Ghost: Investigating the Other Side FROM THE PUBLISHER
With the same open and personal style that won her much praise for Piercing the Darkness, bestselling author Katherine Ramsland turns her keen and curious eye to the phenomena of ghosts to uncover the truth behind a number of supernatural "sightings". Ramsland's extraordinary investigative memoir takes readers directly into the world of ghost hunting and paranormal activity, offering an unflinching account of this mysterious world. On the track of an authentic "haunting," Ramsland encounters psychics, shamans, voodoo practitioners, and high-tech ghost hunters eager to reveal how to contact spirits. But through her own daring experiments, Ramsland is able to penetrate the supernatural mystery that has inspired paranormal investigations worldwide.
FROM THE CRITICS
Whitley Strieber
What a fascinating journey into the world of ghosts.
Dean Koontz
Ghost is the best book of its kind I've ever read.
Publishers Weekly
Ramsland (author of numerous books on Anne Rice, vampirism and other ghoulish subjects) is just the sort of person you'd want to tell you a ghost story: credible, smart, sane and funny, neither a believer nor a skeptic. Cast as an adventure in "participatory journalism," the book begins with Ramsland's chance acquisition of a haunted silver ring. Determined to extract its secrets, she sets out on a quest that gradually turns into a full-blown investigation of psychic aberration in America. She plunges into the vast culture of ghost detection, sleeping in haunted bed-and-breakfasts from Salem to Sedona, familiarizing herself with the latest technology while also consulting conventional occult modes tarot, palm, Ouija. Charmingly understated at all times ("I never quite know how to talk to someone who lives simultaneously in two time periods"), Ramsland admits to being impervious to the spirit world; while psychics and sensitives of every description reel and recoil at the mere sight of her ring, she at first feels and sees nothing. Her gradual conviction, as she delves deeper and deeper into the realm of the unseen, that "something is out there" is all the more spine-tingling. Ramsland is a master of foreboding, and as her tale unravels, an explosive climax seems inevitable. What results more a creepy certainty than a frightful resolution may disappoint some readers. But whatever its payoff, the book will find avid fans among X-Files watchers, amateur ghost hunters, and the vast majority of those who feel that things that go bump in the night should be heard rather than seen. Agent, Lori Perkins. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
A haunted ring acquired during Ramsland's research for Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today (LJ 9/15/98) drove her to explore the ghost world in this investigative memoir. With a healthy blend of skepticism and avid interest, Ramsland journeys, X-Files-style, into the realm of medians, channelers, psychics, exorcists, and ghost hunters to research the ring's connection to its former owner, a murderer who claimed to be a vampire. Ramsland is careful not to impose easy frameworks on the facts, and her openness enhances the hunt as she sleeps in haunted bed-and-breakfasts and gives tarot and palm reading a try. This daring jaunt is recommended for public library collections on the paranormal and any library with a large occult collection; browsers will be attracted.-Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach Lib. Dist., FL
Home
