The Ghost Hunters: Who they are and what they do - Paperback

by Peter Underwood (Author)

A leading psychical researcher takes an in-depth look at ghost hunters, both past and present. Who are these intrepid explorers of the unknown? How do they probe and examine the realms of the seemingly inexplicable? What are their conclusions? In fascinating detail, Peter Underwood profiles the lives and adventures of some of the most famous names in psychical investigation.There is Harry Price - his examination of Borley Rectory 'the most haunted house in England' extended over a period of twenty years.Elliot O'Donnell's inherited faculty of psychic awareness enabled him to encounter scores of ghosts throughout his prodigious career.James Wentworth Day witnessed a group of phantom cavalrymen in broad daylight - the sight so impressed him that he spent the rest of his life in search of similar ghostly visions in many of the most haunted houses in Britain, including Glamis Castle.Thurston Hopkins, the old man os Sussex, met ghosts on and off all his life and firmly believed that one of them once saved him from premature death.For many years Dennis Wheatley pursued his interest in ghost hunting following his psychic experience as a boy.While Tom Lethbridge made an important contribution to ghost studies with his natural explanations and theory of psychic fields.Of today's eminent ghost hunters there is Hans Holzer who, together with psychic photographer and medium John Meyers, has made a particular study of 'psychic photography' with some surprising and exciting results.Tom Perrot, Chairman of the Ghost Club, has been associated with a wealth of curious cases and John Cutten is the innovator of an elaborate and ingenious ghost trap.Professer Hans Bender of Freiburg University and the redoubtable Mrs K. M. Goldney MBE, whose remarkable experiences and revelations span half a century, are also included.With authority and enthusiasm Peter Underwood discusses the varying techniques and approaches to ghost hunting, uncovers some notorious fakes and reveals many remarkable mysteries for which no material explanations can be found.

Author Biography

Peter Underwood was President of the Ghost Club (founded 1862) from 1960-1993 and probably heard more first-hand ghost stories than any man alive. He was a long-standing member of The Society of Psychical Research, Vice-President of the Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies, a member of The Folklore Society, The Dracula Society and the Research Committee of the Psychic Research Organization, he wrote extensively, and was a seasoned lecturer and broadcaster. He took part in the first official investigation into a haunting; sat with physical and mental mediums and conducted investigations at seances. He was present at exorcisms, experiments at dowsing, precognition, clairvoyance, hypnotism, regression; he conducted world-wide tests in telepathy and extra-sensory perception, and personally investigated scores of haunted houses across the country. He possessed comprehensive files of alleged hauntings in every county of the British Isles and many foreign countries, and his knowledge and experience resulted in his being consulted on psychic and occult matters by the BBC and ITV. His many books include the first two comprehensive gazetteers of ghosts and hauntings in England, Scotland and Ireland and two books that deal with twenty different occult subjects. Highlights from his published work include 'Nights in Haunted Houses' (1993), which collects together the results of group investigations, 'The Ghosts of Borley' (1973), his classic account of the history of 'the most haunted house in England', 'Hauntings' (1977), which re-examines ten classic cases of haunting in the light of modern knowledge, 'No Common Task' (1983), which reflects back upon his life as a 'ghost hunter', and 'The Ghost Hunter's Guide' (1986), which gives the reader all the advice necessary to become one. Born at Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, he lived for many years in a small village in Hampshire.