50 Real Ghost Stories: Terrifying Real Life Encounters with Ghosts and Spirits

by M.J. Wayland

Terrifying real life encounters with ghosts and spirits" Published for the first time, MJ Wayland releases fifty real-life ghost experiences told by the witnesses. Carefully selected, this book is a collection of some of the most strangest, weirdest and down right spookiest stories that the author has uncovered over the last three decades of investigation. Stories include: EXPERIENCES IN AN OLD LONDON PUB MY CHILD'S GHOST VANISHING SCHOOLGIRL THE GLASGOW GHOST THE GHOST OF ST ALBANS THE HOTEL MYSTERY THE GRINNING GHOST THE SEA CAPTAIN'S HOUSE THE CANAL BUILDING GHOST NORTH YORKSHIRE GHOST NORMAN RETURNS HEADLESS DOG OF MANCHESTER THE HAUNTED HOLIDAY THE HAUNTED MARSHES WEIRD EXPERIENCES HAUNTED AIRFIELDS BLACK MAGICK GHOST SOUTH WALES HAUNTING CHESHIRE COTTAGE HAUNTING THE PARANORMAL FOLLOWS ME DON'T STAY HAUNTED GRAVEYARD HAUNTED PIANO TEXTING GHOST THE NIGHTMARE LADY THE OLD NURSING HOME FLOATING GHOST GHOST WITH NO MOUTH HAUNTINGS IN THE DALES GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE HAUNTED HARROGATE HOUSE GHOST ATTACK OR NIGHTMARE? THE SCHOOL'S GHOSTS THE MYSTERY LADY A30 GHOST A GHOST IN SUFFOLK A PUB WITH SPIRITS MY EXPERIENCES OF WINGATES GROVE MY NEIGHBOUR RETURNED THE GHOST CAR THE GHOST OF THE HALIFAX BOMBER OUIJA BOARD EXPERIENCE HAUNTINGS AT KENTISH TOWN AND MORE! Excerpt from the book: "A ghost story should never end perfectly. That is my rule of thumb. After investigating ghost experiences for nearly thirty years, I realised that the finely polished stories told by storytellers and "ghost walkers" were exactly that - polished. In polishing stories we lose the personality of the haunted and indeed the haunter itself, that's why in my books, research papers and articles, I always maintain the original testaments and facts. The stories that I have collected for you now are rough diamonds, totally unpolished and any additions by myself are kept to a minimum and noted clearly. As I began to compile these stories I began to realise that I was actually becoming very affected by them and I am sure you will too. There is no doubt you will have your favourites once you have read the book, but mine are as follows. One of the standout stories for me, is "The Ghost with no mouth" - a series of terrifying experiences in a modern house in which the witness's child describes the ghost as having "no mouth and wears black boots but is naughty." The experiences were very real to the family involved, and you wonder if "Black Square" continues to haunt this dwelling. Another story "The Mystery Lady" is downright creepy, a man encounters a strange woman on a deserted train station, she mumbles to herself and refuses to get on board the last train to Portsmouth. The next day he discovers that he was actually talking to a ghost! I spare you the details so not to spoil the story, but you will certainly have a chill! In total there are fifty real experiences with ghosts and spirits included in this book and all direct from the witnesses themselves. None of them wanted their names publishing or any publicity about their experiences but all of them had the need to share, and share they have done.

Genres: Paranormal

118 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2012

About the author

MJ Wayland is a writer, researcher and historian specialising in ghosts, supernatural belief and fringe history. His research has appeared in dozens of publications and he has consulted and appeared in over one hundred television programmes and documentaries. During the last ten years he has lectured internationally as well as appearing at The Sunday Times Literature Festival (alongside Professor Bruce Hood) and various festivals and universities across the UK.

MJ Wayland’s interest in the paranormal, especially ghosts, began at an early age after experiencing a number of unusual incidents that his peers could not explain. In his early teens he joined various research societies and began to study the multiple facets to the paranormal with a scientific and historical viewpoint. His research has taken him from dark haunted castles of Britain to the haunted graveyards of New Orleans, investigating his primary love of ghosts to sightings of black panthers.

Since the mid-1990s, MJ Wayland has provided consultancy for TV, film and theatre as well as appearing in local, national, international newspapers, radio and TV. He is the author of eight best-selling books, “50 Real Ghost Stories” holding the Amazon top 10 bestselling Paranormal book for the second consecutive Halloween in 2013.

Since the mid-1990s MJ Wayland has curated, consulted and organised paranormal events for locations and companies including Warwick Castle, Harewood House, Nokia and many more. He was responsible founding of the internationally renowned Mary King’s Ghost Fest, as well as programming the fourteen day Oxford Castle Ghost Fest in 2009 and 2010.

More recently he provided consultancy for the forthcoming Hammer film “The Quiet Ones” due April 2014.

Reviews

[Dana Decker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't love it. I had to make myself finish it. This could have just been the wrong time for me to read this. I typically like short spooky ghost stories but I just found myself bored. The book is strictly set in England and ghostly stories surrounding the area which is really neat. I learned alot about different places I've never heard of so that was interesting but the whole reason for buying this was for the ghost stories which didn't catch my interest at all. Not for me but that doesn't mean its not for anyone else. The stories range from 1 page to about 4 pages. No story is longer than that. Short book and should have been a one day read for me but it took me 2 weeks of reading a story here and there just to finish it.

[Erica]

There were great stories in here, it’s just a shame that M J Wayland didn’t edit or proofread anything or just give a cursory glance over things please I beg. Not wanting things to be too “polished” just seems like an excuse to not go over your work. The errors took away story authenticity rather than preserve. Some of the sentences completely obscured the testimonial accounts because they didn’t make any sense.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very easy read of ghostly stories that occur in England area. Lots of variety and very fast to read. A great addition to a personal Halloween collection.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the paranormal and I was looking for something a little different to read and decided to give this book on real ghost stories a go.

I really enjoyed how the book was set out and I it was great to have punchy chapters that allowed me to read a few throughout the day. It was a really additive read and I love things that give me a little shudder and make me question, “what if”

I liked that the stories were generally told by the people who had the encounters in their own words which gave the book a more genuine and “real” feel to it.

It is 5 stars from me for this one, a great way to spend a few hours and a great read overall – very highly recommended and one I really enjoyed!

[J C Mitchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this because the stories weren't stories in the conventional sense, but anecdotes about things people had experienced. I agree with the author that the best ghost stories aren't perfect because in real life, ghost encounters are rarely explained or wrapped up neatly at the end.

Some of the dissatisfaction I felt probably came from how short most of the anecdotes were; I wanted to know more.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting anecdotes

This book was basic but a fairly interesting read nonetheless. It was an easy read of real life ghost stories, told in bite size portions. There was nothing too terrifying, just some good old fashioned spooky tales that were a pleasant, unchallenging read at bedtime.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. This book is a collection of 50 real ghost stories. I don't believe that ghost's exist so I don't believe that any of the stories are real but the stories are creepy nonetheless.

[R.A. Goli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received book as part of a book subscription box I bought.
Most stories were pretty boring ‘I felt a presence, I saw a shadow from the corner of my eye’. I suppose to experience them would be creepy, but they made for dull reading. Though there were a couple of creepy tales in the mix. The fact Wayland didn’t edit the stories - to keep the stories authentic - meant there were a few grammatical and spelling errors. The archaic use of a double space after each sentence was also distracting. It was a quick easy read and not totally unpleasant.

[Billy white · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book could not put it down would recommend to anyone interested to read this book . The writer has done very well on his research of the stories within the book.

A very interesting book I could not put down I would recommend to anyone to read this book. The writer is amazing and I will read all his books.

[Anthony Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a short and easy read. I would have preferred a book that tried to explain the various paranormal activity , and if you are looking for that, then this book is not for you.

If you want a book packet with short ghostly narratives, albeit concerning the usual suspects of bangs, ghostly apparitions and cold rooms, then give it a go

[Aimee Bolland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the layout of this book, every story was separate and easy to read. Some of the stories were believable and interesting too. I just found some of them a bit boring and written in a way that wasn’t enjoyable to read. There was also a lot of mistakes in the writing that could have been easily fixed.

[Hannah Foskett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really easy read, each story is 1 - 2 pages. Full of personality, entertaining, light hearted and a great book to get in the mood for Halloween!

[Madeline McQueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories and entertaining. Even better if you're into ghost stories.

[Keighley]

More anecdotal stories of encounters with ghosts that scary stories. Dont let the creepy cover fool you, this isnt a spooky read :/

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best I've read, it's got a few spelling mistakes. Still entertaining though.

[Mia Krone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cant quite figure out what to believe about all these stories. Some seemed a bit cliche, but some really scared me!

[KBooks - · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet and short book, with some thrilling ghost stories. I really enjoyed this book as I am interested but somewhat Sceptical of ghost so I love to read stories of them.