Ghost Ships: True Stories of Nautical Nightmares, Hauntings, and Disasters

by Richard Winer

A collection of paranormal stories from the high seas includes tales of hauntings and strange, unexplained disasters. Original.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, History, Ghosts, Horror, Supernatural

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2000

About the author

Richard Winer is an American author of non-fiction books dealing mainly with the supernatural or the paranormal. He is best known for his work on the Bermuda Triangle: The Devil's Triangle (1974, Bantam Books), The Devil's Triangle 2 (Bantam Books 1975), and From The Devil's Triangle to The Devil's Jaw (Bantam Books 1977). He also completed a TV film documentary on the Devil's Triangle

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Winer's Ghost Ships repackages a bunch of that author's earlier work, notably The Devil's Triangle and its sequels, into a short, readable compendium of nautical lore and urban (ocean?) legends. Winer helped spearhead the Bermuda Triangle craze of the 1970s, and despite publishing this book three decades later he doesn't bother to update much, if any of his material. Here again sail the Joyita and the Carroll A. Deering, mysteriously missing their crews; the demon-haunted Ivan Vassili and the floating specters of the SS Watertown; the death ship Ourang Medan and the ghost pirates of the Caribbean; haunted yachts and celebrity spirits; the long, familiar list of ships and planes swallowed by the Bermuda Triangle; and sundry other stories, from Halsey's Typhoon to the naval disaster at Honda Point and the weird final voyage of the USS Cyclops. Discerning readers will note that Winer's material hasn't aged well, much of it debunked since he originally wrote these books - though he does remove some of the more problematic material, like his Sax Rohmer musings on the Inscrutable East or predicting that the sale of the Panama Canal would cause America to be overrun by sea snakes. That never came to pass, but Winer's book will remain a fun, chilly read for those who don't require their nonfiction to contain true stories.

[Jerry Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Deeply unsatisfactory collection of maritime tales of mystery and supernatural phenomena (supposedly). It is the nature of this type of book that it tells one story after another so there is no follow through and the narrative is perfunctory. This is especially true of this book. Worse, Winer seems obsessed with the Bermuda triangle and brings it up at every opportunity - nothing substantive, simply "well of course, they were in the Devil's triangle" or similar.

In addition he will throw in melodramatic one-liners that throw no light on anything e.g. "Was there some phenomenon unknown to humans?" before moving on to the next tale. Also there are numerous accounts of ships that vanished without a trace, often in storms (but not always). This is OK but the nature of these disappearances means they are unsolved - Winer makes some vague references to theories about such losses but these are never explored.

Some interesting historical facts that are worth following up such as the loss of 7 destroyers off the California coast but by and large a hodge podge collection of not very enlightening stories. In addition there are factual inaccuracies such as the claim that the Titanic was under pressure to break the transatlantic speed record which is false - she was never designed for speed like the Cunard ships, luxury was her watchword. When the facts are distorted this way it makes you question other things too.

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title pretty much says it all. This is a collection of stories of various types of ships that have disappeared or had some kind of disaster befall them. Of course, a disaster can then potentially result in ghosts in some cases.

It was ok. There was some sail-speak that went over my head. Also, because the stories are so short, if I lost focus even for a short time, I really ended up missing a lot. As with a book of short stories, some were more interesting than others.

[E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
A quick read because of the short chapters, but I think this could have done with some editing. For such an interesting topic, the writing feels dry and somewhat stilted and perhaps a little bit antiquated (which is unusual given that this was published in 2000). I wish he’d narrowed down the events he talked about and talked about them more in-depth. It feels like a good jumping off point if you want to hear about some nautical disasters and hauntings, but not great if you’re looking for information on one specific ship.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author definitely put in much effort for all his research on mysterious ships and strange shores. To me it was a bit too much and repetitive. The headline to each chapter was great (e.g. The Ship of Doom or Without a Trace or Skeletons at sea) but somehow the following descriptive passages were a bit of a letdown. Besides he covered some of the topics here in other books of his (e.g. The Devil's Triangle). Overall not bad but somehow I had expected a bit more. Rather for fans of the author!

[Izzie Flynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read for any nautically superstitious goat.
So you know -- it was good.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

To begin with, I was intrigued by the title....

Some stories were harrowing, some were spooky, and some were a let down.

Much of the "nautical" stuff was a bit boring & confusing and too in depth, but in other places there was just enough information to give one a good idea of what was going on....

It took me a long time to read, and is only available in Paperback... I also would have liked more photos.

[Josh Liller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pros: Some of the stories are pretty interesting and unusual and I had not heard of them before. Also, the author doesn't push an paranormal explanation for everything and points out reasonable explanations for some famous ships.

Cons: Too short and too selective, giving only a passing mention to some other ships that should have been included.

[Randy Wurm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little stories about ghost stories of what I assumed were real ships of long ago. I always take these type of stories with several grains of salt because like playing 'telephone' as a kid; the more these stories are told and passed on through the generations, the more fiction gets weaved into them. One story inspired me to read my next book, "Sailing Alone Around the World"

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book was very interesting, part boring, and part "eh, okay." At times I was sure I could hear William Shatner narrating and saying "Weird... or what?"

If I just rated this book on the good parts I would give it 4 stars and I'm glad I read it.

[Leona Heraty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and couldn't put it down! The book included interesting history about ghost ships, lost ships, the Devil's Triangle, the Devil's Jaw and ghostly apparitions at sea. I highly recommend this book if you're interested in ghosts, the sea and maritime mysteries. :-)