Customer Reviews

New York City Ghost Stories

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

 

 

When I picked this book up at the local interests section ...on Manhattan's East Side, I thought the idea of a book covering several reported haunted sites in New York City was a great idea. Although the idea is great, "New York City Ghost Stories" fails to capture the reader's attention due to a poorly designed book and uninspiring photographs and illustrations.

The book, which covers hauntings in some of the city's boroughs, is not a large book to start with. Somewhat compact in size, the book briefly discusses hauntings such as the ghosts that roam the Old Merchant's House in SoHo, Washington Square Park, and the Customs House in lower Manhattan. The book's main weaknesses is that it appears that the author compiled all his findings together in a small notebook, and typed some words, pasted a few photographs and illustrations, and slapped an ISBN number on it. The publisher, located in Pennsylvania, apparently is not a powerhouse publishing house like those found in New York.

The book will make a good read for those living in the city or the surrounding area who like to read tidbits of trivial information, like myself. Overall, a rate this book a three because I haven't seen any other book of similar material on the market yet. Good attempt, but the book's author should seriously consider releasing an updated edition that has more of an eye-catching design.

Proud to be a New York City resident, I bought this book because I wanted to learn what kind of haunted places we have (other cities, like London, are full of them). This book is incredibly boring and has no style to it whatsoever. Furthermore there are so many spelling and grammer errors that I wondered if the author has finished high school. If you are interested in New York City ghosts, there is a walking tour of the cities haunted sites. This book was a waist of money.

New York City Ghost Stories was very nice. Unlike some of the other books I have bought on ghosts, this book does not get a wishing of not having purchased it. In my research of ghosts, I put a sticky note on every story that seems to have more going on than just "there was a ghost. They heard footsteps. The end". In this book I have 15 sticky notes, so it's not SO bad. In other ghost books with roughly the same pages I have had sometimes one or two only!

There are definitely some good stories in here. 3/4ths of the way through I started to run out of gas and wanted to skip a lot of the stories (though I didn't), but eventually I hung in there and got through it. If you have a weak capacity for reading books that you don't enjoy, I would say skip this book. If you can hang in there and are 100% hooked on ghost stories, get this book. If you are 50/50 with ghosts and don't care about them but don't NOT care about them, I'd say read something more mainstream like Ghosts of the McBride House, Night Stalks the Mansion, Don't Call Them Ghosts, or something more story like. If you are more of a compendium reader, then definitely check this one out.

John McAdam, author of:
Enoch and the Extraterrestrials

I have lived in New York City for 16 years and have learned quite a bit about the city's supernatural side. I have also taken the so called "haunted walking tours" in the village. I received this book as a gift. I have to admit that I was already aware of most of the stories. I feel that they were not complete somehow. As if the researcher did not find all the information that he/she possibly could have. When I read a story I like to know all the facts. I also like to know the date of the last occurance/sighting. I believe more could have gone into this book. I think the author gets the points across but doesn't tell the full stories.

I was disappointed to see such a negative review of what is such a quality book. This is not meant to be a ritzy book from a big publisher, but rather a more down-to-earth look at true ghost stories in New York City. While spelling/grammar mistakes surely can diminish the quality of a book, I don't trust that someone who cannot even spell correctly in his review can accurately judge.