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Surrounded by Ghosts: Tales of Pogey Point and Places from my Past
Discover Janet’s true encounters with spirits from beyond the veil
Janet Larkin has lived a life full of unexplained events. As a newborn, she died and came back to life. Then her sister drove over her skull with a tractor. And when she was eight years old, she had a conversation with her grandmother, who had died before Janet was born.
In Surrounded by Ghosts, Janet recalls her creepiest stories and grapples to make sense of a life overflowing with paranormal phenomena. When she was still a girl, Janet received foreknowledge of a double homicide next door, and then she saw the ghost of one of the victims. While at a Memphis hotel room, she experienced a terrifying demon posing as her husband. She even telepathically communicated with the soul of her unborn daughter. From northern Utah to northern France, Janet’s spooky collection takes you on an unforgettable adventure with spirits from beyond the veil.
Janet Larkin has lived a life full of unexplained events. As a newborn, she died and came back to life. Then her sister drove over her skull with a tractor. And when she was eight years old, she had a conversation with her grandmother, who had died before Janet was born.
In Surrounded by Ghosts, Janet recalls her creepiest stories and grapples to make sense of a life overflowing with paranormal phenomena. When she was still a girl, Janet received foreknowledge of a double homicide next door, and then she saw the ghost of one of the victims. While at a Memphis hotel room, she experienced a terrifying demon posing as her husband. She even telepathically communicated with the soul of her unborn daughter. From northern Utah to northern France, Janet’s spooky collection takes you on an unforgettable adventure with spirits from beyond the veil.
- GenresParanormalGhosts
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 8, 2013
Book review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/giveaway...
Surrounded by Ghosts is the written account of Janet Larkin, who has been seeing ghosts ever since she was eight years old. When she was a newborn, Janet died and came back to life. She had another traumatizing accident during her youth, and when she was eight, she had a dream in which she met her deceased grandmother. If her ability to see the dead and communicate with them is because of her passing away and coming back to life, remains to be seen, but it certainly seems plausible. Ever since she met her deceased grandmother, Janet has been seeing ghosts way too often to ignore.
One of the accounts in the book is how Janet received a forewarning of a triple homicide about to happen next door. She deals with this quite well, in a very rational way, not blaming herself for being unable to do something about it – which lots of others certainly would have. That’s an example of how she behaves throughout her life as chronicled in the rest of the book, with a certain passivity when it comes to the supernatural. She’s not an actor, more like a victim, a person who dreadful things happen to. Instead of taking charge of her abilities, she appears content to let them slumber.
Then there’s the demons and angels, which turned an otherwise believable and relatable story into something almost unbelievable. At some point, Janet has an encounter with a demonic entity posing as her husband in her appartment. I’m wondering if maybe this wasn’t a hallucination. Why would a demonic entity pose as her husband once, and then leave her alone for the rest of the time? Why would they have it in for her? And why, after this encounter, did they leave her alone?
When taking only the ghostly encounters into account, the book is an easy read, and it’s not hyped or sensationalized. I liked the writing style – it was simple and to the point, and didn’t distract the reader from what Janet Larkin had to say. Overall, this was a decent read, but it could’ve done without the demonic encounter or the angels – especially if so little proof was given.
Surrounded by Ghosts is the written account of Janet Larkin, who has been seeing ghosts ever since she was eight years old. When she was a newborn, Janet died and came back to life. She had another traumatizing accident during her youth, and when she was eight, she had a dream in which she met her deceased grandmother. If her ability to see the dead and communicate with them is because of her passing away and coming back to life, remains to be seen, but it certainly seems plausible. Ever since she met her deceased grandmother, Janet has been seeing ghosts way too often to ignore.
One of the accounts in the book is how Janet received a forewarning of a triple homicide about to happen next door. She deals with this quite well, in a very rational way, not blaming herself for being unable to do something about it – which lots of others certainly would have. That’s an example of how she behaves throughout her life as chronicled in the rest of the book, with a certain passivity when it comes to the supernatural. She’s not an actor, more like a victim, a person who dreadful things happen to. Instead of taking charge of her abilities, she appears content to let them slumber.
Then there’s the demons and angels, which turned an otherwise believable and relatable story into something almost unbelievable. At some point, Janet has an encounter with a demonic entity posing as her husband in her appartment. I’m wondering if maybe this wasn’t a hallucination. Why would a demonic entity pose as her husband once, and then leave her alone for the rest of the time? Why would they have it in for her? And why, after this encounter, did they leave her alone?
When taking only the ghostly encounters into account, the book is an easy read, and it’s not hyped or sensationalized. I liked the writing style – it was simple and to the point, and didn’t distract the reader from what Janet Larkin had to say. Overall, this was a decent read, but it could’ve done without the demonic encounter or the angels – especially if so little proof was given.
August 27, 2014
Surrounded by Ghosts is an excellent book on paranormal and otherworldly activities. I am a big skeptic on anything paranormal or unusual and have never read fiction or non-fiction about the topic, so as my first read on these events, I found Surrounded by Ghosts to be logical and relatable. Most of the stories and encounters with ghosts or angels are a gentle tread in the otherworldly and left me with comfort to not only read them and understand them, but to also discuss them with other skeptics like myself. There were however, some events which I found hard to believe, but these come very cleverly towards the end of the book, when the reader is already sensitized to the topic.
What I also liked about the book and specifically about the author, is her tendency to first find logical explanations towards paranormal events and only after these events persist, does she go further and listen for clues. The author deserves a big credit for going deeper and exploring what these events may be and finding a voice to beautifully tell them as non-fiction.
Besides the encounters with ghosts, angels and demons, the author does a fantastic job of writing a memoir. Apple orchards, beautiful landscapes and old houses of Utah and Maine, provide a great backdrop to her personal family stories of working mothers, growing up and relationships. I could vividly picture the settings where these events took place and almost feel them as they were happening.
On a very personal level, the book gave me hope that I may have another chance to meet my deceased parents.
What I also liked about the book and specifically about the author, is her tendency to first find logical explanations towards paranormal events and only after these events persist, does she go further and listen for clues. The author deserves a big credit for going deeper and exploring what these events may be and finding a voice to beautifully tell them as non-fiction.
Besides the encounters with ghosts, angels and demons, the author does a fantastic job of writing a memoir. Apple orchards, beautiful landscapes and old houses of Utah and Maine, provide a great backdrop to her personal family stories of working mothers, growing up and relationships. I could vividly picture the settings where these events took place and almost feel them as they were happening.
On a very personal level, the book gave me hope that I may have another chance to meet my deceased parents.
August 1, 2013
As a newborn, Janet was nearly lost to whooping cough. According to her father, she was as good as dead but came back. As a young girl she had another near-death experience but survived. And, from the age of about 8, she has been seeing ghosts.
Janet is an anthropologist and her story is a memoir of her life thus far and her encounters with spirits, angels and demon(s). In an attempt not to sensationalize her experiences, her story is an easily read, basic account of ghostly encounters. Occasionally she interprets waking dreams, but as a whole Surrounded by Ghosts is a light romp without much depth or dimension. In my opinion, she writes more like a sociologist than a historical anthropologist.
Ultimately, fans of ghosts stories or those who consider themselves clairvoyant will likely find a connection with Larkin.
Digital ARC generously provided by the Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. and NetGalley.
Janet is an anthropologist and her story is a memoir of her life thus far and her encounters with spirits, angels and demon(s). In an attempt not to sensationalize her experiences, her story is an easily read, basic account of ghostly encounters. Occasionally she interprets waking dreams, but as a whole Surrounded by Ghosts is a light romp without much depth or dimension. In my opinion, she writes more like a sociologist than a historical anthropologist.
Ultimately, fans of ghosts stories or those who consider themselves clairvoyant will likely find a connection with Larkin.
Digital ARC generously provided by the Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. and NetGalley.
October 12, 2013
I feel that the description for this book is a little misleading. After reading it, I was definitely expecting more ghost stories than I actually got. More than anything, this is a memoir of author Janet Larkin’s life as a clairvoyant. I believe in ghosts, but I am a skeptic who’ll always look for a logical explanation first. That being said, there were one or two of her experiences that were a little hard for me to swallow, but the author’s detailed writing style made everything she wrote much more believable to me. There were times when the writing felt a little stiff, like I was reading a report of what had occurred with no real emotion attached to it. Thankfully those moments were few and far between. For the most part I felt that the story flowed fairly well, was easy to read, and was very interesting. Janet Larkin has certainly lead an amazing life!
NOTE: I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for my honest review.
NOTE: I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for my honest review.
March 8, 2014
I received this book through Netgalley.com. Thank you to Netgalley.com, to Llewellyn Worldwide, and to Janet Larkin.
I'm rating this book with a very shaky 3 stars.
I didn't realize this was a memoir. There was a lot of introspection. There was also a lot of analysis regarding the existence, the feelings, and the purpose/goals of the ghosts. The descriptions of the dreams were a bit too drawn out in my opinion - I lost interest and tended to skim through them rather than feel connected to the author/dream. I suppose I feel like this was more a journey of discovery for the author than a telling of paranormal experiences. There are parts where the author described actual paranormal experiences and these were very interesting. They were, however, overshadowed by the personal introspection.
For those of you interested in memoirs and ghostly experience, this may be a good book for you. For me, I just don't think it was a good fit.
I'm rating this book with a very shaky 3 stars.
I didn't realize this was a memoir. There was a lot of introspection. There was also a lot of analysis regarding the existence, the feelings, and the purpose/goals of the ghosts. The descriptions of the dreams were a bit too drawn out in my opinion - I lost interest and tended to skim through them rather than feel connected to the author/dream. I suppose I feel like this was more a journey of discovery for the author than a telling of paranormal experiences. There are parts where the author described actual paranormal experiences and these were very interesting. They were, however, overshadowed by the personal introspection.
For those of you interested in memoirs and ghostly experience, this may be a good book for you. For me, I just don't think it was a good fit.
June 8, 2013
So, Janet Larkin, the author, believes that she has had numerous encounters with ghosts...and angels and a demon, as well. She basically sees and hears stuff all of the time. I had a difficult time staying engaged with this book. There are a lot of details she shares about her life (divorces, father-abandonment issues) that mean a lot to her but do little for the overall story arc. She has waking dreams where she spent time with her dad and her grandmother in another dimension (or maybe heaven...but in one place there was a barbecue, so who know).
Larkin is an anthropologist, so maybe she feels the need to record every detail. She rarely reacts to these sightings, just reports them and moves on to the next chapter.
I think Larkin might be a fun friend or neighbor with her stories, but on paper, she is a little flat.
Larkin is an anthropologist, so maybe she feels the need to record every detail. She rarely reacts to these sightings, just reports them and moves on to the next chapter.
I think Larkin might be a fun friend or neighbor with her stories, but on paper, she is a little flat.
December 27, 2013
Seriously, what the hell did I just read? I am so happy that I bypassed this one when I saw it up for review. First off, I was reminded about a ghost story that I read several years ago that the family dysfunction outweighed the "ghost story". Second, this author's writing was incredibly off. It jumped from incident to incident with no warmth or attachment. I couldn't get through this book fast enough.
December 2, 2013
I thought it was a great story of how her life has been surrounded by spiritual beings. Great book, everyone should read!
February 20, 2015
Parts were interesting, but overall not very good. The writing seemed choppy.
March 11, 2018
It was ok. she tends to jump aound which can make it hard to follow.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews