Real Ghosts

by Daniel Cohen

Do you believe in ghosts?

Explore the great unknown in this heart-stopping collection of unsolved mysteries—stories of haunted mansions, time travel, stranger-than-life coincidences. Read all about them: a pilot killed in England at the same moment he had been "seen" and spoken to by his roommate sixty miles away. A reporter who pays a judge a midnight visit—and is found dead in his home at the same time, with a notebook bearing the judge's decision. Ghosts in the Queen's House, the real exorcist, poltergeists, and a famous ghost descended from a long line of ghosts—they're all here and more in Real Ghosts.

Genres: Horror, Ghosts, Nonfiction, Paranormal, Childrens

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Daniel Edward Cohen was born on March 12, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents divorced when he was very young and his mother, Sue Greenberg, married Milton Cohen, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Daniel Cohen attended Chicago public schools and was a "hanger-on" in the bohemian community around the University of Chicago while in high school in the early 1950s. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where he abandoned an interest in biology for journalism. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism in 1958. Cohen married Susan Handler, a writer, on February 2, 1958. He briefly worked as a proofreader for Time, Inc. in Chicago; but, demoralized by the paternalistic organizational culture, he took a job as assistant editor of Science Digest magazine in 1959. He was transferred to New York City shortly after being hired.

In addition to his editorial work, Cohen wrote articles for Science Digest and for other publications. Encouraged by praise of his articles on paranormal subjects, Cohen published his first book, Myths of the Space Age, a collection of skeptical essays on paranormal creatures and phenomena, in 1967. The Cohens moved to a farmhouse in Forestburgh, New York, in 1969 so Daniel could write full time. He originally planned to write popular science books, but the demands of the market led him to concentrate on books about ghosts, monsters, UFOs, and psychic phenomena. Since then, Daniel Cohen has written on an astonishing variety of subjects beyond just the paranormal: historical and current biographies; advice for teenagers; world history; science and technology; animals and nature; urban legends; and popular television, music, film, and sports personalities. He has noted that he writes mass-market paperbacks for children who are reluctant to read and not especially gifted. Thus, he chooses subjects of interest to such readers.

Susan Cohen was born on March 27, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, to Martin and Ida (Goldman) Handler. She earned a B.A. degree from the New School for Social Research in 1960 and an M.S.W. degree from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, in 1962. She worked as a social worker in the mid-1960s before writing The Liberated Couple, a feminist tract, in 1971. She wrote eleven gothic romances and mysteries under the penname Elizabeth St. Clair between 1974 and 1981. Susan and Daniel Cohen began collaborating on books in 1982 to help alleviate Daniel's workload. They have written books primarily on popular entertainment, advice for teenagers, and animals. The Cohens currently live in Cape May Court House, New Jersey.

Reviews

[HappyGay Bakunzi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of the book it seemed like the author was talking down to the audience. All they wanted to do is disprove ghosts. Only one chapter was interesting.

[Paul Krueger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book years ago. It’s a decent collection of ghost storie, but the “realness” of most of the stories is that it’s a pre-existing urban legend (the hearse driver in a dream being the operator of a doomed elevator in reality; the stolen mummy that acts as a poltergeist) that the author didn’t invent.
But if you haven’t heard them before, it may be good for a scare.

[Michaell Baumler]

I gave this book away I really did't like it

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice, nonfiction resource for young readers looking for information about ghosts. The topics include famous ghost stories, hoaxes, and information about how investigators study paranormal phenomena. Fun read for Halloween, but good anytime. Young readers are usually very interested in this topic. Not too spooky for kids.

[Amanda Wilkerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favorites as an Unsolved Mysteries-obsessed kid. Upon rereading, I still love it. It's nice that it points out all the ways that these stories could have been faked; it's not trying to say that ghosts are definitely 100% proven real.

[Tyler]

This book gave me the creeps it was good and scary at the same time.My personal favorite part of the book was the chapter on poltergeists.

[Misty Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. If you want Urban legend type stories and an explanation of why the story is fake, then this is for you.

[Mackenzie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d give this book 3 out of 5 stars.
This book is a collection of short stories all about ghosts! This book doesn’t have a long storyline, but several very, very short story lines in it. This book tells us accounts of ghost sightings all over the world. It explains how easily pictures, encounters, sightings, and experiences of or with ghosts can easily be faked or mistaken. This book tries to find a logic reason for everything, but some things in this book are unexplainable.
Most characters in each short story are physic mediums or ghosts. Sometimes the main character is even an eyewitness. Sometimes there are even multiple witnesses.
Some of the characters such as witnesses seem to be honest, trustworthy people. Yet, the frauds are lying, cheating, selfish people who only want money and attention.
This book has no dynamic character, but in a couple of the brief stories one is mentioned. Some witnesses didn’t believe in ghosts until they had their own account. What they saw changed them into believers.
The main problems in this book are the people who put on a hoax to make money or gain fame. The author of this book doesn’t think that lying is okay so they depict their ways expose them as fraud. Not all people who were thought to be fakes could be proven fake though.
I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars because I, myself, am interested in the paranormal and ghosts, but this author seems to repeat themselves too many times. They go over some things over 5 times. Also, this book is old and its grammar is not very modern. It’s written more old-fashioned than books I’m used to. This book was pretty short so I’d recommend it to somebody who prefers shorter books and somebody who is interested in cryptozoology, specifically paranormal related. This book would be best for somebody who always finds reasoning for something strange.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about ghosts is written for a younger audience but is a quick, light read for adults. A few "true" ghosts tales are related, along with some discussion about what makes for good or bad evidence when it concerns ghosts. I read this because I enjoyed Daniel Cohen's Souther Fried Rat and Other Tales, although this was not quite as enjoyable as that one.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty lightweight but entertaining. I'm not sure it falls under nonfiction.