the origins of many of these ghost stories, but does little to get to heart of them while offering only retellings of them throughout the years. No origins are found. This would be allowable (most legends are impossible to trace to their true origins by their very nature) if Haughton offered some explanations as to why these legends are spread or how they tell us about ourselves. The book offers neither.

What the reader is left with is a collection of legends with no direction. There are still few out there in the publishing world who can tell these stories as well as the author, but he spends too much time jumping from old tale to old tale. Any of his chapters could be an entire book by itself, and with subjects like phantom hitchhikers and black dogs, the reader wants to know more. He does not stay in one long enough to examine it fully before he is on to the next variation. The jumping can become somewhat disorienting, and ultimately the format he uses becomes predicable and a bit boring to read through. American audiences may also eventually tire of the numerous examples of British and European stories while only grazing some of their American counterparts, especially because there are so many of them to be found on this side of the ocean.

Part of the issue arises with the connection between the legends and folklore that are the focus of the book and their true paranormal origins. Haughton does not take a side as to the truth of the tales and yet offers many classic hauntings as proof of the motifs they involve. This will isolate the folklorist and the paranormal enthusiast. While exploring the folklore he misuses or heaps together ghost stories with tales of odd animals and time slips, and other supernatural occurrences.

Brian Haughton still knows how to tell a story, but his skills are wasted here. With his base of information, it feels he sat down and had a conversation with himself and wrote it down. More likely, his latest conference presentation was a bit fleshed out and submitted to the publisher. This book has the feel of being too easy for him, too phoned in, to offer anything truly unique to the reader. Haughton is someone who deserves to be on the paranormal reader's bookshelf, Lore of the Ghost is just not the book to add.