What do you think?
Rate this book
Caught on Film
Ghosts Caught On Film: Photographs of the Paranormal
"Ghosts Caught on Film" presents an extraordinary collection of strange and unexplained photographs that offer the exciting possibility of ghosts and paranormal activity captured on film. It covers every aspect of the paranormal, from early photographs of psychics, mediums and ghostly happenings, to celebrated recent photos and the most interesting examples of the unexplained, as collected in the archive of the Society for Psychical Research. Each picture is accompanied by a description of its circumstances and the steps taken by researchers to establish that there is no 'normal' explanation for the phenomena. The incredible photographs will stimulate the interest of everyone who sees them. Whether you are a sceptic or a believer, you can't help but be drawn into the mystery.
156 pages, Hardcover
First published October 18, 2007
1 person is currently reading
586 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 28, 2022
I found the history of photography -- and particularly the history of paranormal photography -- fascinating. I wish things had been arranged chronologically rather than by subject matter, but I understand why the choice was made.
A lot of the photos here are grainy or too dark or out of focus: I'm not clear if those are errors in the original photos or in their reproduction in the book.
All in all, I enjoyed the book. I'd like to read more on the subject.
A lot of the photos here are grainy or too dark or out of focus: I'm not clear if those are errors in the original photos or in their reproduction in the book.
All in all, I enjoyed the book. I'd like to read more on the subject.
November 3, 2008
The question mark at the end of the title should have warned me - there is no attempt to evaluate the images as real or not. That said, it's clear immediately that 80% of the photos are horrible, laughable fakes, which is pretty fun in itself, so I gave it 3 stars, when it really deserved 2. Also, randomly, there are sections of the Virgin Mary images in various things - wood, tortillas, building facades, etc., and pictures of the charred remains of spontaneous human combustion victims. I though this book was about ghosts caught on film!? This book is all over the place and pretty silly.
July 27, 2009
The collection of ghostly photos and anecdotes contained within is enjoyable to examine and ponder. Unfortunately, many of the photos are commonly published and quite fake-looking. The creepy vibe I expected just wasn't there. I think that's why I liked the lesser-known photos in The Paranormal Caught on Film more.
February 19, 2008
Looked through this at Barnes and Noble. Some of the classics, and quite a few new exposures. We're closing in on the day of a coffee table book called Ghosts Caught on the Camera Function of Cellular Telephones: Thumbnails of the Paranormal?
July 9, 2018
In a word: Interesting. Overall, a pretty creepy collection of photographs that will likely make you both uncomfortable and bring on the smirks.
August 11, 2021
Compendium of all the famous ghost photos. Printed in good big size, letting you decide what you think of each, with a write-up for each one. He gives the background stories quite fully, summarises as per this size of book the the trends in the investigative history into each photo, and offers pros and cons. It is good for confidence in the book's reasonably fair balance that he believes in some and not others. You don't need to agree with him on each photo, it is still a quick info source on them.
I have come across several different odd views of the mother in the back car seat, including an anti-ghost speaker absurdly saying it's just a light/shade effect! But here, he points out some anomalies about the far side of the car that I have not heard before, that its proportions look wrong and have a hint of a tree, Surprised though that he appears to believe in a photo debunked 10 years before this book came out, the Wem photo, and not to know it was debunked. The girl was found in an old postcard photo. So it remains worth checking online about any photo that particularly interests you. Yet for the 1919 Air Force photo he seems unduly sceptical, saying it could have been anyone in the background, when that photo is strongly backed up by the dead guy's recognition by his colleagues.
For a couple of photos he prefers ideas that they were time slips or aliens, than ghosts, hence his opinions are influenced by belief in those things. Bring your own perspective.
I have come across several different odd views of the mother in the back car seat, including an anti-ghost speaker absurdly saying it's just a light/shade effect! But here, he points out some anomalies about the far side of the car that I have not heard before, that its proportions look wrong and have a hint of a tree, Surprised though that he appears to believe in a photo debunked 10 years before this book came out, the Wem photo, and not to know it was debunked. The girl was found in an old postcard photo. So it remains worth checking online about any photo that particularly interests you. Yet for the 1919 Air Force photo he seems unduly sceptical, saying it could have been anyone in the background, when that photo is strongly backed up by the dead guy's recognition by his colleagues.
For a couple of photos he prefers ideas that they were time slips or aliens, than ghosts, hence his opinions are influenced by belief in those things. Bring your own perspective.
February 5, 2022
Not a bad book but definitely my least favorite of the series. A big chunk of the first half was devoted to pareidolia (i.e. seeing the Virgin Mary in a tree or a Hindu elephant god in the clouds above a Hindu temple). That's... not a ghost. Not even close.
I wouldn't have minded so much but there were only 5 chapters in the whole book and 1.5 of them were devoted to these pareidolia things which aren't ghosts and can barely be considered paranormal at all.
I wouldn't have minded so much but there were only 5 chapters in the whole book and 1.5 of them were devoted to these pareidolia things which aren't ghosts and can barely be considered paranormal at all.
September 1, 2018
A disappointment overall. The majority of the so-called ghosts are either people dressed to look like something from a horror film or photos, perhaps modified, then placed in another setting and photographed again. A few might be genuine, but they're usually wispy and, I'd guess, not exciting enough for those who go on to fake photos.
November 27, 2019
Easily the best in the series. The author describes each photo more-or-less objectively and suggests possible mundane explanations for many of them. Many of the pics are well-known and some are not. An excellent ghost book all around.
February 19, 2021
Some of the stories in here were really exciting and I love the history that they rode others were easily debunked. what I don't like is that they published a bunch of books under different names but they have the same stories in them just rearranged.
January 19, 2018
Interesting.
August 24, 2023
This is my favourite book as it drove my curiosity when I was younger. Many of these are clearly fake, but the book remains interesting to flick through no less.
April 29, 2021
This book is pretty outdated now as a lot of the photos in it have since been debunked, such as the Hampton Court ghost and the fairies in the garden
January 19, 2016
This is the largest book in the series. There are three other books that are basically reprints of parts of this big one.
The books are not done by a wild-eyed believer. If anything, the author goes the other way in attempting to present as many arguments against some photos as possible. He makes not claim that any particular photo is shows a real ghost without any doubt.
He also establishes a list of alternative explanations for what photos could actually be. He has a number of questions to ask about any photo.
1. Is the photo a deliberate fraud?
2. Was there a flaw in the film or in the developing?
3. Did the photographer uses other people or props to make the photo seem to show something that wasn't really there?
4. Did the photographer forget that other people might have been there when he took the photo?
5. Was the photo really due to some odd lighting condition?
6. Was the lens possibly contaminated somehow by dust or something else?
7. Does the photo show something that is natural but not fully understood physically?
Before one thinks that they have a real ghost photo, they need to come up with answers to the above questions. It's basically up to the photographer to prove beyond doubt that there are no alternative explanations for what is seen on the photo before it could be considered as showing an actual ghost.
Of course, at the same time, there are many people, most scientists included, who, no matter how careful the photographer was will deny that the photo shows something real. Such people carry skepticism a step to far.
Herein is the problem with trying to prove anything paranormal is real. Science accepts only that which can be measured, tested and examined in the laboratory or something similar. Paranormal phenomena are, by their very nature, things that cannot be tested in a lab. They are things that do not appear all the time at a certain time every since day. Some can be photographed and some can be examined with the use of a EM field tester.
The books are not done by a wild-eyed believer. If anything, the author goes the other way in attempting to present as many arguments against some photos as possible. He makes not claim that any particular photo is shows a real ghost without any doubt.
He also establishes a list of alternative explanations for what photos could actually be. He has a number of questions to ask about any photo.
1. Is the photo a deliberate fraud?
2. Was there a flaw in the film or in the developing?
3. Did the photographer uses other people or props to make the photo seem to show something that wasn't really there?
4. Did the photographer forget that other people might have been there when he took the photo?
5. Was the photo really due to some odd lighting condition?
6. Was the lens possibly contaminated somehow by dust or something else?
7. Does the photo show something that is natural but not fully understood physically?
Before one thinks that they have a real ghost photo, they need to come up with answers to the above questions. It's basically up to the photographer to prove beyond doubt that there are no alternative explanations for what is seen on the photo before it could be considered as showing an actual ghost.
Of course, at the same time, there are many people, most scientists included, who, no matter how careful the photographer was will deny that the photo shows something real. Such people carry skepticism a step to far.
Herein is the problem with trying to prove anything paranormal is real. Science accepts only that which can be measured, tested and examined in the laboratory or something similar. Paranormal phenomena are, by their very nature, things that cannot be tested in a lab. They are things that do not appear all the time at a certain time every since day. Some can be photographed and some can be examined with the use of a EM field tester.
June 18, 2008
I am sure that nearly all of these photographs have logical explanations that wouldn't be too hard to work out, many are obvious fakes, but there are a few that make you think 'Maybe...'.
Mervyn Willis writes a small amount of text to go with each photo. This is a good starting point for those interested in the paranormal as it contains some historical information; names, places etc. Willis does offer tentative explanations but really he wants us all to believe in ghosts. There's also a helpful bibliography at the back of the book.
Mervyn Willis writes a small amount of text to go with each photo. This is a good starting point for those interested in the paranormal as it contains some historical information; names, places etc. Willis does offer tentative explanations but really he wants us all to believe in ghosts. There's also a helpful bibliography at the back of the book.
September 26, 2013
Ghosts Caught on Film: Photographs of the Paranormal is by Melvyn Willin, and its a 118pg non-fiction book. I honestly did not enjoy this book. Some of the pictures seemed fake and photoshopped. It didn't keep me interested in the book. However, some of it wasn't that bad. Some of the book could actually explain the paranormal things that were going on in the book. The cover of the book seemed interesting, but once I started reading it, it was boring.
June 16, 2010
I actually thought this book was more about actual photos that were paranormal. It was a mix of real and I guess fake? Paranormal photos. I know there are a few in there that are definitely real.
Reading about the different photos were interesting, even the ones that weren't real. Overall it wasn't a bad book. It was a pretty interesting read.
Reading about the different photos were interesting, even the ones that weren't real. Overall it wasn't a bad book. It was a pretty interesting read.
June 5, 2021
It’s a very short read. I went through it, saying (to my younger son): “This one’s fake...this one’s fake...this one’s fake...” He asked, “How do you know?” I can just tell. There were very, very few photos that gave me pause. The one truly interesting thing about this book is how advanced photography has come since its invention. Other than that, it was quite boring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2008
I love this book. These are classic and lesser-known ghost photos reproduced on pages Photoshopped to look like the pages of a photo album or scrapbook. The text briefly explains the circumstances of each photo and assesses how authentic it might be, or not.
September 11, 2011
Fascinating collection of pictures of ghosts caught on film - some definite hoaxes but others make you think.
Back Cover Blurb:
An extraordinary collection of strange and intriguing photographs is presented here and every aspect of the paranormal is explored.
Back Cover Blurb:
An extraordinary collection of strange and intriguing photographs is presented here and every aspect of the paranormal is explored.
October 6, 2016
Most of the pictures are obvious fakes, many of which are available online anyway, and the commentary adds nothing. He ends almost every section with something like "What do you think?" or "Make up your own mind." So... I think this book stinks and I have made up my mind to get rid of it.
August 6, 2014
Some of these I'd seen before and some are obviously tricks of the camera. But there were some that made you think "Maybe..."
January 30, 2010
Great photos and if any are real, extremely interesting too! If you have any interest in ghosts or the paranormal, then this book is for you! Fun and easy to read too.
September 9, 2010
Read it with my daughter, she loves the pics and trying to find the ghosts. I like how the author gives arguments for both sides then asks you to make up your own mind. Fun little coffee table book.
February 27, 2012
Very interesting ; well done:)
September 14, 2014
Pretty cool pictures in this book and wonder if they will make a new one. I am all about paranormal and ghosts.
September 8, 2012
Really spooky pictures of ghosts caught on pictures! Loved it!!
May 1, 2015
nice photograph book about ghosts!
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews