The Worlds Most Haunted Places: From The Secret Files Of Ghostvillage.com (Paperback)

by Jeff Belanger (Author) "On a bright sunny day, Ballygally Castle is a living postcard-a charming, almost teal-colored Scottish baronial castle overlooking the sea in Northern Ireland..." (more)
Key Phrases: most haunted places, ghostly legends, ghost tours, White House, Queen Mary, Ordsall Hall (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Ghostly legends abound wherever history has made its mark-from battlefields to monuments, prisons to inns. If these places have existed for centuries or more, and if they are where history-especially tragic history-was made, ghost stories will inevitably follow. The World's Most Haunted Places: From the Secret Files of Ghostvillage.com explores the history, folklore, and ghostly legends behind some of the world's most fascinating points of interest. Objective, educational, and entertaining, Ghostvillage.com's founder, Jeff Belanger, speaks with witnesses, psychics, and ghost hunters who tell their stories and share their research on haunted places around the globe. Take a world tour of history, the supernatural, and the macabre. You will explore libraries, museums, restaurants, inns, and landmarks from North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. But be careful: The World's Most Haunted Places may make you a believer!

Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: New Page Books (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564147649
• ISBN-13: 978-1564147646
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #228,177 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfection!, June 29, 2005

By	Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

First of all, it should be stated that this is not truly a book that covers the "World's Most Haunted Places" because there is only one story from continental Europe and none from Africa, Asia, or South America. Mostly, this is an account of some very haunted places in what could be termed the Anglo-Saxon world, in other words the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States. Of course to do the extensive examination of each case that the author presents here and cover the entire world would require a tome of Biblical proportions or collection of many volumes. Maybe we can hope for the second possibility and can expect many more books from this very talented writer.

This is quite frankly one of the best ghost story books that I have come across in a very long time. The author has taken the time to do all of the three things that go into making a good book of this type. First he presents the history of the place where the haunting is located and does so accurately but without getting bogged down in detail. Therefore, the reader will learn something of the history of places like the Queen Mary, Big Nose Kate's Saloon or the White House but just enough to get a real feel for the place and not enough to make this into a history book. On top of this, Mr. Belanger has his facts straight and doesn't spout historical fallacies that are so glaring that the entire book's credibility is ruined.

Next, the author presents a clear and logical history of the haunt itself. He relates the story behind the ghost or ghosts in question by telling his readers the theories about whom the ghost might be. Sometimes there is more than one school of thought when it comes to this question and Belanger relates them all, letting the reader decide which theory best fits. He then proceeds to relate the early sightings involving the haunt he is writing about and some of these apparitions have been reported for hundreds of years.

Finally, each and every story related in this book is backed up with modern eyewitness accounts, a trait that is often missing from these books. Mr. Belanger has most certainly done his homework and has talked to at least one person who has experienced each haunt first hand, and in many cases he has testimony from several witnesses. Many of the cases covered in this book contain accounts of paranormal experiences that have occurred in the last five years and nowhere does the author rely on old legends which no living person can attest to. Some of the haunts to be found in the book are well known, such as the Whaley House and the Tower of London, but even with these well worn haunts Mr. Belanger is able to shed some new light. He does this once again by actually talking with people who have had some kind of experience is the last few years.

The author's writing style is pleasing, his research is meticulous and he has done the leg work necessary to bring his stories to life and make them believable. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a book of ghost stories as much as I have enjoyed this one. I wish that everybody who plans on writing a book of this type would read this book so that they could see how it should be done. This is as close to the perfect ghost story book as I think I am ever likely to read.

49 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ***** HAUNTINGLY WONDERFUL!, August 27, 2004

By	www.hauntedcolorado.net "Pisces" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is SUPERB.

It is from the folks at ghostvillage.com.

Websites, phone numbers and great black and white photos of each haunted location are included.

Here are the haunted locations covered in this book:

Ch. 1- Ballygally Castle Hotel (Ballygally, Ireland)
Ch. 2- The RMS Queen Mary (Long Beach, California)
Ch. 3- The 1891 Castle Inn (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Ch. 4- Rose Hall Great House (Montego Bay, Jamaica)
Ch. 5- Hibbing High School (Hibbing, Minnesota)
Ch. 6- The Deane House (Calgary, Alberta)
Ch. 7- Imperial Casino Hotel (Cripple Creek, Colorado)
Ch. 8- The Catacombs Museum (Paris, France)
Ch. 9- Big Nose Kate's Saloon (Tombstone, AZ)
Ch. 10- Ordsall Hall (Salford, England)
Ch. 11- The White House (Washington, DC)
Ch. 12- The Alaskan Hotel (Juneau, Alaska)
Ch. 13- Monte Cristo Homestead (Junee, New South Wales)
Ch. 14- Mercy Brown, The Rhode Island Vampire (Exeter, Rhode
Island)
Ch. 15- Empress Theatre- (Fort Macleod, Alberta)
Ch. 16- Thornewood Castle (Lakewood, Washington)
Ch. 17- The Skirrid Mountain Inn (Llanvihangel Crucorney, Wales)
Ch. 18- Archer Avenue's Resurrection Mary (Chicago, Illinois)
Ch. 19- Billy Bishop Legion Hall (Vancouver, BC)
Ch. 20- South Bridge Underground Vaults (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Ch. 21- The Pirates' House (Savannah, Georgia)
Ch. 22- Boggo Road Gaol Museum (Brisbane, Queensland)
Ch. 23- Stone's Public House (Ashland, Massachusetts)
Ch. 24- Muncaster Castle (Ravenglass, England)
Ch. 25- The Andrew Bayne Memorial Library (Pittsburgh,PA)
Ch. 26- The Spaghetti Warehouse (Houston, TX)
Ch. 27- The Olde Angel Inn (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario)
Ch. 28- The Whaley House (San Diego, CA)
Ch. 29- The Tower of London (London, England)

I highly recommend this book- it's SUPERB and very well-researched!!

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must have" ghost book, September 27, 2004

By	Roberto Aberasturia Jr. (New York City, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I first picked up this book I was concerned that it was going to be another one of those "ghost hunters" who thinks they know everything about the afterlife and was going to preach it to me. I love reading about ghost stories, but I don't go in for a lot of that ghost hunting stuff. I was pleasantly surprised at how objective the reporting is in this book. Clearly the author did his homework. I learned something new about some places I
already knew were haunted, and I had no idea about many of the other places covered. It's amazing how similar a ghost encounter can be on opposite sides of the world. Highly recommended!