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Caught on Film
The Paranormal Caught On Film: Amazing Photographs of Ghosts, Poltergeists and Other Strange Phenomena
'The Paranormal Caught on Film' is a mysterious and mesmerising collection of photographs depicting ghosts and other extraordinary phenomena from around the world.
140 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
March 2, 2017
The short blurbs accompanying the photos were intriguing, but for the most part the photos themselves appeared to be either fancy light reflections or film corruptions. I was disappointed.
Page 91 of The Paranormal Caught on Film captured my feelings about the book as a whole: "I am always one to advocate keeping an open mind, but on the other hand we should be careful not to remain so open-minded that our brains fall out!"
If forced to pick favorite photos, I'd go with 'Yogic Flying' on page 101, which, after some investigating into the phenomena, doesn't seem much like flying to me- more like enthusiastic rocking, which the picture doesn't show. I'd also go with 'The Grey Lady' on pg 133 which is allegedly a ghost caught on film in the Reading Room of the Willard Library in Indiana. Again, the lady looks more like a light reflection, but since it took place in a library, it made my list.
I can't really recommend this one other than to say: borrow it from your local library.
Page 91 of The Paranormal Caught on Film captured my feelings about the book as a whole: "I am always one to advocate keeping an open mind, but on the other hand we should be careful not to remain so open-minded that our brains fall out!"
If forced to pick favorite photos, I'd go with 'Yogic Flying' on page 101, which, after some investigating into the phenomena, doesn't seem much like flying to me- more like enthusiastic rocking, which the picture doesn't show. I'd also go with 'The Grey Lady' on pg 133 which is allegedly a ghost caught on film in the Reading Room of the Willard Library in Indiana. Again, the lady looks more like a light reflection, but since it took place in a library, it made my list.
I can't really recommend this one other than to say: borrow it from your local library.
November 2, 2015
I am fascinated with the paranormal. I absolutely believe that there are things out there which we cannot explain, but are a part of our world nevertheless. The picture portion of this book is much more interesting than anything the author has to say about them. And without a good story behind the pictures, they kind of fall flat. Seeing a ghostly image on its own is sometimes only as interesting as it relates to you personally. The author is so neutral and so little is told about each picture (more caption than paragraph) that this is really more of a coffee table book, rather than a good read.
February 9, 2011
I read this one and Ghosts Caught on Film 2 during my lunch break at work and have quickly forgotten which books had what in it, so I'm putting the same review for both. They are by the same company, in the same format, same layout, etc. While both books are a spooky fun time, so many of the photos were obvious manipulations or double exposures or someone painting on the negative etc. It got frustrating to see some good ones mixed in with the dross. At least one of the photos is a pretty famous one that has been proven to be fake (recently, though, so I assume post publication but still. It is the "little girl ghost" at the factory fire one).
I still got the fun chills down my spine and spooky feeling, but had to laugh at so many of them and call bullsh*t. The bullsh*t to spooky ratio was not good enough to warrant a book purchase. The photos are all avaliable places online anyway, including an associated website, ghoststudy.com
I still got the fun chills down my spine and spooky feeling, but had to laugh at so many of them and call bullsh*t. The bullsh*t to spooky ratio was not good enough to warrant a book purchase. The photos are all avaliable places online anyway, including an associated website, ghoststudy.com
December 4, 2008
I liked this book a lot. It gives you pictures of paranormal things, like poltergeist, ghosts, etc. With each picture is a description of what is happening in the picture. One of the main reasons I like this book, it that the author doesn't try to prove everything. Its all up to you. The pictures are amazing, and they make you think.
March 17, 2011
I was really kind of disappointed in this book. While there wasn't a lot of fuzzy orbs, there were some things that were obviously photoshopped. But at least the authors presented them in a way where it was left for the reader to decide if they were real or not, rather than presenting them as gospel.
November 21, 2008
With the ability to manipulate photos it is hard to believe many of these examples. And as for the Virgin or Jesus appearing on things, I think you see what you want to. Maybe that bearded face is not Jesus but a slimmed down Jerry Garcia, perhaps they have gastric by-pass in the afterlife.
September 8, 2010
My 3 yr old LOVES looking at ghost pictures so I picked this book up and read it to her. She's a little paranormalite in the making :) The pics were fun and of course you get to decide for yourself what you want to believe and what you don't. Just fun all around.
May 30, 2014
I am very into the paranormal TV shows, books, and history. “The Paranormal Caught on Film,” by Willin, Melvyn caught my eyes as soon as I saw it. I loved reading each story about a photo that was taken by some person. Each story was sent to a professional paranormal and camera investigator. In the beginning of the book it states, what are just blobs in the photo and what could possibly be a “ghost.” The investigators of this book explain how a flash in the camera can create bright figures if not taken right. There might be smudges or cross sections when the pictures were developed. Some of these stories amazed me and had me second guessing if ghost could really be real. Each story explains why they think it’s a ghost or demon hovering over or sitting by them. It’s fascinating how people can see and hear mystic beings, ghosts, or demons. I cannot tell you how much each story amazed me and I just couldn’t stop reading. The pictures sent in by the people and why the investigators think it’s just a problem with the camera is confusing. You wouldn’t even second guess these pictures if you weren’t skeptical about the dead walking among the living.
“The Paranormal Caught on Film,” gives many different characters. A man had taken a picture in this old church dedicated to the Virgin Marry. He claims he was alone, except for the cleaning lady. When he had the picture developed, he noticed a very lightly outlined face and body of an old women sitting in front of the church praying. When sent to the investigators, they gave many reasons why it could have been a fake and why they couldn’t explain how it could be real either. This other story was about a boy who was playing a game with his sister outside and had to go into surgery the next day for his heart. When the mom had taken a picture of her two kids playing an amazing thing showed up. A figure that appeared to look like an angel with bright yellow, white and red glowing light around it. The investigators thought it had some tampering with but also agreed it could be guardian angel.
The setting takes place in many different areas around the world. Most pictures in this book were by or near some type of spiritual place like a grave yard, church or old burial ground. This is one picture was taken on Mars; apparently an astronaut kept the photo and wanted to see if it was real. It could have been a scam, which is likely it is. It is still weird that it had to be on Mars.
When I was about 6 years old, my mom and I were sitting in my grandma’s old farm house. It was around 11:30 and we were waiting to see a meteor shower. My mom and I were sitting on a couch in front of my grandma’s window and my grandma wanted to take a picture. Once my grandma had taken the picture, we checked it out and there was a face in the window next to us. It was the shape of some weird skeleton face. The face seemed like it was a wearing a hood and smiling. It could have been just a smear from my grandma’s dirty window or a real face. Either way, I thought it was cool and I wish I could have sent the picture into the investigators.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves paranormal activities. I recommend this book to people who have taken pictures and received a figure in there picture. This book is full of questions people want answers to, so if you love trying to figure things out, this is the book for you. I rate this book an eight to ten because it keeps you reading and it is in my interest area.
“The Paranormal Caught on Film,” gives many different characters. A man had taken a picture in this old church dedicated to the Virgin Marry. He claims he was alone, except for the cleaning lady. When he had the picture developed, he noticed a very lightly outlined face and body of an old women sitting in front of the church praying. When sent to the investigators, they gave many reasons why it could have been a fake and why they couldn’t explain how it could be real either. This other story was about a boy who was playing a game with his sister outside and had to go into surgery the next day for his heart. When the mom had taken a picture of her two kids playing an amazing thing showed up. A figure that appeared to look like an angel with bright yellow, white and red glowing light around it. The investigators thought it had some tampering with but also agreed it could be guardian angel.
The setting takes place in many different areas around the world. Most pictures in this book were by or near some type of spiritual place like a grave yard, church or old burial ground. This is one picture was taken on Mars; apparently an astronaut kept the photo and wanted to see if it was real. It could have been a scam, which is likely it is. It is still weird that it had to be on Mars.
When I was about 6 years old, my mom and I were sitting in my grandma’s old farm house. It was around 11:30 and we were waiting to see a meteor shower. My mom and I were sitting on a couch in front of my grandma’s window and my grandma wanted to take a picture. Once my grandma had taken the picture, we checked it out and there was a face in the window next to us. It was the shape of some weird skeleton face. The face seemed like it was a wearing a hood and smiling. It could have been just a smear from my grandma’s dirty window or a real face. Either way, I thought it was cool and I wish I could have sent the picture into the investigators.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves paranormal activities. I recommend this book to people who have taken pictures and received a figure in there picture. This book is full of questions people want answers to, so if you love trying to figure things out, this is the book for you. I rate this book an eight to ten because it keeps you reading and it is in my interest area.
June 28, 2009
The author has obtained many photos supposedly proving something paranormal (ghosts, angels, the appearance of the Virgin Mary on the side of a building, etc.), and in this book he shows the photos and provides as many details as possible about the circumstances for each photo. Unfortunately, many don't have a lot of details available, and many are not very convincing, at least to my eye. But the author isn't really trying to convince anyone of anything, so he presents everything rather neutrally to let the reader/viewer make up their own minds. As such, he includes brief feedback from photographic experts where available, as well as skeptics' interpretations. There is also a section on odd stuff that isn't exactly paranormal, just unexplained (ex: the "face" on Mars, a case of spontaneous combustion, natural items like trees or rocks resembling something else). There are no big revelations in this book. It's just an interesting diversion.
November 18, 2010
An ALA/YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers for Top Ten (2010)
ghostly effects caught on film, with a brief explanation and background info. the author is carefully neutral about what might have caused the images to look the way they do, but many do not have logical explanations for being real OR fake. i don't believe in ghosts, but the photographs are amusing to look at, especially the older ones where double exposures weren't possible.
ghostly effects caught on film, with a brief explanation and background info. the author is carefully neutral about what might have caused the images to look the way they do, but many do not have logical explanations for being real OR fake. i don't believe in ghosts, but the photographs are amusing to look at, especially the older ones where double exposures weren't possible.
February 15, 2010
Great photos and some are really intriguing too.
July 21, 2010
A rather amusing and very disappointing waste of time, as every photograph but one or two is an obvious hoax, optical illusion, or misinterpretation of light. Very poorly done.
March 5, 2011
This book was just like the one I just finished "Ghosts caught on Film 2" which show pictures of ghosts and other paranormal things. It's just sad that there are so many obvious fakes :/
October 2, 2011
I love Melvyn Willin's books. The pictures are creepy!
November 3, 2008
See review of Ghosts Caught on Film? by same author. Same deal.
November 12, 2023
Dear lord, this book is pure comedy.
I tried, I really did. I'm a skeptic who loves reading (and seeing) things about ghosts, apparitions, and the afterlife from the perspective of believers, but this collection was just absurd. Still, I'd rate it 4 stars for pure entertainment value if not for one of the world's most annoying layout features I've ever seen: Each two-page spread features. 1.) a title, 2.) a paragraph or two about 3.) the image, which is on the second page, and 4.) a sentence or less excerpt from the paragraph of text just read. Allow me to demonstrate this annoyance for you:
pg 108, "Dodleston Poltergeist"
p. 1: "Ken Webster's book The Vertical Plane provides full details of [an] outbreak of poltergeist activity in 1984 at a cottage in Dodleston, Cheshire, England, during its renovation. The photos hear, taken in May 1985, show what can happen to furniture when such an outbreak occurs. Mr Webster drew attention to a saucepan handle, shown in the shot, that later straightened itself. He also claimed to be receiving messages via paper that had previously been blank, chalk marks on the floor and even his computer. The originator was said to be one Tomas Harden, who lived in the cottage in the mid-sixteenth century."
Excerpt DIRECTLY NEXT TO this paragraph: 'The originator was said to be one Tomas Harden, who lived in the cottage in the mid-sixteenth century'
Is this necessary??? Seriously? This is such a waste of ink, I just skipped over these snippets after the third page.
The pictures were fun to look at, and I'll credit Willin with putting in at least the bare minimum of effort to 'debunk' the images so it didn't sound like straight propaganda (an assumedly faithful retelling of the taking of the image in question, a little but maybe this happened, and the end of the page).
I did find this line funny, on pg. 30 (Willin's way of trying to make himself sound super credible): "...I have in the past used mirrors to produce contrived shots that looked very convincing...in the 1970s I was offered money by a newspaper to allow them to print my fake Polaroid of a reflected skull-like face as a genuine ghost photo. I declined their offer." Not only was this completely unnecessary for the page (past the making-his-own-fake-photo bit, that enhanced the debunking portion), but it was so out of the blue, I literally chuckled aloud.
This book was ridiculous, but not a waste of time. I got a good laugh, saw some fun pictures, and might even try to find Ghosts Caught on Film for the comedic value if I get bored.
I tried, I really did. I'm a skeptic who loves reading (and seeing) things about ghosts, apparitions, and the afterlife from the perspective of believers, but this collection was just absurd. Still, I'd rate it 4 stars for pure entertainment value if not for one of the world's most annoying layout features I've ever seen: Each two-page spread features. 1.) a title, 2.) a paragraph or two about 3.) the image, which is on the second page, and 4.) a sentence or less excerpt from the paragraph of text just read. Allow me to demonstrate this annoyance for you:
pg 108, "Dodleston Poltergeist"
p. 1: "Ken Webster's book The Vertical Plane provides full details of [an] outbreak of poltergeist activity in 1984 at a cottage in Dodleston, Cheshire, England, during its renovation. The photos hear, taken in May 1985, show what can happen to furniture when such an outbreak occurs. Mr Webster drew attention to a saucepan handle, shown in the shot, that later straightened itself. He also claimed to be receiving messages via paper that had previously been blank, chalk marks on the floor and even his computer. The originator was said to be one Tomas Harden, who lived in the cottage in the mid-sixteenth century."
Excerpt DIRECTLY NEXT TO this paragraph: 'The originator was said to be one Tomas Harden, who lived in the cottage in the mid-sixteenth century'
Is this necessary??? Seriously? This is such a waste of ink, I just skipped over these snippets after the third page.
The pictures were fun to look at, and I'll credit Willin with putting in at least the bare minimum of effort to 'debunk' the images so it didn't sound like straight propaganda (an assumedly faithful retelling of the taking of the image in question, a little but maybe this happened, and the end of the page).
I did find this line funny, on pg. 30 (Willin's way of trying to make himself sound super credible): "...I have in the past used mirrors to produce contrived shots that looked very convincing...in the 1970s I was offered money by a newspaper to allow them to print my fake Polaroid of a reflected skull-like face as a genuine ghost photo. I declined their offer." Not only was this completely unnecessary for the page (past the making-his-own-fake-photo bit, that enhanced the debunking portion), but it was so out of the blue, I literally chuckled aloud.
This book was ridiculous, but not a waste of time. I got a good laugh, saw some fun pictures, and might even try to find Ghosts Caught on Film for the comedic value if I get bored.
October 13, 2019
This book is just garbage. Almost every "ghost photo" is just a blatant manipulation of photographic stock and the author cannot give any in-depth insight into the stories presented.
And what's with the Spontaneous Combustion included here? A - it's not ghostly. B - it has been scientifically proven exactly how this can occur.
Save your money. More importantly - save your time!
And what's with the Spontaneous Combustion included here? A - it's not ghostly. B - it has been scientifically proven exactly how this can occur.
Save your money. More importantly - save your time!
November 15, 2019
Excellent book all around. Like the others in the series, it contains photos of various alleged paranormal phenomena along with descriptive text of each one. Unlike one or two other entries in the series, the author discusses each one objectively and doesn’t always conclude that a given photo is something weird. Highly recommend.
January 30, 2022
While the photographs themselves were interesting, the part of this that had the most effect on me was when the author begged the reader to buy multiple copies of the book in the epilogue. It was rather amusing but had an air of desperation about it.
December 16, 2018
Pretty lazy examples. Didn’t even get a spooky factor. Supremely boring.
August 6, 2019
Just like the other books he writes. All the photos were the same!
February 10, 2020
Interesting photos of ghosts, angels and aliens with a description of how they were caught on film. Quick and fun read.
August 27, 2022
Some exciting and unexplainable phenomena pictured and described here. I'm glad I read it.
Read
March 19, 2024Interesting!
November 9, 2020
This book is so far a really good book it is cool and scary how spirits come up sometimes out of nowhere I have caught 2 orbs when I went to a tour cemetery in Connecticut I might have caught a man sprit but I do not know If it was just a grave and I also caught the screen completely fogged because there this kid Benjamin spirit that meant he pressed his finger against the screen and there is also this hotel that you can stay in that people say is haunted if his mother does not like you, you will feel nauseas and may some times throw and if she does like you she will let you play with Benjamin.
March 21, 2012
I don't like to hate on books. But to be honest, this book is filled with mediocre (at best) and terrible pictures, and the commentary is generally unsatisfying.
If you want pictures of the paranormal, and a commentary on those pictures, I suggest the internet. It's got a lot more of both the good and bad.
If you want pictures of the paranormal, and a commentary on those pictures, I suggest the internet. It's got a lot more of both the good and bad.
April 28, 2016
I like this kinda thing, in the words of Mulder 'I want to believe' but this book didn't really make me feel that way. It seemed to be a lot of bumph. Though there was one picture that turned my stomach! This book kinda left me wondering why people were taking pictures of things like an empty bar or their back garden in the first place.
April 17, 2012
There are probably many plausible explanations for the mysterious images photographed in this book but I think it's fun to see them anyway. The majority of the pictures were done when it was easier to get double exposures on film.
August 25, 2012
Loved the first and last chapters with pictures of strange anamolies on film, but some in the middle chapters sagged a bit. My fav is definitely The Grey Lady, who haunts a library in Indianpolis.
Fun and creepy book, can't wait to look up the other title by the same author.
Fun and creepy book, can't wait to look up the other title by the same author.
January 5, 2013
it was cool.I love the pictures and how it looks so real.I love the information that you put in the book.It has cool views and good parts with more angles
that is what i think
thank you
that is what i think
thank you
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews