Title: So You Want To Hunt Ghosts?
Author: Deonna Kelli Sayed
Genre: Non-Fiction / Ghosts & Hauntings
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for honest review.
Popular shows like Ghost Hunters have inspired legions of fans to hunt ghosts on their own. This smart, in-depth guide–packed with insider knowledge–shows how to become a real-life paranormal investigator.
First, explore the fascinating history of paranormal investigation and today’s distinct approaches: client-based, spiritual-based, adventure-based, and research-based. You’ll learn how to build a team wisely, organize an investigation, and find your first case. Unlike other books, this essential guide details how to conduct historical research and properly document your findings. There’s guidance on using the latest ghost-hunting gadgets, such as instrumental trancommunication (ITC) devices, in addition to crucial advice on legalities, ethics, and safety.
It’s hard to rate this book because it’s not exactly a memoir about ghostly encounters. It’s a field guide using the author’s expertise. By their nature, guides are more cut-and-dry. They don’t have a plot or characters, but they can be entertaining or boring, depending on how well-written they are and how they cover the subject matter. For me, So You Want to Hunt Ghosts? holds the middle between boring and entertaining. At times, I was very engrossed in the book, and other times I didn’t care that much.
I liked how the author described the different approaches to ghost hunting, like research-based and client-based. For a newbie ghost hunter, this book would’ve been a great guide. However, I had trouble with the author trying to press her own beliefs on to the reader sometimes. It wasn’t an overly pressing concern, it just seemed to me like the author kept giving hints at how her interpretation of certain things was the only plausible explanation, whereas I could’ve come up with several other explenations. Mind you, I’m not talking about the author’s religious beliefs, since these barely have anything to do with this book, but about her spiritual beliefs. I wish she would’ve been more open-minded about other people’s spiritual beliefs in this book.
Something else that bothered me is that, although the book is meant as a field guide, too much of it stems from the author’s personal experiences. While that is valuable, it’sn ot something I would’ve expected in a field guide. I did enjoy those passages though, so I didn’t mind too much, it was just a little pet peeve of mine.
Overall, as far as true haunting books go, this one was all right. Not the best I’ve read, not the worst either.
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