Varla Ventura's Paranormal Parlor: Ghosts, Seances, and Tales of True Hauntings

by Varla Ventura

From shimmering specters to mysterious tricks, Varla Ventura's Paranormal Parlor includes original supernatural tales, classic ghost stories, legends, hauntings, séances, superstitions, and death customs.

This book showcases a chilling collection of startling ghost stories as told to the author as well as legendary ghosts and haunted locations and an overview of the paranormal parlor games that rose to popularity in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It also includes hidden history such as the story of Mark Twain's ghost, and the quiet horror writings of the architect who started the Gothic Revival movement (Ralph Adams Cram).

Genres: Ghosts, Paranormal

272 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2018

About the author

Author of THE BOOK OF THE BIZARRE and BEYOND BIZARRE (Weiser Books). Curator of the MAGICAL CREATURES and PARANORMAL PARLOR e-book collections.

Reviews

[Gina House · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the cover and title of this book! I was thrilled when my husband bought it for me as a gift while we were visiting Salem, Massachusetts. But, sadly, I think my expectations were too high and I was a little bit disappointed by the book overall.

Varla Ventura's Paranormal Parlor has a great set up (in terms of chapters and ease-of-reading) and some interesting tales. I flew through the book until I passed the halfway mark and then, for some reason, the stories became less interesting to me.

There are a lot of interesting tidbits overall, though I enjoyed the really short tales the best. The longer "true" haunting stories weren't as entertaining to read as I'd hoped.

I'm not sure if I'd read this book again, but I may keep it just because the cover art is so cool and perfect for a Halloween vibe. Plus, I love all things having to do with ghosts and seances. I just wish this little paperback had more spooky facts and/or ghostly/haunting illustrations.

[Shant Avakian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Ventura is a mystically spooky and entertaining writer! “Paranormal Parlour” is filled with all the folkloric-firsthand-accounts typical of most books on the supernatural; Varla also has many plugs for her own work and those of her colleagues! (The marginalized genre of the paranormal is full of very supportive writers who promote each other’s work).

Ms. Ventura’s writing is witty and alluringly macabre! She curates every story in the book, which provides wonderful context to the life and times of each author. She’s also a splendid champion for female writers of the Victorian and Edwardian period, (I highly recommend reading her issue of Shadowzine, published by Jeff Belanger!)

Lots of lovely tidbits about authors, ghosts, funeral practices and folklore! If you love the paranormal, Ms. Varla Ventura is a macabre horror host!

[S. Wigget · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick & light read--mostly tidbits about ghosts, Spiritualism, and funerary traditions. It includes first-hand accounts told to the author, and there's even a Victorian ghost story. It's not the most thorough book, & I own some of the books cited/quoted (such as British Goblins).

I purchased this book from the now out of business Victorian Trading Company.

[Barry Huddleston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it.
My booktube review ... https://youtu.be/Vs345kCXty0

[Rhina M. Finley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my read on my way to Chicago and back and let me just say.... this is a gem of spooky stories! Definitely a must read.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book...some of the excerpt of stories that were in the book, I lost interest in after reading a page or two so skipped over them. But the rest of the book was great.

[Jessie Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn’t bad but wasn’t what I was hoping for.