Will Storr Vs. The Supernatural: One man's search for the truth about ghosts

by Will Storr

When journalist and ghost sceptic Will Storr heads to Philadelphia to meet Lou Gentile, a demonologist, he expects a little fun with an amusing eccentric. What he gets are terrifying experiences of spectral lights and horrific demonic growling - and all of his safe, adult preconceptions about ghosts instantly vanish.In the cold light of day, Will decides on a quest for the truth about ghosts. He meets professional paranormal investigators and takes part in séances and a vigil in the most haunted house in Britain, tries out divining rods and ouija boards, and goes on set with TV's Most Haunted. But Will also seeks out the sceptics in clinical psychology and philosophy who ask if spirits are really just in our heads.His journey is full of bizarre, terrifying and hilarious experiences, each one a new insight into life, death and what might come after.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, Ghosts, Horror, Humor, Supernatural, Science

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 19, 2006

About the author

Will Storr is a long-form journalist, novelist and reportage photographer. His features have appeared in The Guardian Weekend, The Telegraph Magazine, The Times Magazine, The Observer Magazine, The Sunday Times Style and GQ, and he is a contributing editor at Esquire. He has reported from the refugee camps of Africa, the war-torn departments of rural Colombia and the remote Aboriginal communities of Australia, and has been named New Journalist of the Year, Feature Writer of the Year and has won a National Press Club award for excellence. His critically acclaimed first book, Will Storr versus The Supernatural is published by Random House in the UK. The Hunger and the Howling of Killian Lone is his first novel.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will Storr - image from his site

Storr is a young journalist who decides that he wants to look first hand at various things ghostly. He begins with a skeptical eye, becomes mostly a believer after seeing some very strange things, then heads back to disbelief after meeting with a psychiatrist, then heads back somewhere in between. He is led to ponder the nature of souls. The book is written in a breezy manner, taking the subject matter seriously but not so much so as to become a harsh debunker. He has a nice sense of humor and a pleasing style that makes this book easy to read. My wife found it creepy at times, and I suppose it is, but I was never creeped out. It was an enjoyable and informative read.



=============================EXTRA STUFF

Links to Storr's personal and Twitter pages

A list of his articles for The Guardian

==================================Quotes

Physician Stuart Hameroff and his partner Dr. roger Penrose are world experts in the study of consciousness. And the work that they’re doing now may end up changing the way we view existence forever. Because they do think that the mind and the body are separate things. Their research has left them to believe that our souls exist on the tiniest, most fundamental level of the universe – the quantum level….Our brains, these men claim, do not create consciousness. They just channel it, like a television picking up a station. (p 234)

This is the thing that I’ve learned over the last twelve months about blind belief in the supernatural: faith is for the frightened. These are the things that frighten human more than anything else – death, loneliness and guilt. That’s the ominous three, the holy trinity of dread. If you sign up for a supernatural belief like Christianity, these timeless problems disappear in a puff of incensed smoke. Death? No worries. Paradise awaits you. Lonely? Don’t be daft – god loves you and is with you always. Guilt? Just say the word and you’ll be forgiven. And it’s not just the Christians. (p 306)

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books that make you simultaneously laugh out loud and afraid to turn of the lights should be banned.

[El · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this book a while now, but it usually makes it to the bottom of the pile when it comes to my Halloweeny-themed reads because it struck me (based on the description and the goofy author photo on the back of the book) as a desperate attempt at bringing humor to the author's experiences. There is humor, there is some goofiness, but it's not desperate.

Will Storr is a self-proclaimed cynic, but follows paranormal investigator Lou Gentile (not to be confused with the senator from Ohio) to see what this whole ghost thing is about. Along the way, Storr meets a variety of people claiming paranormal experiences, from a demonologist to Janet, the younger sister involved in the Enfield Poltergeist case in the late 1970s. Storr has some questionable experiences himself, yet claims to continue to not believe, even when he runs out of rooms. He attempts to offer up other suggestions as to things he has seen or heard, but ultimately there aren't a lot of conclusions.

I was especially disappointed with the last investigation in the book, which was interesting and terrifying to me as it involved a young boy with autism in Kentucky who had an exorcism performed in order to release the demon inside of him. As the chapter was finishing up, some more questions were raised, but then it just... ended. Like Storr went to sleep and that was that.

Overall there are some spooky things going on in this book and it's a fine enough read. I think a nice addition would have been the inclusion of some of the photographs that were taken during the investigations, but that's a personal preference. It was a good addition (and final book) to my Halloween theme for 2014, and I am happy to finally have read it.

[theghostwriter · Rating 5 out of 5]

a british journalist investigates the supernatural in this hilarious and completely entertaining read.

at one point he describes a few ghosthunters he is interviewing as being in their "late thirties and significantly out of shape, and one of them has upsetting, medieval teeth."

i COULD NOT put it down and was totally laughing out loud constantly.

[Pamela (Here to Read Books and Chew Gum) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will Storr vs The Supernatural is a book unlike any other I have ever read. It is the completely unashamed account of a skeptic journalist’s mental journey as he seeks out both believers and skeptics alike in his quest to discover a truth behind supernatural occurrences. It is a book that challenges everything that both skeptics and believers might think of ghosts, demons and the afterlife.

Will Storr begins the book a firm skeptic when he travels to interview self-proclaimed “demonologist”, Lou Gentile in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. What he experiences there sends him on a journey which brings him face to face with ghost lights, anti-Satanist vigilantes, exorcisms, the Vatican, EVP and psychologists, along with a bevy of other fun and exciting characters. He stays in haunted houses, sleeps in haunted rooms, attends divination ceremonies and goes ghost hunting with paranormal researchers. What he finds along his journey is both fascinating and terrifying.

Storr does not give any definitive answer to the question behind the truth of the supernatural. The book proves to be less a book about proving or disproving the existence of an afterlife of sorts, and instead focuses on the human need to understand something unexplainable. It is a book about the human mind, and how those who believe wholeheartedly, and those who doubt, doubt with just as much conviction. It is a work that tries to bridge that divide and show both sides of the story with equal import. While there is no ultimate conclusion to be gained from reading this book, it does serve as a valuable insight in to how certain subjects can be viewed from the other side of the fence.

The prose flows, and the writing is funny, dark and self aware. Storr does not seek to force an opinion on his readers, simply to impart an experience, leaving his audience to decide for themselves what to do with the information that he provides. That he experienced things that cannot be explained is undeniable, but whether the experiences have a natural or a supernatural explanation is ultimately left to the reader to decide. Storr shares information without passing judgment, but does so in an entertaining, sharply intelligent and subtle way.

The book leaves the reader with the knowledge that there are things in this world and universe that cannot be explained. To deny something outright as possible or impossible is foolish and is narrow minded, in both belief and skepticism. Ultimately we are challenged to keep our minds open for the possibility that there are things out there that we as human beings are simply unable to explain.

Will Storr vs The Supernatural is a book that I would highly recommend to anyone. It is truly mind opening and downright entertaining.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book, british journalist will storr's examination of ghosts and the trappings that surround them, is an entertaining and oft-times spooky travelogue of one man's belief in the supernatural.

what started as a jokey assignment for a magazine (essentially poking fun at "american eccentric" and demonologist lou gentile), actually makes storr question his previously-held sceptic's beliefs. he then takes us with him from one interview to another, discussing his findings and experiences along the way.

while some folks he's interviewed come across as completely bonkers (or "mental," as the british case may be), others show an odd kind of reason.

i won't divulge where he ends up or the conclusions storr reaches, but this is definitely worth a read for anyone who's wondered about ghosts but hasn't quite made up his or her mind.

[Justyna Sk · Rating 3 out of 5]

„…wiara jest dla tych, korzy się boją. Bardziej niż cokolwiek innego ludzi przerażają śmierć, samotność i poczucie winy. To złowieszcza trójka, święta trójca strachu. Jeśli zapisujesz się na wiarę w zjawiska nadprzyrodzone, na przykład chrześcijaństwo, to nieprzemijające problemy znikają w kłębach kadzidlanego dymu. Śmierć? Bez obaw. Czeka na ciebie raj. Samotność? Nie bądź głupi - Bóg cię kocha i zawsze przy tobie jest. Poczucie winy? Wystarczy słowo, a wszystko zostanie ci wybaczone.”

Reportaż przeciętny, ale dla tego podsumowania warto było go przeczytać.

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have what some might call an unhealthy interest in ghosts. I have been on ghost walks, read lots of ghost stories, and even stayed the night once at Edgar Allan Poe’s grave in the hopes of seeing a ghost. So when this book arrived, I got very excited. Then, I put it away. It fell into the TBR pile and didn’t reappear for months.

But the truth is, it’s good I didn’t read this book this winter when I might have - I would have been too scared to sit in my house alone on dark evenings. Somehow when I know it will be warm and sunny in the morning, things don’t seem as scary. That’s probably naive on a lot of levels, but so be it.

The book tells the story of journalist Will Storr’s attempts to discover the truth about ghosts by going on various supernaturally-motivated trips. The book begins, wisely I feel, in the States when Storr tags along with a demonologist to study the happenings at a particular woman’s house. I won’t tell you what does happen there - I don’t want to ruin it - but let’s just say it’s enough to make Will take these ghost ideas more seriously, even so far as to contemplate whether they might be demonic.

The book continues with Storr visiting various ghosty sites in the UK, his homeland, including the set of the popular TV show Most Haunted, where he is, let’s just say, less than impressed. He spends the night in haunted houses and walks the copses of England to try and thwart Satanic rituals. Basically, his exploration runs the gamut of supernatural experiences. And in the end, well, you’ll have to see what he decides about his experiences.

I found the book both immensely interesting, profoundly honest, quite scary at times, and very well-written. There’s a clear awareness by Storr of his prejudices and his dispositions about these things, and he’s not afraid to keep himself in the story. Because he allows himself to speak out clearly in the book, I am able to travel along with him and translate the experiences through his eyes, eyes I trust. Plus, he’s just really funny. Really funny.

I also appreciate that he entertains all kinds of theories about ghosts - from the demonic to the scientific. There are no easy - or easily accepted - answers here, and as a person of faith who struggles with how to interpret the experiences of the supernatural, I appreciated both his candor and his sincere questions.

I highly recommend this book if you’re interested in the subject matter or if you just want to read a good book of creative nonfiction. It’s really worth it, even if you get a bit nervous at the thought.

[K.J. Charles]

Interesting read on a man's journey from finding the supernatural ridiculous to becoming an unwilling believer, to learning where he's been fooled, where he's fooled himself, and where areas of doubt remain. Storr picks this all apart intelligently, recording and analysing his emotional responses, pointing out that without investigation, both belief and disbelief are just articles of faith rather than considered views. My notes on this also say "good on quantum" which I'm going to have to take Past Me's word for, since I can never remember anything about quantum.

[Wayne Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will Storr doesn't believe in ghosts but he's open to persuasion. In this book he attempts to find out the truth about the spirit world.

I quite enjoyed it but while some chapters were excellent and highly amusing others were a bit on the boring side. I also couldn't quite work out why he refused to debunk the various clearly deranged ghost hunters he met during his investigations. His argument that they seemed like nice people and he didn't really have the ability to prove that they weren't making it up seemed a bit lame to me. The requirement for proof ought to lie at the feet of those making grand claims, especially in this area where great swathes of charlatans (even nice ones) clearly exist.

Also, when I first heard about the book, the reviewer implied it was really scary. I didn't find it a bit frightening however, except maybe one bit where he's hanging around in the woods, which was tense from a 'there might be mentalists on the loose' sort of angle rather than a fear of the supernatural.

My biggest problem with it is it just petered out, with no satisfying conclusion. It was a journey that went nowhere in the end. His one "real" encounter with a ghost led to him bottling it. If he wanted to prove or disprove the supernatural that was his chance, and instead he hightailed it, which I just didn't get.

Definitely an interesting book, and worth a read, but ultimate somewhat of a letdown.

[Monika || mons.reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75

Nie wiedziałam, czego się spodziewać po tym reportażu - czy pójdziemy w stronę strasznych historii, czy raczej tekstu o zdarzeniach paranormalnych ogółem. Koniec końców myślę, że autor wybrał najlepszą opcję: pół na pół. Mamy nieco straszniejszych historii przeplatanych rozmowami z - powiedzmy - specjalistami. Sam autor podchodzi do tematu otwarcie, choć czasami sceptycznie, ale jego niektóre reakcje wydają mi się bardzo naturalne, za co u mnie zapunktował. Trzeba też przyznać, że nieźle pisze, więc właściwie przez ten reportaż się płynie i wchodzi naprawdę dobrze.

Czy oczekiwałam czegoś straszniejszego? Może i tak. Ale z drugiej strony, chyba nie do końca o to chodziło. A autor stawia odwieczne pytania, jednocześnie nie narzucając żadnej odpowiedzi i nie zmuszając czytelnika do opowiedzenia się po którejkolwiek stronie. Pokazuje za to, że czasami dzieją się rzeczy niewytłumaczalne, że historia pozostawia różne ślady, a czasami po prostu ludzie szukają uwagi.

[Kitap Yakıcı · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was more or less an impulse buy at the local public library's friends of the library two-for-one sale. Honestly I don't know what to think about ghosts and whether or not they exist in some meaningful sense, but I enjoy hearing about them, watching TV shows about them, and reading about them, particularly if the presentation is good. So when I saw this eye-catching cover and saw that it was subtitled "one man's search for the truth about ghosts," I thought, "This definitely looks like it would be worth a quarter." (Actually, my first thought was, "Who in the heck is this Will Storr fellow, and am I so out of the popular culture loop that I have never heard of someone famous enough to reference himself in the title of his book?") And boy, was this book ever worth a quarter! I would even go so far as to say I would buy it new, now that I know how good it is. It is witty, engaging, creepy, and deeply thoughtful. Storr lives up to his word: he really is after the truth about ghosts, whatever that is, and while he interviews scads of people from diametrically opposed positions and perspectives, he never gives in to the urge to resolve things too easily. I want to quote his thoughts near the end of the book to show you what I mean:

I'm now convinced that there is evidence of something following death. Because ghosts exist. There really are such things as apparitions and EVP and poltergeists and heavy breathing in old rooms in the night. And humans, being humans, feel compelled to explain that. But they can't. It's only the faithful who think they can. In this regard, Christians are just the same as witches and druids and anti-Satan vigilantes and skeptical monsterologists and hard rational scientists. They all think they've got answers, but really, they're all wildly theorizing. The simple truth is—nobody knows. Nobody, not Dr. Salter, Dr. Garvey, Father Bill, or The Founder, knows what happens when our brains finally flicker off. We're in the dark about death and the purpose of existence. And an awful lot of people, it seems, are scared of the dark. This is the thing I've learned over the last twelve months about blind belief in the supernatural: faith is for the frightened. These are the things that scare humans more than anything else—death, loneliness and guilt. That's the ominous three, the holy trinity of dread. If you sign up for a supernatural belief like Christianity, these timeless worries disappear in a puff of incensed smoke. Death? No worries. Paradise awaits you. Lonely? Don't be daft—God loves you and is with you always. Guilt? Just say the word, and you will be forgiven.

And it's not just the Christians. There's a certain kind of ghost-believer that's victim to this same syndrome. They use ghosts, just as Dr. Salter said, to make themselves feel more important or to convince themselves that their dead friends, family and lovers are'nt just Spam for maggots. They use their cod logic to bring order and meaning to their chaotic and seemingly meaningless lives. And some of them use it to dress themselves up as instant experts. You can say anything you like about ghosts and, providing you do it with enough authority, you'll get your own slot on satellite TV.

But not all the ghost-convinced are like this. Because if you strip away all the nonsense, you're left with something that most Christians will never have. You're left with evidence. Genuine, unexplained, skull-bucklingly fantastic evidence. For me, the extraordinary truth about ghosts doesn't lie in the individual experiences of one witness or another. It lies in the patterns. That, perhaps, four or five other people heard breathing in that room before me, doesn't make it four or five times more interesting, it makes it one of the most incredible mysteries in the world. Just like the previous occupants of Annie's room, the many victims of poltergeists, the worldwide thousands who've recorded EVP, the routinely spooked visitors to Michelham Priory, the young brothers who talked to the woman in their bathroom, it's the chorus of humans who are experiencing the same things, evidence of intelligent ghosts, that make this subject so profound and wondrous and universal....

As for the hard skeptics, I think that to believe so passionately in the existence of nothing that isn't immediately obvious is to suffer the most gigantic failure of intelligence and imagination. The universe—the reality in which we exist—is such an immeasurable, unbelievable and, ultimately, unknowable thing. And the only thing I know for sure is that it's a stranger place than any human has the capacity to imagine. (pp.306-8)

For a transcendental agnostic like me, that kind of (in)conclusion is music to my ears.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best parts of Will Storr vs. The Supernatural are when Storr happens upon nifty philosophical questions posed by the possibility of the supernatural. Storr realizes, for example, that if ghosts live on after the mortal coil has died, then Cartesian dualism is correct. So he contacts a philosopher to explain Cartesian dualism and how it was defeated. And then he gets into Hume, balance of probabilities, and defaults and concludes that one should default against ghosts existing.

And then there's the issue of evolution--when do ghosts start? As for people, when do they depart? In Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich wonders when they leave while working in a care home. If someone has no idea who they are, or who anyone around them is, has the spirit left? Does one ascend as a healthier, younger spirit? How much younger--Anakin Skywalker younger? Are people soulful creatures or are they just complex zombies?

The voices in one's head. One psychologist says that all of us can talk to ourselves in our head, a phrase which means a sort of dialogue. He argues that as we talk more to this voice, it and the other begin to take on more distinct personalities. In this moment, perhaps we gain a sense of what it is like to hear voices. He suggests that maybe whatever happens that allows us to talk to ourselves can become faulty and this is where voices come from.

Our brains are hardwired to explain what we encounter, and they'll often jump to conclusions. (Sounds like confabulation.) It's easy to conclude that supernatural explanations are correct when we aren't sure what has just happened. I haven't experienced this in a supernatural way, but I do notice whenever I play "collect every American licence plate over the summer" that I'll often glance at say, a licence plate from Oklahoma and see Kentucky (esp. if I've yet to see a Kentucky plate on the road that summer). I've actually seen the letters rearrange themselves as my mind sorts out what it's seeing rather than what it wants to see.

The weakest part of the book is ironically the possessed people he encounters. Somehow they're just not very interesting. In its best moments, this is a fun book. Apparently ghosts appear around 3:00 a.m. Last night, I woke up at 2:25 and panicked: "go to sleep! go to sleep! go to sleep!"

This is the third Storr book I've read, and I seem to have encountered them out of order as this one was published before Unpersuadables and Selfie. This is also the weakest of the three that I've read.

[Mateusz Kołota · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will Storr, znany brytyjski dziennikarz i reportażysta, w książce „Nadprzyrodzone” zabiera czytelnika w niezwykłą podróż na granicę nauki, wiary i ludzkiej wyobraźni. To opowieść reporterska, filozoficzna i osobista zarazem – historia człowieka, który wyrusza, by obnażyć nonsensy wiary w duchy, a kończy, zadając sobie pytania o samą naturę rzeczywistości.

Punktem wyjścia jest proste zlecenie: artykuł o łowcy duchów z Filadelfii. Jednak Storr – z natury sceptyk i racjonalista – szybko zostaje wciągnięty w świat, w którym granica między faktami a złudzeniem staje się niepokojąco płynna. W kolejnych rozdziałach towarzyszymy mu podczas spotkań z egzorcystami, szamanami, druidami, spirytystami, a także z naukowcami i sceptykami próbującymi racjonalnie wyjaśnić każde „niewyjaśnione” zjawisko.

Książka nie jest jednak katalogiem paranormalnych zdarzeń – to przede wszystkim refleksja nad ludzką potrzebą wiary. Storr pokazuje, jak bardzo pragniemy, by świat miał sens, by istniało „coś więcej”. W swoich rozmowach i obserwacjach stawia pytania, które nie dają się łatwo zbyć: dlaczego widzimy to, czego nie ma? Skąd bierze się nasza skłonność do transcendencji? Czy racjonalizm rzeczywiście chroni nas przed złudzeniem – czy raczej odbiera coś istotnego?

Reporter prowadzi narrację z typową dla siebie lekkością i ironią, ale nie brakuje tu chwil prawdziwego niepokoju. Opisując opętania, seanse i spotkania z ludźmi przekonanymi o istnieniu świata duchów, autor nie szuka sensacji. Zamiast tego – uczciwie próbuje zrozumieć. Jego sceptycyzm zderza się z emocjami bohaterów, ich doświadczeniami i wiarą, co prowadzi do konfrontacji bardziej filozoficznej niż sensacyjnej.

Storr nie daje prostych odpowiedzi – przeciwnie, rozbija pewność czytelnika, że świat materialny to jedyna rzeczywistość. Ostatecznie „Nadprzyrodzone” to nie książka o duchach, lecz o człowieku poszukującym znaczenia. O fascynacji tym, co niewidzialne, i o kruchości naszej potrzeby porządku w świecie, który wciąż wymyka się pełnemu zrozumieniu.

[Tomek · Rating 1 out of 5]

(EN below)

Nie wierzę, że Czarne to wydało. Autor wierzy w każdy artykuł, który znajdzie na WP Ezoteryka, ale stawia granicę przy metodzie naukowej. Dodajmy do tego kompletne niezrozumienie podstaw fizyki i prowadzenia eksperymentów i pseudofilozoficzne pierdololo a dostaniemy „Nadprzyrodzone” w pigułce.

Był w tym pomyśle potencjał. Można podejść z empatią do osób próbujących szukać odpowiedzi na pytania o życie pozagrobowe, szukać wyjaśnień i próbować radzić sobie z tym, że nie zawsze te wyjaśnienia znajdziemy. Ale to wymaga reporterskiej dyscypliny a nie tego co tu uskutecznia Storr.

—

I’m surprised how well reviewed this book is. The author is ready to believe every article he finds on the internet, yet draws the line at the scientific method. Add to that a complete lack of understanding of basic physics and how to conduct experiments, plus some pseudo-philosophical babbling, and you get “The Supernatural” in a nutshell.

There was potential in this idea. You could approach people searching for answers about the afterlife with empathy, explore possible explanations, and grapple with the fact that sometimes those explanations will remain beyond reach. But that requires journalistic discipline - not whatever it is Storr is doing here.

[Ewa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zacznijmy od tego, że autor nie jest tak naprawdę sceptykiem. Tak, zadaje pytania, stara się być obiektywny, szukać innych wyjaśnień, ale jednocześnie widzimy tu postać, która uwierzyła w duchy i trochę chce w nie wierzyć. Nie jest to do końca zarzut, bo myślę że ta książka jest po prostu bardzo uczciwa, ale do prawdziwego sledztwa jej daleko. Ja czytałam ją z dystansem i przymrużeniem oka, jako trochę spóźniona lektura z okazji Halloween.
Jeśli chodzi o wartość sceptycyzmu i naukę to... no nie, nawet jako lekarka widzę masę niezrozumienia dotyczącą kwestii chorób psychicznych, a dowód w postaci, że od wieków wszyscy doświadczają tego samego na całym świecie- błagam, w innych kulturach z innym systemem wierzeń nie opętują ludzi te same demony, szatan itd. A ostatni rozdział? Myślę, że wart przeczytania, bo ściskało mnie serducho, gdy czytałam jak bardzo można skrzywdzić kogoś w imię wiary w coś większego. Nie twierdzę, że wszytsko wiemy, ale nie znaczy to, że ludzi opętują demony, a duchy rzucają szklankami.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will Storr is a journalist and a lapsed Roman Catholic.

He did a piece on an American demonologist which some how lead into an investigation of the paranormal.

The result is a brilliantly written little book that traces Will's research and the ups and downs of his understanding and belief. An excellent book for believers and sceptics alike.

I particularly liked his interviews with Maurice Grosse, one of the investigators of the Enfield poltergeist. Guy Lyon Playfair's book of the subject was my first introduction to paranormal research.

Highly recommended.

[Laura Jayne Tricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and honest journey through something we know nothing about. It makes you question what you know and I feel like it covers a lot of bases. I just found will a bit naive when it comes to the question of religion and why would a Vatican exorcist lie? Because they want you to believe in consequence and hell will, because they want you to be scared. To listen. And that’s why issues like in the last pages of your book happen.

[Theo Kokonas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Will Storr's later work (Selfie) so I felt compelled to pick this one up.
This book does a great job of introducing the reader to the world of demonologists, spiritualists, exorcists and others. There are plenty of great stories and interesting anecdotes in there if you're looking for that sort of thing.
It was well written and nicely laid out. I suppose I was looking for more research, perhaps a thicker tome which would exhaust some of the avenues a little more relentlessly. Still a worthwhile read.

[Emilka Piech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo ciekawa książka, w której nauka spotyka się z wiarą. Niezwykłe historie różnych doznań z duchami przeplatane śmiesznymi anegdotami i obserwacjami. Fascynującą drogę musiał przebyć autor. A sama treść zostawia nas z pytaniem- o co w końcu chodzi w całym tym życiu i czym w ogóle jest ten świat. Czy realne jest realnym, a może jedynie jawą?

[Piotr Krawczyk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rozczarowująca. Autor we wstępie deklaruje swój sceptycyzm wobec zjawisk paranormalnych po czym na ponad 300 stronach przedstawia nam stereotypowe historyjki o duchach których w popkulturze było już mnóstwo. Ani przez chwilę nie konfrontuje perspektyw. Cała książka jest wyznaniem wiary w mambo dżambo.

[Elise Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this guys style of writing, very easy very thought provoking and well mapped. Interesting read, scary as hell at times and hilarious in others. Intriguing read.

[Kaja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why did I read this

[Cathy Hershberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable and informative read. The writer gave a fair and honest account of his experiences. Humor, facts and speculation throughout. I am glad that I read it.

[Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, there goes my hard earned confidence that ghostly phenomena has been all but explained away! English journalist Will Storr, a "recovering Catholic" convinced that the afterlife is pure fantasy, encounters frightening, unexplainable events that shake his former skepticism to the core while following a batty American demonologist for a fluff piece. Thoroughly freaked out, Storr embarks on an almost obsessive quest across the UK and beyond to uncover as much as he can about the reality of ghosts, hauntings, and possessions. Perhaps if he could find a way to debunk his own experience, his skepticism could be saved and Storr could sleep easier, but unfortunately, it does not turn out to be that easy.

From the Pope's head exorcist to fundamentalist pastors, "demonologists," paranormal researchers, druids, mediums, and even rationalist philosophers, Storr interviews a lot of interesting eccentrics and is unable to reach a conclusion about the existence of the supernatural. Some of the humans he encounters, though, are just as frightening as the ghosts and demons they hope to discover or confront. Storr himself remains admirably stoic when confronted by some of these unorthodox, illogical belief systems. Storr himself also finds things he is powerless to explain, in particular in the nameless Medieval building known as Britain's most haunted house.

An interesting counterpoint to such accounts as Mary Roach's Spook, another fun paranormal read, who comes to slightly more definitive scientific answers when it comes to the debunking of ghosts. Storr himself encounters things he cannot explain and has a bit of a more philosophical take, wrestling with metaphysics and ramifications of the existence of ghosts, rather than attempting to debunk them through scientific methods, though he does muse about the possibility that quantum physics might soon explain this phenomenon. All in all, fascinating stuff!

Perhaps it was not the best idea to read this quest for the truth, and the creepy places it takes to get there, alone in a century old apartment building. I am still skeptical about ghosts, but I know I would still totally freak out if something creepy and inexplicable were to occur, and it seems just thinking about ghosts can put you more in the frame of mind to encounter them. Nothing out of the ordinary in my apartment yet, thankfully.

[Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun spooky season read! I always like Will Storr’s books but this surpasses The Unpersuadables as my favorite. It’s a great blend of science and skepticism, but with a healthy acknowledgment that we don’t know everything yet. (I feel I’m a little more skeptical than him, but to be fair I’ve never found myself in a dark room that seems to be breathing.) And it’s so entertaining. I couldn’t wait to pick it up again. It’s a good companion read to Mary Roach’s Spook.

I only wish there’d been a follow up on the poor kid - called Denzel here - who was autistic and his mother wanted him exorcised. He sounded like such a sweet kid in a messed up situation that’s not his fault and I hope he’s ok.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book after reading The Heretics. Written years earlier, I believe that this book hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. The author travels through the UK and the USA meeting and interviewing people who have made the supernatural and the paranormal a big part of their lives either willingly or unwillingly. He meets and interviews demonologists, sceptics, paranormal researchers, ghost hunters, TV presenters, mediums, psychics, the possessed, owners of haunted houses, and the chief exorcist of the vatican. Things get a little creepy when he decides to spend time in haunted places. He explores ghost hunting "science" such as EVPs, orb lighting phenomenon, white mists in photographs, etc. He meets a philosopher who lays before us the arguments for and against the existence of a non-physical world. He meets a psychiatrist who explains that many paranormal phenomenon can be chalked up to illusions, hallucinations, suggestibility of a scared mind, and schizophrenia. He speaks about the purpose of these stories and ghost lore in our lives. The book ends with a heartbreaking story of an autistic boy named Denzel, who was being exorcised instead of being given proper medical care.

The author tries not to make a judgement about most of the events in his book, but his admittedly sceptical tendencies do add an air of "debunking" to the mysteries described. He does admit that a few phenomenon he had experienced could not be explained rationally.

In short, "stay away from Ouija boards."

[Hollowspine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting a laughable tale of a skeptical journalist encountering spiritualist kooks, demonologists and mediums, and revealing them all to be charlatans, mentalists, and the mentally disturbed. Will Storr, however, is a much better journalist than I would have been. He tried to look at the world of the supernatural through a lense uncolored by disbelief. If the person he was interviewing seemed to genuinely believe in the phenomenon they were talking about or that the experience they had could have been nothing other than ghostly then he took them for their word.

On the other hand, he also had no qualms in pointing out his true feelings and pointing out when he thought someone else had something wrong. Especially in the last case of the book, which made me feel sad for children born with disabilities in religious families. I was unsurprised that the most 'messed up' people, the most harmful people and the most completely wrong people were the American religious.

Another thing about the book that surprised me was the depth of the research. Storr doesn't just go to ghost clubs and haunted locations, he talks with pscyhologists and philosophers and researches any angle that might explain the unexplained, including quantum physics.

After reading this book I found that the world is even more strange than I knew, though it did not change my status as a faithful skeptic.

[LeeAnn Heringer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. The jacket blurb made it sound like a journalist objectively looking at the whole Ghost Inc. industry. But it wasn't that, it was a writer having a lark who in the first chapter has an experience that he can't explain and which he firmly believes is evidence of ghosts and haunting and demonic possession. So the rest of the book is him trying to explain and define what happened in the first chapter. There is no objectivity. And the best he can come up with 250 pages later is, well, these people are sincere and don't really profit from they claim happened to them and not everything can be explained, so ghosts and demons must exist. Ergo there is life after death.

I remind unconvinced.

[MJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up watching every weird ghost hunting show that Discovery Channel had to offer so I was pretty excited to discover this book, and boy did it deliver!! Storr's writing is heartfelt, funny, and crushingly candid about his experiences with people on all sides of the paranormal debate, and he managed to achieve that delicate balance of pairing investigation with his personal journey, which is HUGE for me because I can get turned off of nonfiction very easily when the author decides to take a break from the cool shit to talk about their ~*~feelings.~*~ Overall this book was just fascinating and a great time to read!!!