If you find true paranormal accounts to be as truly captivating as yours truly, then John Pinkney's HAUNTED: The Ghosts That Share Our World is more than well worth a read. At more than 350 pages (at least 100 or more more than a whole lot of other ghost story collections out there - most of which will also most likely cost you a great deal more than Mr. Pinkney's ghostly collection), the book isn't just an excellent value; it's a real steal.
What's more, the author is a seasoned screenwriter and journalist who puts it all down for posterity with impeccable skill and clarity, and this particular book really shows it. Odds are, however, that you'll scarcely even pay John Pinkney much mind while sinking your very eye teeth into this well crafted volume of scary good stories. And that's as it should be, of course. Because thankfully, Mr. Pinkney doesn't impose himself all that much on his meticulously researched subject matter, the way a lot of authors in this genre tend to do, but rather, he sticks to the spooky facts, just as they've been set down throughout Australia's colorful (though often overlooked and highly underrated) history.
Which brings me to the other thing that I found so absolutely absorbing and frighteningly fascinating while reading Mr. Pinkney's collection of creepy tales from way down under. Australia! That's right, it's a true pleasure to dive into the captivating culture and hair raising history of the fantastic phantoms that have long haunted that most intriguing of southern hemispheric corners of the British Commonwealth. So even though North American readers may need to pause every now and then, and look up a few of the more definitively Oceanic-centric terms and nomenclature, believe me, it's more than well worth the time and effort. 'Cause Australia is just so doggone interesting, of course! And come on, rich Australian history + ghost stories! Who could possibly ask for more?
Make no mistake, this is a very well written and researched ghost story compendium, and Mr. Pinkney really should be highly commended for his studious and very objective treatment of this wonderfully intriguing subject matter. If, however, there is any shortcoming at all in this particular collection, I'd actually have to say that it may be that the book is... believe it or not, just a bit too long! And yet, I mentioned above that one of this book's strongest points is its considerable length.... Well, the flip side of that, unfortunately, is that after a while, all those marvelously scary details start to get just a bit overwhelming. Oh, here's another haunted mansion! Yet another roadside wraith! Oh dear! How to keep them all straight?
Don't get me wrong though. Despite its almost encyclopedic length, this is a GREAT BOOK, and I absolutely cannot help but highly recommend it to just about anyone. But, if I'd had my druthers (and I can hardly believe I'm even suggesting this, given the fact that I have, in the past, chided other authors in this particular genre for publishing far too many true paranormal themed books that were much too short, and therefore could have easily been combined into a single volume), but I really would have liked to have seen all this material broken up into at least two smaller collections. Oddly enough, it seems to me that that kind of editorial brevity would have actually helped this book out a great deal.
But who's complaining? Not me! I thoroughly enjoyed John Pinkney's 'Haunted,' and am now eager to read more works by this relatively unsung Australian author. To be sure, HAUNTED: The Ghosts That Share Our World is more than suitably chilling throughout. But more to the point, all the cases are fact based, and most have primarily occurred in and around Australia. What's more, the author really knocks this one out of the old ball park. And then some. And I'd say that that's a whole lot of good stuff for just one collection of good old fashioned ghost stories, wouldn't you?