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Alexander Hero
Too Many Ghosts
perfect for young people
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
6 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
About the author
Paul Gallico
184 books317 followersPaul William Gallico was born in New York City, on 26th July, 1897. His father was an Italian, and his mother came from Austria; they emigrated to New York in 1895.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
November 19, 2013
A paranormal investigator in 1959, 'Alexander Hero', expects to debunk a myriad of unexplained activity but dreams of a real discovery. Preferring a genuine pilgrimage into the paranormal, of which fiction is amply capable; you rarely find me delegating 5 stars in its absence. Take it as affirmation that this novel is exceedingly good. It’s astonishing but rewarding to think “Too Many Ghosts” has been in my possession at least 10 years, without an inkling it is a veritable “solve the phenomena” account. I didn’t know it derives from a 1959 serial printing, for its vividly-coloured cover struck me as modern. It also looks whimsical. I surmised the piece would be a satire, or joking comment on ghosts. It is a moody mystery adventure beyond my hopes. Best of all, it has nothing to do with murder or crime! Family legend furnishes its own mystery; the most original kind!
The first two chapters, though immersed in eyebrow-raising content, are narrated at a third or fourth person distance that doused appeal for me a little. Perspective shifted a few times to some of the personages described. It was impossible to settle into the story until its reigns went to Alexander. Particularly compelling and intelligent is his step-sister; a noblewoman with an award-winning photography career and expertise in just invented recording subterfuge. I enjoyed Paul Gallico’s compassionate portrayal of waterfowl in “The Snow Goose”, 1940 but this creation of such numerous, vastly-different, tangible personalities, can only be called a feat. The English castle and church ruins of ghostly legend, are as scrumptious as immediate, bold poltergeist events.
We’re puzzled by who might fabricate a trick and even wonder which lady loves the captain who hired Alexander. “Too many” derives from his observation that unrelated elements are afoot, which wouldn’t classically manifest together.
The first two chapters, though immersed in eyebrow-raising content, are narrated at a third or fourth person distance that doused appeal for me a little. Perspective shifted a few times to some of the personages described. It was impossible to settle into the story until its reigns went to Alexander. Particularly compelling and intelligent is his step-sister; a noblewoman with an award-winning photography career and expertise in just invented recording subterfuge. I enjoyed Paul Gallico’s compassionate portrayal of waterfowl in “The Snow Goose”, 1940 but this creation of such numerous, vastly-different, tangible personalities, can only be called a feat. The English castle and church ruins of ghostly legend, are as scrumptious as immediate, bold poltergeist events.
We’re puzzled by who might fabricate a trick and even wonder which lady loves the captain who hired Alexander. “Too many” derives from his observation that unrelated elements are afoot, which wouldn’t classically manifest together.
March 26, 2018
5/10
This book ended up to be better than I had though it would be when I was about halfway through it. The style is quite dated (written in 1959), the characters and descriptions are maddeningly stereotyped, but the untangling of the mysteries was surprisingly satisfying.
This book ended up to be better than I had though it would be when I was about halfway through it. The style is quite dated (written in 1959), the characters and descriptions are maddeningly stereotyped, but the untangling of the mysteries was surprisingly satisfying.
August 24, 2018
2.5 really...I wanted to like this more than I did. It took much longer to get through than I anticipated. Oh, it's an interesting English ghost mystery, with some gothic romance tossed in that I wasn't expecting. There were a few eye-rolling moments, but I've read far worse.
November 21, 2017
I may do a proper review of this when I'm more coherent (curse you, NaNoWriMo), but for now suffice it to say I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure, despite how long it took me to get through it.
October 5, 2010
I love books by Paul Gallico! You never know what interesting ideas he ic going to come up with for plots, and this was simply a fun romp in the classic English ghost story tradition.
June 23, 2012
Have read it many times, and am waiting for an ebook version
September 9, 2015
Did not finish due to sheer boredom. I wanted to love it, because I loved the premise--English country house ghost story!--but nothing HAPPENED. Sigh.
October 4, 2025
Paul Gallico is today largely remembered for two books, The Snow Goose (a tearjerker, according to critics) and The Poseidon Affair (a potboiler according to the same), which would I guess be called romances and disaster stories today.
Gallico was popular from about the 40’s to the 70’s and although largely forgotten today, he cranked them out and sold a lot of books in his day. His stuff seems pretty vanilla by today’s lights but when I saw a copy of this for a buck at a library book sale, I had to give it a look-see. I’d agree with the critics who labelled it a potboiler (a book, play, opera, film, etc largely created to please an audience with lots of action, plot twists, maguffins, hijinks, romance etc - and to make some money from the sales thereof, “art” wasn’t a requirement), and Gallico himself said he was just a “storyteller,” which I think is accurate.
Here we have the haunted mansion, the penniless titled family hoping to keep it alive by renting rooms to “guests,” the lovely young ingenues and a flock of male suitors, and lots and lots of ghostly activity, which leads to our protagonist, the aptly named ghost slayer Alexander Hero, being called in to save all. It’s fairly predictable, a page turner, and an easy read…so pretty much how Gallico might have defined it. Not worthy of high marks, but a diverting read, and a chance to visit with Mr. Gallico after all these years…
Gallico was popular from about the 40’s to the 70’s and although largely forgotten today, he cranked them out and sold a lot of books in his day. His stuff seems pretty vanilla by today’s lights but when I saw a copy of this for a buck at a library book sale, I had to give it a look-see. I’d agree with the critics who labelled it a potboiler (a book, play, opera, film, etc largely created to please an audience with lots of action, plot twists, maguffins, hijinks, romance etc - and to make some money from the sales thereof, “art” wasn’t a requirement), and Gallico himself said he was just a “storyteller,” which I think is accurate.
Here we have the haunted mansion, the penniless titled family hoping to keep it alive by renting rooms to “guests,” the lovely young ingenues and a flock of male suitors, and lots and lots of ghostly activity, which leads to our protagonist, the aptly named ghost slayer Alexander Hero, being called in to save all. It’s fairly predictable, a page turner, and an easy read…so pretty much how Gallico might have defined it. Not worthy of high marks, but a diverting read, and a chance to visit with Mr. Gallico after all these years…
February 3, 2021
Just a ridiculous mélange of stock characters and plots. The romance and the mystery elements shake things up just long enough before they are explained away by Alexander Hero. It’s campy fun. The top caveat is that it slouches into the Fleming school of denigrating every other character through some preordained trait such as “fat” or “ugly” or even “frigid”—and by contrast paints the protagonist as some Jackass of All Trades, who somehow—probably through his main character trait of “determination”— manages to woo everyone worth wooing, humiliate everyone worth humiliating —and he’s great with animals and children! What a catch. This book has too many things that make it hilariously problematic.
August 12, 2022
3 1/2 stars. Read and enjoyed many years ago, revisited. A descendant of the Albert Campion/Lord Peter Wimsey stories, with a cultured, handsome, sensitive and intelligent protagonist, the stepson of an earl, with some of the same issues and pleasures. Is what is disturbing the inhabitants of Paradine Hall ghostly or human in origin. Lord Paradine sends for Alexander Hero, psychic investigator, to find out. Will Hero ever figure out that he's in love with his stepsister Meg?
Gallico can certainly write and by and large the book moves happily along--he can plot. But there are some stereotypes that would now be viewed with displeasure, especially as they are attached to women.
Still a reasonably enjoyable and mildly spooky diversion.
Gallico can certainly write and by and large the book moves happily along--he can plot. But there are some stereotypes that would now be viewed with displeasure, especially as they are attached to women.
Still a reasonably enjoyable and mildly spooky diversion.
May 13, 2024
I've read Gallico before: The Man Who Was Magic. I reread it from time to time. When I saw Too Many Ghosts at HPB, I decided to take a chance. I figured even if I disliked it, there would still be enjoyable parts, if that makes sense.
So, the pros: it gets spooky. It follows traditional spooky things so the reader can catch on quickly to both mood and plot.
it has a fairly light tone for a milder spooky experience.
It has that old British feel to it in case you enjoy all things British.
It's a bit sarcastic and has some funny parts.
It's a quick read.
The cons:
the wrap up kind of annoyed me. My sense of justice felt disgruntled.
Every.Single.Woman. And Girl. was in love with the MC or at least wanted to kiss him. It's like they had no choice. This made me wonder a bit about Paul Gallico. Was this a thing from the time period the book was written in? It was the main thing that annoyed me. That, and their beauty or lack thereof was worth commenting on. Honestly, Gallico described the men physically as well and returned to it for effect. Maybe I just found it so unpalatable that a 12-yr-old girl was described as 'ugly' as one of her main characteristics. No wonder she pulled the unlikely tricks that she did!
A mixed bag, this book. Still, I cans ee the skill in Gallico, so I'll probably keep an eye out for other books he wrote.
I halfheartedly recommend this one for a spooky weekend.
I really recommend The Man Who Was Magic.
So, the pros: it gets spooky. It follows traditional spooky things so the reader can catch on quickly to both mood and plot.
it has a fairly light tone for a milder spooky experience.
It has that old British feel to it in case you enjoy all things British.
It's a bit sarcastic and has some funny parts.
It's a quick read.
The cons:
the wrap up kind of annoyed me. My sense of justice felt disgruntled.
Every.Single.Woman. And Girl. was in love with the MC or at least wanted to kiss him. It's like they had no choice. This made me wonder a bit about Paul Gallico. Was this a thing from the time period the book was written in? It was the main thing that annoyed me. That, and their beauty or lack thereof was worth commenting on. Honestly, Gallico described the men physically as well and returned to it for effect. Maybe I just found it so unpalatable that a 12-yr-old girl was described as 'ugly' as one of her main characteristics. No wonder she pulled the unlikely tricks that she did!
A mixed bag, this book. Still, I cans ee the skill in Gallico, so I'll probably keep an eye out for other books he wrote.
I halfheartedly recommend this one for a spooky weekend.
I really recommend The Man Who Was Magic.
December 30, 2020
Another book sale find. The title as well as the age, 1959 intrigued me. I had read one or two Goodreads reviews to get an idea of what the story was about. I do agree with one reviewer about the writing, it is dated. There were some descriptions and characterizations that for me were overly romantic (and sexist), and since I am not fond of love stories at all, were unnecessary bits of script. It may have been the writing style of the time. Without giving anything away, the unravelling of the mysteries was good fun. Alexander Hero and his step-sister would have made a good psychic detective series.
As I was reading, I was reminded of the 1978 movie The Cheap Detective, Hercule Poirot or any one of the old mystery series. The story kept me entertained and I wish it was a bit longer.
As I was reading, I was reminded of the 1978 movie The Cheap Detective, Hercule Poirot or any one of the old mystery series. The story kept me entertained and I wish it was a bit longer.
December 3, 2017
I enjoyed the story of too Many ghosts up to a point. I felt some chapters in the book were drawn out too much and could have been shorter with more punch to them. It felt dated in places, but had enough in the story to keep me reading to find out what was really happening in Paradine Hall. I preferred "The Hand of Mary Constable" out of the two, I felt the main character 'Hero' in that novel was more alive and interesting, and the story was tighter and more atmospheric, keeping my attention more.
January 24, 2020
My grandmother gave me her copy of this jewel back in the '70's. I thoroughly enjoyed it then, and still do, now that I'm in my 60's. (I was born the year this was published.) While our Hero is working at debunking the ghost tales, there is one passage that chilled me to the bone when I read it the first ten times. That's all I ask of a good ghost story. It still makes my heart race when I re-read, this every so often.
Yes, the writing style is dated when compared with the styles of today. I love it.
Yes, the writing style is dated when compared with the styles of today. I love it.
August 27, 2022
Alexander Hero, psychic investigator, is hired to ferret out the truth concerning the resurrection of a ghostly nun appearing at Paradine Hall. All the fun elements are present: an ancient manor house, ancient noble family, the former Army Major, a middle aged horse woman, frustrated spinster, the lower class joker, unhappy adolescent, and plenty of romance. Gallico always spins a good yarn.
Note--there is one casual use of the n-word as a descriptor and one use of retarded. Both words could easily be replaced by, respectively 'local' and 'dull,' if the books were ever reissued.
Note--there is one casual use of the n-word as a descriptor and one use of retarded. Both words could easily be replaced by, respectively 'local' and 'dull,' if the books were ever reissued.
June 22, 2025
Intriguing story that kept me guessing. I got a few things right. Gallico certainly is creative; I’ve never read stories like his and everyone is such a different genre. This one is essentially a mystery with a large supply of suspects a big old Tudor house with a ghost nun legend and plenty of passionate emotions, both positive and negative.
I could see the two main characters showing up in further stories that I would read, and lo and behold. “The Hand of Mary Constable” is a sequel!
I could see the two main characters showing up in further stories that I would read, and lo and behold. “The Hand of Mary Constable” is a sequel!
July 18, 2025
A fun read. Mr. Hero is invited to a mansion to investigate strange going-on and accounts of ghostly apparitions. In the end he finds out how it was all conducted an who was responsible. His first cue was there were too many different types of hauntings which led him to determine there were multiple culprits. I wish there were more available by this author.
October 9, 2019
2.5 stars. There were some aspects of the writing that I liked, but overall it dragged. Halfway through, I no longer cared whodunit, but if I start a book, I have to finish it (unless it's Moby-Dick). :)
May 30, 2022
This is an easy-to-read book, not at all in the "horror" genre, despite the ghostly goings-on. The blurb on one of the editions notes it as a "lovely ghost story or a ghostly love story." It's a light version of either, in any case.
September 2, 2022
Some of the remarks show the books age although the character who made them would have been considered obnoxious even then.
Some things that would have been considered innocent aren't any longer.
Still a very good re-read. The next book about Alexander Hero is: The Hand of Mary Constable.
Some things that would have been considered innocent aren't any longer.
Still a very good re-read. The next book about Alexander Hero is: The Hand of Mary Constable.
October 28, 2022
A ghostly version of an Agatha Christie whodunnit. The language was old fashioned, the characters stereotyped and very sexist, but despite that it was a very entertaining read that kept you guessing the nature of the ghostly manifestations.
September 26, 2024
This book suffers from the all too common fault of being very clearly written by a man. Book cover goes so hard tho.
“If there was an unseen world, If there were hidden creatures and beings who operated upon another plane, they had to stand the criticism of a shocking lack of originality”
“If there was an unseen world, If there were hidden creatures and beings who operated upon another plane, they had to stand the criticism of a shocking lack of originality”
May 4, 2025
I have only read Gallico's novels for younger readers so this one was a departure for me. I really enjoyed this. Quite a period romp. O think I'd like to read others of his with these characters - if there are any.
June 25, 2018
Old-fashioned but entertaining enough.
Read
October 1, 2019Funny. Didn't really think I would like the book much, but I did.
November 17, 2019
Really good. Was written as a satirical take on ghost stories of the time, it ended up being a fairly scary, and rather original ghost story.
April 10, 2020
A ghost hunter uncovering a great many spirited frauds. Lots of fun!
March 1, 2023
A delightful English mystery in the Agatha Christie vein. My 1959 copy carries a 1960 Christmas endorsement from my late uncle to my late mother so I had to read and cherish the book itself.
May 30, 2023
Good old fashioned ghost story but would have preferred there had been an actual ghost!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews