An Illustrated History of Ghosts

by Adam Allsuch Boardman

From haunted ranches to epic maritime legends of the 19th century, devour stories of our world’s oldest hauntings and unexplainable phenomena in hair-raising accounts of the afterlife.

Get to the heart of the unexplainable in Adam’s third addition to the “llustrated History” series filled with private seances and ectoplasm to spiritual mediums and spirit photography galore. Fans of conspiracy and strange phenomena will transport themselves across the centuries through diagrammatic illustrations paired with well-researched facts about exorcism, mediums, ghost photos, talking boards, and connections to after life.

Whether you are a ghost fanatic or simply piqued by curiosity, you’ll get a robust deep dive into the experiences of paranormal occurrences, alternative explanations for these occurrences, and our culture’s fascination with them. Prepare to embark on a strange journey that allows skeptical inquiry, or perhaps the possibility of believing in the afterlife!

Genres: Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, History, Ghosts, Paranormal, Horror, Comics

128 pages, Hardcover

Published September 13, 2022

About the author

Adam Allsuch Boardman is an illustrator based in Leeds, who recently completed his BA Illustration degree at Leeds College of Art. He has worked on a variety of projects including merchandise for the Hyde Park Picture House, and producing imagery for several museum projects. Fuelled by an interest in the trivial, and a fastidious study of detail, Adam enjoys illustrating a variety of subjects.

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

An Illustrated History of Ghosts is a cute little book which was a surface and light read about the history of ghosts. I did expect it to go more in depth than it did but I still enjoyed it. This reads more as an introductory guide and would be suitable for younger readers although it is classed as adult fiction. I'd say age 13+ would enjoy this book. The illustrations were simple but fun but again could have been better in some places as more detail was needed in some areas of the book visually. Overall this is a fun read and is definitely a perfect read for spooky season!

[Pamela (Here to Read Books and Chew Gum) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was gorgeously illustrated and a great introduction to ghost-hunting. My only reservation was that the way it was written had a very "high school essay" feel to it. The prose could have been a little more professionally written with smoother transitions and better care taken to juggle reader interest and information.

[Sophie Crane]

This is an interesting new addition and it has it's own unique place between the rest. Adam Allsuch Boardman has explored the world of ghosts in this volume in a visual and anecdotal manner that I don't think I've seen. His gorgeous graphic illustrations of which there are many, make his guide to the afterlife fun like no other. I'd honestly fill my office with his art if I had access and the wallet to make it happen. If you are interested in a light-reading approach to the paranormal, you may need no other book. It covers the gamut. I highly recommend this book for the curious and experienced alike. Get it now.
Thank You Net Gallery for this Book.

[shelby ✼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating this more so for the illustrations than the content. The illustrations in this are lovely and this will make for a cute little coffee table book that can be a conversation starter. The writing is quite simple and it's very much a brief history. I learned some fun little facts and interesting ghost-adjacent lingo from this. This will definitely be a springboard to finding more ghostly history topics to read about!

[Jesus Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los dibujos están geniales
En cuanto a contenido esta demasiado simple
Hay varias paginas donde solo pone el dibujo y el nombre del fantasma, sin explicación alguna.
Si trae por ahí algunas historias muy interesantes.

[Dan Poblocki · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute and clever. The briefest explanations of these histories makes me want to go out and find the author’s recommendations for further research.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Illustrated History of Ghosts provides a great overview of all things relating to ghosts from ghost catching, to haunted locations, to the pranksters themselves. This book is such a tease. Although it gives serviceable descriptions of the content, it really just wets your lips before jumping to the next cool thing. Nevertheless, I loved it. It sparks the imagination and makes you want to dig deeper. The art in this book is so much fun and it's very colorful. My 8 year old and I love it!

On a side note, this book debunks just about all the big ghost stories and shines light on what actually happened. I thought this was quite interesting as I was expecting the opposite, I thought there'd be at least a little suspense or a feeling of fright... but no. I guess I just read too many magic books as a kid and am used to the "A good magician never reveals his secrets" stick. This is not a bad thing by any means, I simply thought it was interesting and worth noting.

Pros
Great art done in a crisp clipart style.
Nice quality paper and the cover even has a glossy ghost. So cool!
It's global. It glosses over ghosts sightings and stories across the globe.
Fantastic coffee table book imo.

Cons
The descriptions are quite short and leave you wanting more. (but this book spans 10,000 years of ghost history in 120+ pages... so...)

There are currently two other Illustrated History books by Adam Allsuch Boardman, filmmaking and UFOs. Two topics that I'm not interested in at all but am truly tempted to buy after reading this volume. I'm hoping to see more installments soon.

[Gem (The Creepy Geek) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn't quite what I was expecting. I struggled through the start because the formatting was all over the place on my kindle app, until a friend suggested using the NetGalley Shelf App which totally changed it! It's weird that it doesn't work properly on the kindle app as I can read graphic novels on there no problem but this just didn't work at all.

Once that was sorted though I did enjoy the book but it didn't really give me anything new. It reads a lot younger than I was expecting (especially as it is classed as Nonfiction (Adult) on Netgalley...) and the illustrations don't really get across the impact of some of the things we're reading about (such as ghost photos etc).

It never really dived into any of the stories/techniques/technology it was telling us about, so we only get a surface level of everything. I understand it's a short book, but some of the things mentioned are glossed over to the point it really wasn't worth including them.

As someone with an interest in this subject, I could follow it fine but I don't know how a new to subject reader would fare. It could be a good introduction but for a younger audience.

Overall, it was fine but didn't really give me what I was after.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the illustrations were beautiful, the text is basic, poorly written and rife with spelling errors and typos. I honestly don't know how this went to print. I also feel that there were many subjects within the book that didn't need illustration. Did we really need multiple pages of avatars for every person ever connected to supernatural research? Or pages filled with thumbnails of horror films and books? It feels like throwaway content. I wish those pages had been filled with more research, or context related to the stories being told.

With the quality binding and illustrations, I had higher expectations for the content, but many of the facts and stories presented here barely go beyond passing mentions. After spending $30+ on this I expected to have more content to actually read within the book itself, rather than having to google the full stories afterwards. Pretty disappointing!

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't check it properly, so I didn't realise this was for kids and therefore is less scary than I would have liked. But still good information here across many cultures. Sometimes the formatting was hard to follow, some pages the information went across and others it went down the page. But kids will enjoy this.

[Archiconservas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I de introductorio al mundo fantasmal 👻

[TheseHauntedPages · Rating 2 out of 5]

I jumped at the chance when I saw this on NetGalley as I love anything paranormal but unfortunately it wasn’t what I expected.

The book was mostly set out with brief explanations or lists, it needed to be a lot more in depth!

It did touch upon a lot of different subjects such as haunted locations, ghost legends and the media etc… but again it was too brief and was mostly a couple of sentences for each explanation.

The book in general needed to either be a lot longer or to narrow down its contents and focus on giving details as it felt like something you could just read off a website.

Thanks for NetGalley for my arc.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what I was expecting of this book, however it was far more interesting than I anticipated, and a really interesting and beautifully drawn book about ghosts, culturally, historically and literarily and it makes a really great read for spooky season!

I loved reading this book, fascinating information (I didn't know ghosts had haunting categories?!) tied together with some really incredible illustrations that bring this book together really beautifully (I would say brought to life but..) this book is a real gem for a young ghost hunter in your life (and haven't we all gone through that phase? right? *nervous laugh*

A fantastic read, thank you to Netgalley for the book for review!

[Katarína Laurošková · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this quick and entertaining guide to ghosts and the paranormal phenomena. It touches many different topics, such as the different types of ghosts within different cultures and their influence on films and literature. It is not really a book for somebody who has a deep knowledge on the topic already, more of a general overview, but it is still, in my opinion, worth picking up, especially for Halloween time. I liked the illustrations of this book too, I think they went well with the overall presentation of the book.

Thank you Netgalley UK fir providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

some grammatical errors but overall great overview and fantastic but simple illustrations

[Sofía · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed something like this today, truly loved it

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the illustrations in this series. This one had some minor editing issues, mainly in the form of sentence fragments, but the art is what makes this delightful.

[DaisyDoesBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is what it says on the cover - an illustrated history of ghosts! Starting in pre-modernity and covering history up to the present day, the book gives information about ghosts in different forms and cultures, hauntings and ghosts in popular culture.
The illustrations are cute and I really enjoyed the book - my one criticism would be that it was a whistlestop tour and of the paranormal, so wouldn’t be suitable for anyone wanting in-depth information! I’m also unsure who the intended audience is - the illustrations and the simple writing style would suggest a younger audience but some of the content would probably be over their heads.
I received a free digital copy of the book from Netgalley in return for a fair review - but I enjoyed it so much I bought a physical copy too!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun and full of interesting facts

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books have a lot of information in them, but it feels like they're made for kids. Which isn't a bad thing, but there's several lists of things that have no explanations.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

As we move into Halloween weekend, what better time to talk about “An Illustrated History of Ghosts”.

The author, Adam Allsuch Boardman is an illustrator and fan of trivia who has previously written “An Illustrated History of UFO’s”, and “An Illustrated History of Filmmaking”, both of which I’d be interested in having a look at.

The style of this book is very much a mix of historical and factual information on the paranormal (and those who took advantage of people’s gullibility around it), and all the fun pop culture stuff!

I’ve shared a couple of pages in the slides to illustrate that; I found a lot of the historical parts about how different cultures approach the concept of ghosts really interesting, but as a noted pop culture fiend, I particularly enjoyed all the mentions of ghost related books and films a lot too!

The illustrations in this book are what really sells it though, they are so eye catching and perfect for the subject matter. I’ll definitely have a look at this author/illustrators other work. I think these would make great stocking fillers/secret Santa gifts for people with slightly quirkier taste!

With thanks to @netgalley and @nobrowpress for the opportunity to read this book, which is available to buy now!

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this! the illustrations were great and there was plenty of information. i appreciate that it wasn’t an entirely eurocentric history of ghosts/the paranormal. there were lots of different countries and cultures mentioned. one other thing i really loved was the further reading and further watching sections at the end, a cool little inclusion.

kind of reminded me of a grown up horrible histories style of book, the illustration style is fairly similar!

thank you netgalley for the arc

[Lauren Putt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light hearted and beautifully illustrated book about the history of ghosts across the world! An easy and enjoyable read for a cosy night in!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really fun and informative history of all things ghosts. I didn’t expect the book to go into such detail about things that I, personally, might not have even associated with ghosts (such as magicians). It was a pleasant surprise! The illustrations were fantastic and the descriptions and stories was clearly very well researched. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the copy!

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

An Illustrated History of Ghosts is the latest instalment by Adam Allsuch Boardman in his Illustrated History series. This was my first time encountering Boardman's work but based on the premise and being published by Nobrow, I was expecting something aimed at older readers and either principally visual or prose/sequential art in tandem. (Akin to books like Luke Healy's Americana, also published by Nobrow.)

Instead, Ghosts feels much more targeted towards much younger readers and offers a very high-level overview of a broad variety of things pertinent to ghosts, but never really leverages the spooky subject matter or the unique advantages of illustration to offer something more tangible. There were a few instances when really interesting details or myths were alluded to but the prose failed to go into more detail, or it was jammed into a list format that didn't help bring the subject matter to life for me.

Boardman's artistic style is clean and crisp but I found the overall experience pretty surface level as a newbie to this series. Veterans who know Boardman's work will likely really enjoy this as it's clearly a good quality output, just not to my taste.

[Richard Howlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't a book I'd normally pick up myself, but Nobrow were kind enough to send me a copy and I'm glad they did!

The illustrations are great and very easy to follow, the style is very well suited to this kind of book.

What stops this from being a perfect book is that it skips from ghost to ghost with a very quick pace. When it says it's a history book, it only ever briefly touches on each moment and each haunting, never sticking around long enough that you get any real depth.

It's more like a highlight reel than a history book, but for someone with limited knowledge on the subject there's more than enough here to make it interesting read. If you already know your stuff then you might not get too much out of this, but it still makes a nice book to have on the shelf and loan to guests.

[John Watts · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. Pictures were nice enough, it was clearly well researched, looking at different places connected to ghosts around the world, ghost hunters, different types of ghosts. I had hoped for more real ghost stories that I could share round a campfire, but there wasn’t really a single story that I could share. I know it was written simply, perhaps on purpose. But I found it just a bit meh, a bit dull. I found the endless lists a bit tiresome, lists of ghosts portrayed in films, lists of ghosts around the world, often with no interesting story attached, just a list of ghosts, with images. Opportunity missed I feel, as it’s an interesting premise for a book.

[jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and think it’s a great introduction to ghosts. The illustrations are very charming and the facts are pretty cool.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun illustrations, but not as well written, researched, or organized as the same author’s Illustrated History of UFOs. There’s probably just way more to this subject than the other, which makes the task of narrowing, sorting, and coherently arranging the material harder. Old Norse aptrganga, haugbui, or draugar, varieties of corporeal ghost that I know a good bit about, don’t even get a mention, and many others from around the world that are mentioned receive no explanation.

The book also gets weirdly ideological, as when we’re told twice that ghost hunters are usually white men (so what?), or when the author suggests that 19th century mediums like the Fox sisters were harassed because they were powerful independent women (as opposed to, say, suspected or even proven frauds), or that “white lady” legends are meant to reinforce the patriarchy, or when “appropriation” comes up, as in this sentence: “Today the property [Sherman Ranch in Utah] is marketed as Skinwalker Ranch, appropriating a creature from Navajo mythology.” A normal person might say it is “named after” the skinwalker, but whatever. As wide-ranging and as spare as the text is, with simple one-sentence or one-paragraph explanations of many people, stories, and events, these are odd directions to go.

Conversely, some explanations are unbelievably vague, as when an infographic of a “Catholic exorcism kit” is shown to contain “assorted cloths and candles.” Other information is just wrong.

There are also a ton of typos and generally bad writing. Whoever copy edited this book did the author a huge disservice.

I’ve mostly dwelt on what disappointed me about this book but it’s still fun and I love the format. It’s great to leaf through even when you’re not actively reading it. If you’re interested in this kind of thing, though, Boardman’s UFO book is much better.

If you absolutely have to have something on ghosts, Roger Clarke’s Natural History of Ghosts, which I read a few years ago and is recommended in the back of this book, is probably your best bet, despite having some similar organization problems and, alas, no fun illustrations.