Our Haunted Lives: True Life Ghost Encounters [Paperback]

Jeff Belanger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 2006

Ghost encounters are happening everyday to people everywhere, and the events prove that we are not alone. When people encounter what they perceive to be a ghost or spirit, their lives are forever changed. The ultimate question - Is there life after death? - has just been answered for them. Ghosts cross every culture and continent, and the belief in their existence is on the rise. Our Haunted Lives features the stories of dozens of people who have witnessed the supernatural firsthand in their homes, at work, and in numerous other locations.

Our Haunted Lives explores the profound nature of ghosts and spirits. Through personal interviews, the author captures the many different facets of the experience - the touching, where people come in contact with a loved one who's passed on; the funny, where pranks are played or peculiar disembodied sounds are heard; and the frightening, where people still feel shaken by what they saw, heard, and felt.

Ghosts are unbiased - they appear to people from all walks of life, ages, cultures, and religious backgrounds. Our Haunted Lives features accounts from famous hauntings, such as an extensive interview with George Lutz - the man whose experiences with the paranormal in Amityville, Long Island launched debates, books, and movies. You'll hear from police officers who were the first on the scene after a homeowner reported a break-in, only to find the disturbance wasn’t caused by someone living. Doctors who had a brush with the supernatural after losing a patient on the operating table will speak about the very emotional and profound events they witnessed.

No, we are not alone.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"In Our Haunted Lives, experienced paranormal researcher Jeff Belanger allows readers the thrill of experiencing firsthand accounts of haunting phenomena as told in the witnesses' own words. It is quite likely readers will be looking into the shadowy corners of their rooms while reading this book." —Brad Steiger, author, Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places

About the Author

Jeff Belanger leads a very haunted life. He's been fascinated with the supernatural since age 10 when he investigated his first haunted house during a sleepover. In 1999 he launched Ghostvillage.com as a repository for his writings on the subject of the supernatural. The site has since grown to become the largest paranormal community on the Web, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. Belanger is the author of The World's Most Haunted Places, Communicating With the Dead, and Encyclopedia of Haunted Places (all New Page Books). Jeff is a regular guest on many regional and national radio programs, lectures across the United States on ghosts and the supernatural, and has been featured on television programs about the paranormal. He currently haunts Bellingham, Massachusetts, with his wife, Megan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: New Page Books; 1 edition (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564148564
• ISBN-13: 978-1564148568
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

History, belief, and folklore combine to create paranormal legends that challenge what we know about how the universe works. But are these legends more than just stories? What can we learn about ourselves in exploring the unexplained? Meet Jeff Belanger, the ultimate paranormal insider.

There's a relationship between ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot, strange monsters, ancient mysteries, and other bizarre phenomena. These concepts offer us a path to our past, a connection with our fellow human beings in our present, and a way to ponder our own inevitable future. Though no one can explain exactly how it all works, few can match Jeff's ability to bring the odd out of the fringe and into our living rooms and near our office water coolers.

Belanger's approach is fun and informative. He brings a lot of personality and knowledge to his work. He's the author of a dozen books that have been published in six languages, he's the writer and researcher for the Ghost Adventures show on the Travel Channel, the host of the widely popular Web and cable talk show 30 Odd Minutes, he's a sought-after lecturer who speaks at dozens of events per year for audiences big and small, and he's a recognized media personality appearing on over 200 radio and television programs worldwide including: The History Channel, The Travel Channel, PBS, Living TV (UK), The Maury Show, The CBS News Early Show, National Public Radio, The BBC, Australian Radio Network, Coast to Coast AM, and The 'X' Zone.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spooktacular, October 22, 2006

By 

Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Our Haunted Lives: True Life Ghost Encounters (Paperback)

Some time ago I read one of this author's other books and it was undoubtedly one of, if not the best book of this type that I had ever read. I was therefore understandably excited when I found this book and began to read because I expected another masterpiece of the ghostly kind. What I found however was something quite good but just not up to the standards that I had set for this author. I must admit that I may be being a little unfair here because if I had come across a book this good by almost any other author I would have been impressed but from Jeff Belanger I just expected a little more. This grand master of the ghost hunter world has just set the bar so high in his previous works that it's going to be almost impossible for him to reach the same level of perfection with every new book. I guess that I'm just going to have to accept that fact, whether I want to or not.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that eyewitness accounts are indispensable to this type of book and that without them all you really end up with is a bunch of old legends. Belanger has a history of excellence in this area and this book is no exception. If anything he takes eyewitness accounts a little to the extreme in this case. The stories in this book are made up exclusively of interviews with eyewitnesses and these first person accounts are generally excellent. One pitfall of this style is evident in this book however and that pitfall is that some of the interviews will obviously be better than others. In other words, some people are just naturally more articulate than others while others are very articulate in person but their words seem to become less clear on paper. Overall though the interviews were excellent and were conducted in a very professional manner.

The biggest problem that I had with this book however was that the author relied far too much on the eyewitnesses for the possible history behind the haunts. In some cases this worked just fine and the subjects were intimately familiar with the background of the ghosts in question. In other cases though there was little or no history to be found and it is sometimes hard to really get a feeling for a haunt without knowing what might have caused it. A little research by the author would have added immeasurably to a few of the stories but once again I may be being picky because this author has shown himself to be a more than capable researcher and I found that I really missed his work in this area.

Still, this is one fine book of ghost stories and one that any ghost enthusiast will want to read and own. The interview with George Lutz alone is worth the price of the book and I must applaud Jeff for having the courage to take on such a controversial subject. Also included is an interview with a nephew of Ed and Lorraine Warren (another controversial subject) that is quite frankly marvelous. This is without doubt a five star book so I just regret that I couldn't give the last book I read by this author six stars.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ghostly Good Times, July 13, 2006

By 

Tamara Thorne (California, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Our Haunted Lives: True Life Ghost Encounters (Paperback)

If you like your paranormal served up hot n' tasty, always watch for a new book by Ghostvillage.com's Jeff Belanger. This one includes the eye-openingly excellent interview with the late George (Amityville) Lutz that puts a far more realistic spin on the man than the popular press likes to present. Unknowingly, Jeff gave this man the honest epitaph he deserves.

I knew GL and had heard in private the things that Jeff coaxed out of him for the interview in this book. Having co-interviewed him on the radio, I also knew it was virtually impossible to get at the truth in that medium. It didn't make for ratings to talk about twisted-around metaphors being taken literally and publishing/production companies zinging things up. And George, easily baited, was quick to feed the fire whether he meant to or not.

The poor guy's dead -- he deserves a break. Everyone judged him by what others said, but here, Jeff lets him speak for himself. It's a Win-win thing.

As for the other items in this book, well, let's put it this way: There are only two paranormal non-fiction writers' books I'll buy sight unseen -- Loyd Auerbach's and Jeff Belanger's.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent scare!, February 6, 2008

By 

Kerri Bahrik "Kerri Bahrik" (Jasper, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Our Haunted Lives: True Life Ghost Encounters (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book! The stories are believable and scary!! I couldn't go to bed at night without feeling a little nervous! It is a very good read for a trip, as the book is simply filled with short stories. The author does a great job of grouping them together in categories. You won't be sorry you bought this!