Real Ghost Stories: Haunting Tales of the Paranormal from Across the World

by Jamie King

Filled with terrifying tales of ghosts and ghouls, poltergeists and other unexplained encounters, this bone-chilling compendium of paranormal phenomena is sure to haunt you long after you have turned the final page

Did you hear about the ghost who solved her own murder? What about the terrifying case of the Battersea poltergeist? Do you know the story of the killer ghost of Kentucky?

Prepare for your blood to run cold and for your heart to beat a little faster, because the disturbing tales lurking within are not for the faint-hearted. Delve into this collection to discover infamous accounts of the eerie and the unexplained - as well as lesser-known strange, contemporary happenings from across the globe - and connect to the rich tradition of paranormal stories that have captivated humankind throughout the ages.

But after sampling these sinister histories, you might be too scared to close your eyes - no matter how much your body craves sleep.

Genres: Paranormal

320 pages, Paperback

Published August 5, 2025

Reviews

[Justine Naboya]

I reallyyyy wanted to enjoy this book, just because I love a good ghost story. The best thing about it was how vast the collection was. I just could not enjoy the way it was written. While it was a good thing that the stories were short (how much can you write about a specific ghost, really), it was written with wayyyy too much…whimsy, if that’s the right word. I couldn’t bear all the hypothetical questions at the end of basically every chapter. It also seemed like it had been written with a thesaurus open in one hand, which definitely took away from the enjoyment of it.

[Finlay O'Riordan]

The vengeful and benign ghost accounts were interesting to read (and, of course, debatable), but the poltergeist and paranormal activity sections weren't really based on any claims or sightings as much as they were just King supposing certain places and events "could" be paranormal.

The constant "spooky" sentence enders ("Don't worry about that creaking in the eaves" or "I'm sure nothing fell off the hatstand just then" for example) were a bit cringe and childish.

Like with the "Aliens" book too, some of the supposed photographs mentioned would be nice.

[Grace]

Real Ghost Stories by Jamie King
⭐ (1/5)

It was my first go at a non-fiction book and since it was all about ghosts I thought I'd enjoy it, but honestly it wasn't scary at all, and read more like a history book then anything. Not one for me, I feel bad rating it a one star since I only read half of it. Probably best for me to stick to fiction from now one.

[Marie]

If I could give this 0 stars, I would. The chapters are not long enough or give enough detail to really scare. The author gives so much background about the location that the actual ghost story is often summed up in one paragraph. There are also so many grammar or spelling mistakes that in places it felt like I was reading something from Google Translate.

[Margot]

3.5 rounded up

[Ellie Rayne]

was actually quite interesting to read about other people's stories on ghosts

[Emily]

I felt I was reading a history book rather than a paranormal.

[Beth]

2.75