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The Dead are Watching: Ghost Stories from a Reluctant Psychic
Psychic Debra Robinson investigates hauntings and helps send spirits to the other side. A haunted factory owner's suicide and guilt over leaving his son permeates the building but lifts after Debra's assurances that his family is okay. A strange and terrifying investigation of an unreported murder with the body stuffed down an outhouse changes lives. Ongoing visits in Debra's own home keeps her family on edge. Terrifying and inspiring true stories pulled from Debra's life round out her new work with more evidence of the afterlife from those who've found that love survives beyond death.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2014
5 people are currently reading
646 people want to read
About the author
Debra Robinson
14 books8 followersDebra Robinson is an Appalachian author of 8 books, fiction and non fiction, as well as many short stories.
Debra also created and heads a charity scholarship for the arts, given to a graduating High School senior each year.
Debra Robinson also writes under the pseudonym D.L. Robinson.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 9, 2019
This book was one I found enjoyable to read. Despite the cover (which makes the book look like a horror novel), the author takes a level headed, factual approach to presenting the text therein. It caught and held my attention quite well, and the time spent reading it went by very quickly. The author has an enjoyable and clear writing style, and does a good job of representing the stories she shares - both her own experiences, and those of many of her friends & family.
I do feel a bit disappointed that I didn't read her first book before approaching this one, especially as several times throughout the text she makes references to events she described there. However, these references don't detract from the stories here in any way. As she sticks to short chapters, often with multiple short stories therein, the text remains clear and easy to follow.
I suppose I'll simply have to try to add it to my reading list soon!
Link from the book:
Massillon Ghost Hunters
I do feel a bit disappointed that I didn't read her first book before approaching this one, especially as several times throughout the text she makes references to events she described there. However, these references don't detract from the stories here in any way. As she sticks to short chapters, often with multiple short stories therein, the text remains clear and easy to follow.
I suppose I'll simply have to try to add it to my reading list soon!
Link from the book:
Massillon Ghost Hunters
February 6, 2024
2.5
Very average, and not at all what I hoped it would be.
Very average, and not at all what I hoped it would be.
September 7, 2014
Book Review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/reviews/...
The Dead Are Watching is the second book I read by Debra Robinson, and I enjoyed it. Debra has a vast collection of stories to share, and all of those storeis deal with the supernatural. This book was filled with dozens of accounts, some of them more interesting than others.
I wish there were more facts presented though, more history about the cases. Often we get cold readings, or just the author’s impressions of what’s going on. While interesting, it’s not a lot to rely on – if we could get history, or people’s ideas about it, that might help. A lot of the stories focused on James as well, Debra’s deceased son. While I understand her need to write about this, I wouldn’t have minded if there had been more variation in the cases she discusses in this book, since her first book largely focused on James as well.
The writing is solid, and engaging. It has a light undertone though, which caused me to feel not even a single chill, although I was reading about ghosts and the like, and if there’s anything that usually manages to scare me, it’s ghosts. I did find most of the accounts believable (although, like I mentioned, other witnesses or a history of what was happening could’ve helped).
If you’re a fan of true haunting books, this one is a good choice. Not the best I read, but definitely one of the better ones. Doesn’t go over-the-top in Hollywood-horror style, but instead focuses on the afterlife and ghosts in an entirely different way – with warmth and compassion.
The Dead Are Watching is the second book I read by Debra Robinson, and I enjoyed it. Debra has a vast collection of stories to share, and all of those storeis deal with the supernatural. This book was filled with dozens of accounts, some of them more interesting than others.
I wish there were more facts presented though, more history about the cases. Often we get cold readings, or just the author’s impressions of what’s going on. While interesting, it’s not a lot to rely on – if we could get history, or people’s ideas about it, that might help. A lot of the stories focused on James as well, Debra’s deceased son. While I understand her need to write about this, I wouldn’t have minded if there had been more variation in the cases she discusses in this book, since her first book largely focused on James as well.
The writing is solid, and engaging. It has a light undertone though, which caused me to feel not even a single chill, although I was reading about ghosts and the like, and if there’s anything that usually manages to scare me, it’s ghosts. I did find most of the accounts believable (although, like I mentioned, other witnesses or a history of what was happening could’ve helped).
If you’re a fan of true haunting books, this one is a good choice. Not the best I read, but definitely one of the better ones. Doesn’t go over-the-top in Hollywood-horror style, but instead focuses on the afterlife and ghosts in an entirely different way – with warmth and compassion.
April 25, 2019
Excellent read !!! All that needs to be said
May 14, 2014
Note: This book was received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If nothing else, I'll admit that The Dead Are Watching is an amusing book. I'm not certain how much of Ms. Robinson's assertions I accept as factual or are just her own impressions or cold readings. Part of my difficulty with accepting the incidents reported as factual stems from the fact, like many writers of ghost stories or hauntings, Ms. Robinson tells us next to nothing about the background of an investigation or location and never gives names or followups to an investigation. Right off the bat, with the first story she tells, I was disturbed that she supposedly couldn't find any information about the missing and apparently murdered person whose remains had been found in a nearby outhouse and was, apparently, now haunting the house next door. If this event occurred, either the discovers never reported finding the body - a violation of the law in and of itself - or the remains in question weren't actually human but made a nice addition to a traditional family story which just made their strangely disturbing house seem more interesting.
She mentions several paranormal groups or sets of ghost hunters in her book. She even includes their URLs so you can investigate further if you want. There's just one problem. None of the URLs that I clicked on in my advance copy actually connected to anything, instead I got repeated DNS failures. Hopefully, the publisher will correct this problem before publication later in 2014. Additionally, for a book which is supposed to tell ghost stories from other people - as referenced in the introduction - a large part of the book is tales of Ms. Robinson's encounters with what she believes is the spirit of her deceased son, James. She often prefaces or afterwords these stories with the mention of their being more stories and details about James in her previous book.
The brief stories in this book are told in an amusing manner. So, it feels light and cheerful no matter how depressing the content potentially is; however, there is a lot of repetition to the text often repeating material and information from just pages before as if it's new for the next story. This dragged the book down a bit. Also, and I believe this is because my copy was an advance review copy, there are a lot of typos and misplaced commas or spaces in the book. Regardless, I did enjoy it, just not as much as I anticipated from the blurb of the book.
Crossposted to my book blog here.
If nothing else, I'll admit that The Dead Are Watching is an amusing book. I'm not certain how much of Ms. Robinson's assertions I accept as factual or are just her own impressions or cold readings. Part of my difficulty with accepting the incidents reported as factual stems from the fact, like many writers of ghost stories or hauntings, Ms. Robinson tells us next to nothing about the background of an investigation or location and never gives names or followups to an investigation. Right off the bat, with the first story she tells, I was disturbed that she supposedly couldn't find any information about the missing and apparently murdered person whose remains had been found in a nearby outhouse and was, apparently, now haunting the house next door. If this event occurred, either the discovers never reported finding the body - a violation of the law in and of itself - or the remains in question weren't actually human but made a nice addition to a traditional family story which just made their strangely disturbing house seem more interesting.
She mentions several paranormal groups or sets of ghost hunters in her book. She even includes their URLs so you can investigate further if you want. There's just one problem. None of the URLs that I clicked on in my advance copy actually connected to anything, instead I got repeated DNS failures. Hopefully, the publisher will correct this problem before publication later in 2014. Additionally, for a book which is supposed to tell ghost stories from other people - as referenced in the introduction - a large part of the book is tales of Ms. Robinson's encounters with what she believes is the spirit of her deceased son, James. She often prefaces or afterwords these stories with the mention of their being more stories and details about James in her previous book.
The brief stories in this book are told in an amusing manner. So, it feels light and cheerful no matter how depressing the content potentially is; however, there is a lot of repetition to the text often repeating material and information from just pages before as if it's new for the next story. This dragged the book down a bit. Also, and I believe this is because my copy was an advance review copy, there are a lot of typos and misplaced commas or spaces in the book. Regardless, I did enjoy it, just not as much as I anticipated from the blurb of the book.
Crossposted to my book blog here.
August 6, 2014
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
Psychic Debra Robinson investigates hauntings and helps send spirits to the other side. A haunted factory owner's suicide and guilt over leaving his son permeates the building but lifts after Debra's assurances that his family is okay. A strange and terrifying investigation of an unreported murder with the body stuffed down an outhouse changes lives. Ongoing visits in Debra's own home keeps her family on edge. Terrifying and inspiring true stories pulled from Debra's life round out her new work with more evidence of the afterlife from those who've found that love survives beyond death.
I picked up this book with the distinct hope that this would be one of the better paranormal/psychic true story books I had read...and to be honest, it was pretty good.
The most interesting part about this book were the case studies (if you can call them that.) Debra doesn't delve into a lot of details (which can be considered a good or bad thing) but the stories that she investigates seem to have some basis in fact (even if she doesn't follow up later.) She also spends a lot of time telling stories about her deceased son, James, which detracts somewhat from the stories we were expecting from the blurb.
Having said that, Debra's approach to storytelling is with warmth and humour and, despite the negative energies that she was encountering, she reported on it in an upbeat way which kept the book from being too heavy.
Paul
ARH
Psychic Debra Robinson investigates hauntings and helps send spirits to the other side. A haunted factory owner's suicide and guilt over leaving his son permeates the building but lifts after Debra's assurances that his family is okay. A strange and terrifying investigation of an unreported murder with the body stuffed down an outhouse changes lives. Ongoing visits in Debra's own home keeps her family on edge. Terrifying and inspiring true stories pulled from Debra's life round out her new work with more evidence of the afterlife from those who've found that love survives beyond death.
I picked up this book with the distinct hope that this would be one of the better paranormal/psychic true story books I had read...and to be honest, it was pretty good.
The most interesting part about this book were the case studies (if you can call them that.) Debra doesn't delve into a lot of details (which can be considered a good or bad thing) but the stories that she investigates seem to have some basis in fact (even if she doesn't follow up later.) She also spends a lot of time telling stories about her deceased son, James, which detracts somewhat from the stories we were expecting from the blurb.
Having said that, Debra's approach to storytelling is with warmth and humour and, despite the negative energies that she was encountering, she reported on it in an upbeat way which kept the book from being too heavy.
Paul
ARH
July 2, 2014
What an exciting and interesting read! The author, Debra Robinson is a psychic and paranormal investigator. She recounts her experiences with ghostly phenomena as well as friends and family members experiences with the other side! I enjoyed reading about her encounters with the paranormal and look forward to reading more books by Debra!
September 26, 2014
I found this book to be a bit heartbreaking. It has alot of people's stories about ghost but I think the fact that the writer can't let go of her son is very sad.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews