Review By Ken Korczak
People who are hardcore fans of paranormal investigation and who have read widely on the topic will find little to whet their interest in this collection of true ghost encounter stories.
Just about every case discussed reads like a worn cliché of the genre - there are little girls who had an "imaginary friend" - but could it really have been a ghost? There's the standard, "She felt a creepy cold hand touch her foot under the bed covers!" and the hackneyed: "The area where they lived was once inhabited by Indians before white settlers drove them out, the Indians tragically died, and so now ...lah, la, lah, la, lah ..."
And let's not forget the hospital that was converted into a hotel, and thousands of people probably died in the hospital, and so now maybe the hotel rooms are infested by the confused dead. An especially egregious sin (in my mind) occurs after the hospital-to-hotel story -- there appears (by golly!)the name of the hotel, the number you can call to make a reservation, and for a kicker, the web site where travelers can get more information!
That's right! Nothing helps establish credibility like a little advertising pitch along with your chilling ghost tale.
Sure, the author interviews real people, names real names and places them in real locations, but this hardly helps because there is no real meta-analysis of each encounter, just incredibly bland speculation, as in, "is it possible a little girl died in the house and is now seeking attention ...?"
For me, every page reads like a very general paranormal fluff piece the editors of Woman's World or Parade magazines might place in between recipes and house cleaning tips in their October Halloween issues.
If you have only a casual interest in paranormal subject matter, and have not read widely in the field, this book may intrigue you. Those looking for some juicy paranormal "red meat" won't find it here.
Ken Korczak is the author of: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA
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