Ghosted: A History of Ghost Hunting, and Why We Keep Looking

by Alice Vernon

A social, historical and scientific exploration of ghost-hunting, and why our fascination with the paranormal is as timeless as the ghosts we hope to find.

The history of ghosts is ancient, but the history of active ghost-hunting is relatively recent, and investigations into the paranormal have developed hand-in-spirit-hand with scientific discoveries, from radio waves to smartphone apps. Now, more than ever, we want to find our own ghosts. Is it to help process grief? Become influencers? Or ease our fears of death?

Ghosted follows the story of paranormal investigations from the Victorian era to the modern day, examining how our fascination with ghost hunting has changed alongside technology and culture. Where we once gathered around tables, observing and recording every movement of the medium, we now take electronic equipment and app-laden phones around haunted locations to catch ghosts digitally. Where theatres and concert halls held sold-out performances by conjurers recreating the tricks of fraudulent mediums, we now delight in picking apart and exposing the evidence presented on reality television programmes.

In this book, Alice Vernon embarks on a journey to encounter a ghost, travelling to some of the UK's most haunted locations and encouraging readers to interrogate their own scepticism and belief. Ghosted examines what we are looking for, why we are looking for it, and why have we never given up the ghost.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, Ghosts, Horror, History, Audiobook, Folklore

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2025

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a name like Ghosted, Alice Vernon sure knows how to set the stage. The first thing she does is to tell the reader that she doesn't believe in ghosts. However, she sure would like to.

What follows is a look at the past 200 years of ghost hunting in the U.S. and U.K., mainly. Vernon tells a few stories, but most look at how various frauds were uncovered and why they got so big in the first place. The sarcastic asides from Vernon are a personal favorite.

Still, the best parts are the sincere sections. Vernon is genuinely willing to allow for unexplained phenomena. No, she doesn't think a ghost started yelling at her while blindfolded with headphones on in a haunted building. However, she did think she heard something even if it was just her brain getting creative. Most importantly, Vernon allows that many people went down the ghost rabbit-hole because they desperately wanted to communicate with those they lost. You can feel Vernon's sympathy for these poor souls, and it serves as a stark contrast from the dismissive contempt she has for those who would prey on them.

My one criticism is that Vernon tries to break down the chapters by type, and it doesn't quite work cleanly. The same names pop up in multiple chapters, and it becomes a bit of a back and forth instead of an easy flow. It's a minor quibble, and this is a fun book.

(This book was provided as an advanced reader copy by Bloomsbury Sigma.)

[Lena Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the historical part as to what it was in the past seances and showing how they did some of the tricks.

Now I have a very different path as far as this all goes as I was born spiritually gifted as an empath, psychic, and medium. It's generational on my mom's side of the family. So I have seen, heard, felt, smelled spirits since I was a child. Some are good and some are bad just like people. So I enjoyed as she took us down this road sharing her insights of past and present. So enjoy this interesting read.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this one! So much to say, but I will start with how well written it was. Engaging and well researched, organized by types of hauntings we investigate, like poltergeists and haunted dolls. Love her analysis and care with historical context. Love that it’s about our interest in ghosts and not about ghosts themselves. Highly recommend!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was just listening to an interview with horror author Joe Hill where he recalls a conversation he had with another horror author, Paul Trembley, about a conversation that *he* had with *another* horror author Stephen Graham Jones — SGJ asked Trembley whether he believes in ghosts. The logical Trembley said that he “believes in ghosts 5%,” and SGJ replied “so that means you believe in ghosts.”

I kept thinking about this exchange as I was reading Ghosted, and the reminder that skepticism and disbelief are not synonymous. While I admit that I lean slightly more towards “I want to believe” on the Mulder-Scully spectrum, I do feel weary when I read accounts of paranormality that are breathlessly credulous. Although I still probably prefer this to “nothing out of the ordinary could ever be possible, you foolish girl,” type reports, I like a healthy dose of skepticism and furthermore, I find that the skepticism offers a more realistic, rounded exploration of the possibility of paranormality and parapsychology.

Alice Vernon clearly fits this mold well — she makes it clear throughout the book that she is a skeptic, but also that she is open to the possibility of the paranormal. This positions her well to analyze and disseminate the history of ghost hunting and the folks who have invested themselves in it over the eras. She is neither overly trusting nor overly dismissive, and the book is well organized across the types of hauntings and huntings. A really engaging look at a fascinating topic, with a good sociological analysis of why these efforts to find, contact, and investigate the paranormal have always held appeal.

[Sian Lile-Pastore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Vernon's previous book, but this one didn't click as much with me. I think it's probably because a lot of the information was quite familiar to me and I preferred the later sections and Vernon's personal stories and experiences.

[Josie Reiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghosts and the paranormal have always fascinated me so this non-fiction pick was right up my alley!

This book is packed with case studies to really help the history come to life. It was all really interesting and presented in an easily digestible way. We see how ghost hunting fads and methods have changed over time. We also see how it can be both harmful if people are taking advantage of others’ grief, or truly helpful if it aids to bring peace surrounding the passing of a loved one.

The author did a great job of being open about her skepticism and how that’s changed throughout the process of writing this book. While this book didn’t change my personal beliefs, it really did give me points to ponder over.

I definitely recommend for anyone else interested in ghosts, the paranormal, and weird history!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the eARC!

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, @bloomsburycreatorcircle, for the gifted ARC!

Thoughts 💭
The title is what initially drew me in, and I'm glad I stuck around. The author starts off by saying she doesn't believe in ghosts but wants to. What follows is a well researched and vivid account of different case studies that create an engaging narrative. We dive into paranormal investigations from the Victorian era to now in search of why ghosts are so fascinating to all of us. This was really interesting to read. I had no idea how things have changed and evolved so much throughout the years. Ghost lovers, don't miss out on this one!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved ghost stories. As a child, I read and re-read any ghost stories I could find. I've been on ghost tours. I still read many ghost stories and collect books about local ghosts, legends, and myths from some places I visit.

Thus, when I saw this book, I had to read it. I found it fascinating to learn more about the history of ghost hunting, including (sadly) the fraud that happens.

This book made me think. It made me ponder my own beliefs and experiences, as well as why some people choose to engage in fraud and take advantage of others' belief in the supernatural. I didn't change my beliefs, but I understand them better now, thanks to this book.

If you are a fan of the supernatural, this book is a must-read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC!

[Vans · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I don't believe in ghosts. And yet."

From séances to exorcisms, from haunted objects to haunted children, from science based ghost hunting to money seeking mediums, from mysterious photographs of unidentifiable figures to grainy CCTV footage of paranormal beings, Ghosted tells the story of the human fascination with ghosts - even for those who don't believe.

This is a fantastic read for anyone who's been a little afraid of that shadow in the corner at night, or who has played one of the many ghost-themed modern video games and just wants to know a little more about what's out there. Though the author never finds her own ghost, the deep dive into the history of our obsession with what may be is an engrossing journey from start to finish.

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might seem odd to review a book on ghost hunting as popular science, but the book's blurb says it is 'A social, historical and scientific exploration of ghost-hunting' - and over the years, ghost hunters have, more often than not, made use of scientific (and pseudoscientific) methods in their attempts to undercover whether there is any reality behind hauntings.

As long as you don't look for hard science in this book, it's genuinely interesting. Alice Vernon is not a science writer, she's a lecturer in creative writing, and has a loose feel for history of science: she describes William Crookes as a chemist, a somewhat limited view, and calls Eleanor Sidgwick 'an eminent physicist' - as far as I can tell, Sidgwick only briefly assisted with some experiments at the Cavendish in her youth, spending far more time on psychic research. Vernon always seems surprised that those looking into hauntings should use methods similar to science, at one point commenting on a ghost hunter's book: 'Indeed, if you flick quickly through the book, you come across diagrams and charts that wouldn't be out of place on a classroom board during a lesson on Newton's laws of motion.' This isn't exactly leading edge scientific work. Biologists also might cringe at her assertion 'The hierarchical structure of atoms [in a Spiritualists attempt to rationalise the afterlife] is reminiscent of Darwin's theory of evolution, which argues that organisms often become more sophisticated over a period of time.' It really doesn't.

However, this doesn't stop the book being interesting, in part in the way that significant scientists like Crookes were taken in by mediums and others (in his case, in part it seems due to romantic inclinations). Over the years, scientists have proved themselves easily manipulated by tricksters in a way that stage magicians rarely are - perhaps not surprising, but still engaging. As Vernon traces ghost hunting from a Victorian pastime, often driven by Spiritualism, to modern ghost hunters with their pseudo-scientific devices we get a fascinating tale of gullibility and ways we can see what we want to see if it reinforces our beliefs.

Vernon's own viewpoint is primarily sceptical, though the way she tells the stories can drift into relaying what someone says they experienced without questioning the evidence to back it up. As the old saying goes, data is not the plural of anecdote. Vernon veers between examining ghost hunting in terms of searching for what is actually happening at a location, and in terms of just looking for ghosts, despite acknowledging that the latter approach inevitably biases observation. At one point, sadly, classic humanities lecturer biases creep in, when we are told that poltergeists are either the result of colonialism or living in under-funded council houses (and quite possibly all the fault of Margaret Thatcher).

I would have liked to have seen more on the psychology of ghost hunting - mentioned in a loose way, but not really going into enough depth on the importance of things like conformation bias, cherry picking and pareidolia (our tendency to see patterns and hence people etc. where they don't exist). All too often, we get a description of an event that simply says what was reported without digging deeper. Vernon is sometimes too sympathetic to the sources of phenomena, rather than emphasising the importance of scepticism.

I became interested in ghosts as a child by reading the old books on Borley Rectory by 1940s ghost hunter Harry Price, whose work at Borley ('the most haunted house in England) is inevitably covered here, though rightly pointing out the many oddities in his work and the likelihood he primarily saw his research as tabloid journalism to make money. Vernon nicely provides the backdrop not only to this, but the whole field through to the present day. An entertaining read on a topic that teeters on the border between science and self-deception.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This is not a book about ghosts. It’s a book about the living, and how, over the last 200 years, we have searched for proof of the existence of ghosts."

Light read with a slightly different take on the history of the paranormal. Starts back with the tilting tables of the Fox Sisters’ seances and continues through to today’s “as seen on tv” ghost hunters.

Author Alice Vernon, a self-confirmed skeptic, came to the conclusion that interest in ghosts and the afterlife was born of grief. Fraudsters may have exploited the grieving, but many grief-stricken people were comforted. (She also scored big points with me for the Scooby-Doo references.)

Especially intrigued by the concept of Summerland — “a great cosmic afterlife” proving that Victorians had “developed a mild obsession with aliens.”

[Natalie Laguna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so informative on how ghost stories and investigations started and caught wind.

While I’m a believer I do understand skeptics especially after listening to this.

‘Ghosts manifest from grief’. We want to hold on to something so strongly and death is so scary and unknown.

I really enjoyed this. It’s so cut and dry. She never really says you’re wrong for believing but does show the facts on how you’re often lied to about seances and people who supposedly speak to spirits.

[Ray Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Alice Vernon makes it abundantly clear from the start that she is sceptic. However, she leaves open the possibility of being converted to the side that openly believes in the existence of ghosts and the paranormal.

GHOSTED is a straightforward look at the history of paranormal phenomena. The end result is a work of non-fiction which analyzes this subject with a serious, forensic eye. The end result will not please those who faithfully believe in what they cannot see.

[Virginia Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Alice Vernon , a lecturer at Aberystwyth University, examines the history of ghost-hunting and the paranormal from the Victorian era of table tapping and through Ouija boards to modern day exploration with electronic equipment and app-laden phones. Told in a readable, amusing style, Vernon retains her skepticism while accepting the comfort the a sense of communication with the dead can bring to the bereaved and to all of us uncertain about the future.

[Jamie K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this more than I did, but it wasn't bad at all, it's a very solid overview of the history of ghost hunting. I think maybe I was looking for more on the "why."

[Alex Milne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Vernon is who Danny Robbins thinks he is.

[Christine Rolls · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting history of ghost hunting. A great read.

[Natalie]

Dnf

[Kirsten]

Lost interest