The Mammoth Book of True Hauntings

by Peter Haining

A collection of stories that are not just campfire lore – these ghosts are real! In a fully up to date version, this collection provides over 100 genuine eyewitness accounts of hauntings, from all around the world and right up to the present day. These sightings could be from any suburb or hometown, and covers the full spectrum of credible hauntings. Also included are notes and essays by Robert Graves, Edgar Cayce, and M. R. James, a full bibliography and list of useful resources to bring out the believer in you.

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Nonfiction, Ghosts, Short Stories, Anthologies, Supernatural

512 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2008

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though its a Mammoth book it was a fun and quick read. Some of them I have heard before and others were new to me. Author provides newspaper clippings and references so it definitely has a "true" feel to it. A lot of unexplained hauntings in this one.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this is extensive! A must-read for any ghost-hunting fans, this book collects newspaper clippings and first-person accounts throughout the past 100+ years. I could’ve done without the chapter of sexual ghosts, but otherwise this was really fun.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary:
This book contains a collection of ghost encounters that span from the early 1900’s till the mid 2000’s. There are nine different categories that the author has separated the hauntings into. The first is a chronological collection of various ghost stories that occurred between 1900 and 2000. The stories in this section tend to be blurbs that don’t go into much detail but they do illustrate how the ghost story evolved over time.

The second section of the book covers the experiences of ghost hunters and goes into detail of their experiences and their efforts to expose those that were tricking the public. The third section covers aviation based ghost stories that mainly deal with events that happened during and after World War 2. The fourth section of the book deals with ghostly the encounters of journalists and much like section on ghost hunters, their efforts to reveal those that sought to deceive the public. The fifth, sixth and seventh sections cover supernatural tales from actors, authors, and those who had rather personal encounters with ghosts.
Section eight contains essays on the nature of ghosts and the final section, nine, contains an A to Z list of different types of entities along with various terms that are explained and defined.

My Thoughts:
This book was a little different than I thought it would be when I picked it up. This is not a book that really lends itself to being sat down and read in long stretches unless the reader is really interested in the subject. While the book is interesting and covers a broad period of time, quite a few of the stories are written very dryly. While this is the way they were written originally, by those that were trying to be scientific in their presentation, the style doesn’t really lend to a interesting read and can get in the way of the story. Good if you are hunting ghosts or are studying the paranormal.

Bad if the reader, like me, just wants to know the background of incidents and what happened during the different encounters. Despite that the book does a good job of presenting how the attitude toward the paranormal evolved over a century or so into what it is today. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning more about the early modern history of paranormal investigation and how it evolved over time to how it is covered today. Just be prepared to drink some coffee when going through certain parts. m.a.c

[Arkrayder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good informative book on hauntings. The author reproduces news clippings, letters and lectures which he as been given or collected through out his years of interest in the paranormal. He facts are given and it’s up to you to decide whether the information has any credence. Also liked the paranormal glossary at the end of the book.

[Artemis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this whole book in 2 days! It's fun to read but I'm not gonna bother to re-read it unless I read it to my friends while camping by the night fire

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how they tackled everything from believers to non-believers and a lot of the time it’s up to the reader as to what actually happened. The only real complaint I have is that some of the stories are cut a little too short which is really frustrating and it was a book I was happy to take my time with because certain sections can be very repetitive but otherwise a great collection.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't even read the whole thing, just skimmed to passages that interested me.

[Paula Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.. took some reading thou..

[Oppossum24 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book at BAM and loved it. Ive read it twice and alot of the stories ive heard before so i feel the book is a great read on popular ghost stories.

[Steve Parcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bumper feast of different hauntings and unexplainable happenings. I sailed through the book.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is mostly a collection of eyewitness accounts, including reports from ghost hunters, famous actors and writers who have had supernatural experiences, and a long list of other stories from more unknown individuals. Many of the tales were interesting, some were entertaining, and a few were just plain dull. A lot of the literature on supernatural subjects is absolute rubbish, and you have to pick and choose to find writing of quality. I bought this book on the basis of the editor's reputation, but I'm not sure it is nearly as good as it could have been. The cover promises much: for starters, its by-line refers to modern-day hauntings, although the book starts in the year 1900; since it was published in 2008, this is hardly modern-day. It would have been better to define the time frame as "twentieth-century", since it stops its reporting in 2000. Then our amiable editor Mr Haining tries to pack in far too much. Unfortunately, each part suffers from neglect as he attempts to be comprehensive but cannot really cover everything in a tome of manageable size. Each section could have warranted a book in itself, especially the "A-Z of Ghosts" at the end, most of which were not mentioned elsewhere in the text (so I'm wondering why it was included). The book feels as if it was tacked together in a hurry and is a fat, disappointing volume, without even an index to make searching much easier. Published the year after his death, it's a pity Mr Haining is not around to create a better, updated edition.

[Stephen Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tough one, because a lot of it was extremely interesting...but it seemed for every good piece there was one that was dull or left you going "Really? That was good enough to get into the book?" It could almost be called The Mammothly Padded Book of True Hauntings. Some good stuff to be found here...but you have to get past the snoorers.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kind of thought it would be spookier or at least more informative than it turned out to be. It was a (mostly uncommented) collection of facts and newspaper clippings, plus a few more detailed experiences. Not 'scary story' enough to make your skin crawl, not documentary enough to enlighten you. Meh.

[julianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my lord, if you have insomnia (like me) read this and your problem will be solved. Tedious, repetitive and mind numbingly boring. I expected so much more from it but it made every detail dull and tedious. I'm hoping the non true books in this series will be an improvement but let's face it they can't be any worse.

[Deanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, lots of stories from around the world. Though the majority are from the UK. I particularly liked the chapters which concerned journalists and writers. Find ghost stories fascinating and it's christmas.

[Tara]

I've been reading this in an out-of-order, bit-by-bit way. I am not fond of the format but I haven't gotten around to selecting my next "real" read so this is good enough to go to sleep by for now. :)

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting -- I especially liked the chronology in the chapter "A Century of Hauntings" and the "A-Z of Ghosts -- Phantoms of the World". I just wish there had been more pictures!

[West Paranormal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting real ghost stories from 1900's up mostly set in England including some fictional ghost stories by some famous authors. Near the end of the book they talk about some ghost theories.

[Tippy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abandoned half way through. Too boring. Every person who ever said anything about ghosts gets a chance to speak in this crazy book, or so it feels. Some stories were great, most others dumb.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty boring. I eventually gave up, read the part on astral sex and ghost rapings, and called it quits.

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading about hauntings, but the lack of uniformity in the entries as well as the many stories which weren't actually about haunting ensured that this took me days to read.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incredibly boring collection of articles. I gave up 1/2 way through

[Kim Canich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent; thumbed through it, having read a lot of these stories as a kid. this would be good for a first-timer.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good but took me forever to get through. Lots of the stories I didn't enjoy. Seemed to drag on

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring

[Twisted sister paranormal Lady Book Voodoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

love stories like this

[Chy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of boring i ended up skimming most of the stories. The description sounded a lot better than it actually was.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

did not finish such a waste of money