Title: Haunted Asylums, Prisons and Sanatoriums

Author: Jamie Davis

Genre: True Haunting, Non-Fiction

Publisher: Llewellyn Publications

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Llewellyn, Amazon, B&N

Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow Man haunts penitentiary cell blocks. A chilling wind runs through the Death Tunnel.The Red Eyes Apparition lurks in abandoned hallways.

Explore frightening ghost stories and true paranormal encounters at ten well-known, haunted institutions across the United States. This unique collection of investigations is filled with terrifying photos, spooky highlights from on-site tours, and historical information about each location.

Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums explores the country’s scariest institutions, including the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, West Virginia Penitentiary, and St. Albans Sanatorium. Discover creepy conversations between the authors and restless spirits, interviews with facility staff and knowledgeable ghost hunters, and helpful tips gathered from each investigation. You’ll also enjoy an introduction to basic ghost hunting equipment and detailed information about organizing your own visits to these haunted establishments.

Haunted Asylums, Prisons and Sanatoriums takes us inside some of the darkest places in history, where people suffered or were treated in a cruel, dehumanizing way. Throughout the book, we learn more about the history of these places, and their supposed hauntings, as the author conducts research to find out who the ghosts are haunting these spots. Each chapter is dedicated to a seperate location, and begins by talking about the location’s history, then its specters, and then the author and her team conduct a thorough ghost hunt of the place. At the end of each chapter is information on how to get to the place, if/how you can do ghost hunts on your own, etcetera.

This is one of the best non-fiction books about hauntings that I’ve read. The book is well-organized, and well-written. The author doesn’t lose herself in trivial details when talking about history, and instead what we learned is significant and intriguing. The stories are backed up with pictures, some of which made shivers crawl down my back. One picture in particular really set me on edge. The strange thing is that it’s not even talked about in the book. I mean, it’s included, and it’s mentioned that it’s a picture of the Farrar school, but Davis makes no mention of the two figures on the picture – one little girl and a larger person. It’s one of the clearest ghost pictures I’ve seen in a while, and really impressive! I hope I’m not the only one seeing it though, because that would be totally creepy.

The language is quite informal, like Mrs. Davis is telling us a story. This might not be for everyone, but I really liked it, basically like she’s operating as some sort of tour guide, which fit the theme of the book. I have some comments about the way Mrs. Davis and her team conduct ghost hunts though. They rely heavily on a flashlight, using them for flashlight conversations. It’s the first time I’ve heard someone use this method at such lengths, and it would’ve convinced me more had there been video evidence included (of course that’s tough for a book) but I wasn’t really convinced the flashlight responses were anything other than random spikes. I much prefer actually hearing voices on tape, or seeing pictures of ghosts. Also, the questions asked during the flashlight conversations weren’t always to the point, and sometimes had a double meaning ghosts may not be able to interpret. I thought more fitting questions should’ve been asked, and other research should’ve been conducted as well, rather than just the flashlight conversations.

As a travel guide, this book is extremely useful, especially with the info about each location at the end of each chapter. For people interested in ghost hunts and the author’s personal experiences, the book lacks vital info – I had the feeling much more research should’ve been done at each spot to get a good grip of what’s happening.

The book was a very pleasant, enjoyable, sometimes chilling read. I can’t wait to visit these haunted asylums, prisons and sanatoriums!

Title: The Ghosts of Chicago

Author: Adam Selzer

Genre: True Haunting, Non-Fiction

Publisher: Llewellyn Publications

Rating: 4,5 stars

Purchase: Llewellyn, Amazon, B&N

Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

From Resurrection Mary and Al Capone to the Murder Castle of H. H. Holmes and the funeral train of Abraham Lincoln, the spine-tingling sights and sounds of Chicago’s yesteryear are still with us . . . and so are its ghosts.

Seeking to find out what we really know about the ghastly past of this famously haunted metropolis, professional ghost hunter and historian Adam Selzer pieces together the truth behind Chicago’s ghosts, and brings to light never-before-told first accounts. Take a history tour like no other of the famous and not-so-famous haunts around town. Sometimes the real story is far different from the urban legend–and most of the time it’s even gorier.

The Ghosts of Chicago is one of the most thoroughly researched, in-depth books I’ve ever read about ghosts and hauntings. The book talks about all kinds of haunted locations in Chicago and the specters haunted them. Each chapter talks about a different location. He also gives addresses and locations of the sites he mentioned, which makes it a lot easier for non-locals to find them. He talks about the lore and history of each place, and only then starts talking about the ghost sightings over the years, sometimes including his own experiences.

There’s an entire chapter about H.H. Holmes and his murder castle, which made me google him and I spent several hours browsing through articles about the man. Murderers and their motives intrigue me almost as much as ghosts do, so this was a welcome distraction. There are also several stories included about Al Capone and his squad of gangsters, so it’s not all ghosts and no history – it’s a pleasant combination of both.

Mr. Selzer writes with a hint of humor, and his writing is very entertaining and not condescending at all (a complaint I often have about authors of true haunting books). He isn’t as interested in semi-scientific ghost hunter equipment like EVP meters and such as he is about feeling the vibe of a place, visiting the spots where stories originated from and figuring out for himself whether or not a place qualifies as creepy. I loved that. Sometimes ghost hunters lose themselves in semi-scientific rambling without staying focused on the task at hand: telling us about the ghosts. Mr. Selzer definitely has no problems with that.

I’m still amazed by how well-researched this book was, how the writing seemed to flow with an astonishing ease, and how much I enjoyed the overall experience. An excellent read for fans of traveling, ghosts, mystery and history.