When I was growing up, my favorite kinds of book to read were mysteries and ghost stories. I adored stories that made me quiver and quake, and as I got older that attraction extended to “true” accounts of hauntings and the paranormal. I will never forget reading the classic “The Demonologist: The True Story of Ed and Lorraine Warren” by Gerald Brittle. It was and is the scariest book I have ever read.

Reading stories of possession, hauntings, poltergeist activities, and phone calls from the dead is all about using your imagination to augment the words on the page. It is true that what your imagination creates when reading is far more vivid than anything that can be shown on video or in photographs.

For those who love reading books about things that go bump in the night, writers Maureen Wood and Ron Kolek have penned a paranormal look at several historical cases, including the Lizzie Borden story.

The new wave towards debunking and scientifically explaining supernatural phenomenon, while also presenting a medium’s view of the same events, can be seen on almost every “ghost hunting” show on TV. There are literally a dozen such TV series in production, on cable channels such as SciFy, Travel Channel, History Channel, and Animal Planet.

I watch them all, but with a healthy dose of skepticism. It seems that each has a unique team of investigators, and the personalities of the leaders of these shows makes for some exciting sit-in-the-dark-and-be-scared moments. They seem to debunk just enough of the claims to make you think they are serious about what they are doing, that they are not staging any of the noises or flying coins and stones. And watching the “evidence” that is gathered is always the coolest part as we get to see and hear their findings.

A friend of mine, who has been around ghosthunters for decades tells me it is mostly all bunk. A few hunters of the supernatural have been whistleblowing of late, revealing the “truth” of the ghost investigations and how rigged they actually are.

Even though I know this, I still watch, but now I find myself being much more critical. And that is a good thing. I judge a show by its production value, how exciting it is created, how credible it feels, and how they each present their findings. While I don’t “believe” in any of it, I get to have fun pretending it is real.

To see just how many paranormal shows there are, check out the wikipedia page on “Paranormal TV.”

Here is a review of the book mentioned above:

From the Amazon.com site:

From Publishers Weekly
With a gaggle of friends and equipment in tow, Wood (the medium) and Kolek (the scientist) explore allegedly haunted New England houses, restaurants, and historical sites. Kolek, the founder of the New England Ghost Project, offers scientific explanations and observations regarding the realm of the unknown while Wood flexes her ability to channel the deceased, who appear in the form of ghosts and poltergeists. The duo turn up their fair share of spooky phenomena, including phantom infant cries, vanishing knickknacks and ghostly apparitions. More intense encounters include an apparent exorcism in which a woman and her dog are tortured by a poltergeist. Though the pair do a commendable job balancing the spooky goings-on with rational explanations and a healthy measure of doubt, it’s difficult to believe this will convince a skeptic. Still, the partners maintain a breezy excitement throughout, and the episodic nature of each chapter makes for great serial before-bed reading. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

“The perfect combination for a paranormal investigation.”
David Wells, Most Haunted

A unique collection of episodes from the case files of the New England Ghost Project

Journey into a world of the unexplained and the unknown, a world where what you can’t see captivates all your attention. A trance medium and a paranormal scientist team up in this spellbinding collection of 17 supernatural mysteries, a mere sampling of the spooky episodes in their vast ghost hunting case files.

Former skeptic Ron Kolek, with his infrared camera and EMF meter, and fifth-generation psychic Maureen Wood, with her sixth sense and pendulum, have become experts in investigating ghosts, whether they’re helping the descendant of an accused witch, checking out the spirits of Lizzie Borden’s slain parents, or assisting a monk with an exorcism. Their unique partnership adds a new dimension, and their adventures will test the senses and challenge everyday thinking…and just might make you believe in the paranormal.