Ghosts I've Met

Book excerpt: Hans Holzers probing investigative techniques and expertise in the paranormal have earned him the reputation the world over as the Ghost Hunter. Here we follow him around the globe on the trail of the Uncanny and in pursuit of unexplained footsteps, apparitions, and other psychic phenomena. Along the way, he introduces us to the ghosts who still inhabit homes, cling to castle walls, and lurk at lonely country crossroads. These are just a few of the ghosts we meet: Grandma Thurston, whose ghost still works the loom, tugged at the Ghost Hunters elbow in an eighteenth-century farmhouse. The Ghost at the Altar is that of a pastor whose wooden church burned down, destroying many years of work and many dreams. The specter of railroadman Joe Baldwin, who lost his head while trying to forestall a collision, still patrols a section of track in Wilmington, North Carolina. A haunted house in Los Angeles is the site of a nightly party where invisible guests celebrate as the horrified inhabitants listen on. We watch from a front-row seat as Holzer establishes a connection to the spirits behind these and other hauntings in deep-trance sessions conducted with renowned psychics. In these sessions, he eases the spirits transition from this world to the next-and brings the reader face to face with haunted places and people around the world.