Ghost Hunters: A Guide to Investigating the Paranormal

Product Information

The Ghost Hunters is really several stories meshed into one -- first, there is the story of Sarah Grey, a young woman living with her mother who in this book became confidential secretary to Harry Price, the subject of the second story, a "psychical researcher" and debunker of fake mediums during a time when spiritualism was at its heyday. The third story focuses on the "most haunted house in England," Borley Rectory. When I first bought this book I thought I was getting a horror story, and even though it didn't completely turn out that way, I was totally amazed at just how good this book is. While there is a bit of overdo on some parts of the drama, the novel as a whole is highly atmospheric,and there are definitely parts that will send shivers up your spine here and there, and parts that will satisfy any ghost-story lover's craving for a solid ghostly tale. This seems to illustrate why mediums can sometimes be accurate and other times so completely wrong. If the medium does not have knowledge of a particular subject matter or their brain works in a different way to that of the spirit, it's difficult for the message to be sent accurately.

I came to this book knowing nothing about the subject matter but as a keen student of history and Ghosthunters did not disappoint. It started too slowly for my liking but then I found it to be drawing me more and more into the story and caring about Sarah Grey, the mysteries surrounding the haunted Borely Rectory and the strange larger than life Harry Price. This to me is a very British story. It tells of eccentricity as one man and his enterprise creating a laboratory invested in solving the paranormal mysteries of the day and of ages past. He is a showman and a self-publicist operating in a very clipped, very precise world but he is also very much part of this world. He is also a very British boffin conjuring up new devices to unmask mediums who are magicians and other paranormal fraudsters. It is also a very British story to have a situation whereby a man's qualifications and his integrity can be called into question in an area where belief is usually suspended. There are also undercurrents of secrets that must not see the light of day and repressed love that cannot be. All these events are seen from the reflection of Sarah Grey and in truth it is more her story and how events impact and how Harry impacts upon her. In the process, the researchers spent a fair amount of time debunking fraudulent mediums, from the slate writers at Lily Dale (a popular Spriritualist retreat in upstate New York, still active today) to the world-famous founder of Theosophy, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. And yet, despite finding many con-artists, they also found a few genuine examples of paranormal activity beyond explanation. One was the medium Leonora Piper, who lived in Boston, MA. She was a subject of study for nearly two decades, and never once was found to cheat. In a survey of "crisis apparitions," taken in Britain and America, it was discovered that the number of people who had had seen spirits of dying friends or family, when limited to only the stories that could be verified in their particulars, was far above the normal statistical expectations for the surveyed populations. Perhaps the most striking experiments were the cross-correspondance ones, where four individuals, two in England, one in America, and one in India, all received the same messages from one of the researchers who had recently died. The messages corresponded to a specific poem of great meaning to the group, and the communication was further tested by asking questions of the "spirit" in Latin, a language unknown by the mediums who were receiving the messages. THE GHOST HUNTERS, by Neil Spring is a fantastic piece of historical-fiction based on the real case of the reputed haunted Borley Rectory. Harry Price sets out to debunk (where possible) the existence of supernatural phenomenon, and attempts to find proof of human manipulations. In this story, we are introduced to the fictional character of Sarah Grey, who becomes Mr. Price's assistant on these journeys, and other efforts to the same end.This fascinating and hard-to-put down volume (although I was a bit unnerved while reading it at night) follows several scientists who spent much of the 19th century (and a bit of the 20th) trying to reveal whether there was a scientific basis for many supernatural phenomena, including telepathy, telekinesis, communication with spirits, and haunted houses. In the process, they debunk many fraudulent claims (including Madame Blatavsky and the Fox sisters), but they can't quite explain away all the reports they collect. This is an first rate account by Deborah Blum of the emergence of a growing curiosity and serious research project regarding the existence of life after death, the possibility of communication with spirits, as well as the existence of mental telepathy. The parties involved were a group of well respected scientists and psychologists in the US, as well as the UK, in the late nineteenth century who formed the "Physical Research Society." It is hard to arugue with the respectibility of William James and Harvard as well as several other educated and determied participnts. In addition to their quest for knowledge and proof of an afterlife, they also set out to uncover the scam artists who were plentiful at the time. The work went on diligently for years by dedicated, educated people on both sides of the Atlantic, though many of their contemporaries spent a great deal of effort trying to dismiss any interest in this subject matter as pure folly. Those nay sayers and detractors made it their own mission to portray any of the documented findings in a negative and dismissive light. I have to admit this book excited my interests in the studies performed by the Society for Psychical Research (The SPR’s former presidents’ list reads like the Who’s Who in Science). One reason may have been my enormous respect for the works of the father of American psychology William James who presided over the SPR from 1894 to 1895. What is very interesting is the roll call of exceptional scientists who in one way or another gave their names in support of this kind of research. From Wallace (Darwin’s co-discoverer of Evolution) to Arthur Conan Doyle. That I can think of not a single scientist who would be prepared to say that it is remotely likely that spirits can lift tables or move curtains today either proves that there has been a remarkably successful conspiracy to keep this stuff secret or modern scientific methods of detection are somewhat better at spotting fraud than they were at the start of the 20th century.

I think that structuring the book differently might have alleviated this problem. For example, had the book followed fewer people, focusing more on their narratives, it might have felt more "over" when the people at the center of the story die. Or having the final chapter or two follow more recent follow-up studies on the same topic. The Victorian era was probably the high-point of belief in spiritualism - who doesn't picture all those fine gentleman and corseted ladies participating in seances, dabbling with Ouija boards, tilting tables and automatic writing? It's probably no coincidence that this peak in belief coincided with the rise of science as we understand it - perhaps this emerging insistence that the universe could be codified and classified and explained also gave rise to some kind of reaction against it, this belief that there were some things beyond explanation? What the SPR researchers sought to do was apply scientific methods of research to psychical phenomena; they questioned whether there could be communication with the dead, either through physical manifestations (ghosts, rapping) or verbal ones (automatic writing, trance mediumship). In the late 19th century, Spiritualism was a growing movement, and seances were popular, particularly among those who had lost loved ones in the not long past American Civil War. While most scientists scoffed at the idea of "talking to the dead," this small group of researchers chose to look at the problem scientifically.

The plot is based on a true story, that of Borley Rectory, the alleged 'most haunted house in England', and its investigation by paranormal researcher Harry Price. Complete with academic-style, apparently factual footnotes, it's obviously been painstakingly well-researched, to the point that most of it might read like non-fiction were the story not told from the viewpoint of a fictional character - Price's secretary and research assistant, Sarah Grey. Grey's account makes up the majority of the book, and it is framed by the tale of a psychologist who, in the 1970s, has discovered it in Price's decaying library of oddities. I believe this is a first book, and to be fair I did think it improved as it went along. The character of Harry Price was well drawn - a really mercurial personality. I'm going to investigate more about him. Sarah, the ex glamour model (??) never rang true for me. In fact many times I could have cheerfully slapped her. This novel merges fact and fiction in an absorbing and evocative ghost story. Harry Price (1881-1948) was a real psychic researcher; a sceptic renowned for exposing fake spiritualists and best known for his investigation into Borley Rectory, called ‘the most haunted house in England.” In this book, an academic is given a manuscript by Miss Sarah Grey, which tells the story of Price’s investigation into Borley Rectory. Miss Grey was a young woman whose father had died in the first world war and who lived with her mother. Like many of her generation, her mother looked for answers in spiritualism, which flourished after the war, capitalising on grief. Sarah and her mother attend a meeting with Mr Price, after which she is fascinated by both him and his work. Before long, she has become his assistant and her life is changed forever.

Another great quote (pg 264) by W James: "Nature is everywhere gothic, not classic. She forms a real jungle, where all things are provisional, half-fitted to each other & untidy." Speaking about Mr. Myers acceptance of the complexity of the cosmic environment, "although we may be mistaken in much of the detail, in a general way, at least we become plausible." I think the knowledge that Borley Rectory was a real haunted place and Harry Price was a real ghost hunter makes this book extra special. The author has taken some liberations with the story. This is not a true story, but there are some truths in the story. Sarah Grey has never existed, she is based on a secretary that worked for Harry Price a while. But still, it's really fascinating to read this book and I was intrigued by Harry Price and can fully understand why Sarah Grey was too. Even though as I understand it the Harry Price in this book was more charming than the real one. Books like this one, either written in support of spiritualism or against it, always follow the same formula. First you are given a series of miraculous tales. You are given time to ooh and ahh. Then some of these tales are completely discredited. It turns out that this is Neil Spring's first published novel. It turns out he's working for John Lewis (blame Goodreads; it's not stalking - I promise, Your Honour), it also turns out that this novel is one of the best ghost stories, historical novels or gothic novels that I have read in years. Bravo, that man. Wow. Seriously, damn (said in an American accent). The books only diverge at this point. Those in favour focus on the ‘successful’ accounts and say something like, “Although we can never really know, some doubt must always be part of the scientific method and …”Blum is an author who knows her subject matter and has delved deep into the Victorian period. Scientists interested in proving the possibility of life after death embarked in investigating the phenomena of mediums. The book charts the controversy and conflict caused between scientists interested in the phenomena and those that didn't believe that this type of research was valid. Everything about this story is enchanting. Not in a fairy-tale kinda way, but a ghostly kinda way, if you know what I mean. I really, really enjoyed The Ghost Hunters. I, like many others out there, find the paranormal mysterious and I've always enjoyed reading stories, seeing pictures of haunted houses and "apparitions". What's included in the book is exceptionally mystifying; maps of the actual Borley Rectory, illustrations of the house and newspaper clippings. It's terrifying yet entertaining and I just couldn't put this one down. There's something about this book... I can't put my finger on it, but there's definitely something different about it. And personally, I LOVE different. There's nothing better than it. Unfortunately, the tale was a bit on the dull side. From a pure story view, there's absolutely nothing here that hasn't been seen a hundred times when it comes to the intrepid scientific debunker of mystical charlatans or the expected twists that come with tales of this nature. "Is it real or is it hoax?" So often, readers of this kind of trope rely on the strength of the characters and the excitement of the plot to carry us along. Basic premise is girl goes to work for parapsychology professor in the late 1920s, early 1930s. He's trying to prove it's all bunk. She's not sure and is in love with him. And indeed, I found it very hard to keep going with this book, all the way through the first two thirds. I didn't believe the characters, I kept tripping over the writing, and not much happened.

So, it might seem reasonable to expect that I didn’t like this book. Well, it is a strange thing. Parts of this book annoyed me – but not for the content so much as how it was told. I got a bit lost at times as there seemed to be too many stories going on. But this was less a book about the cheats (oh, sorry, spiritualists) and more about those who had been cheated (oh, I mean, their scientific investigators). I did warn you that I was prejudiced. This is absolutely not a horror book, more a mystery would I say. A paranormal mystery book. Despite dealing with a house that is said to be haunting was the book never scary to read. And, it could feel a bit long sometimes. I can honestly say that if Sarah Grey and Harry Price had not been so interesting to read about had this been dull to read. But they give the book life. So far this is an excellent glass of wine, roaring log fire sort of ghostly tale. Lots of dark hints, a mysterious journal, parapsychology professor and a spooky old building. What more could a reader want? I'll update when done.

Become a Member

GHOST HUNTERS didn’t convince me that spirits don’t exist. It did put a spotlight on the beliefs at the time. The Hauntings - Taking facts and information from the original investigation worked well here, I mean, who doesn't want to read about a ghosty nun staring at you through windows while taking jolly walks across the garden?