Haunted World - Theresa Cheung

Paranormal expert Theresa Cheung shares 101 of the most mysterious and spooky true stories of hauntings from around the world together with the latest afterlife science and research, providing fascinating insight into our never-ending love affair with ghosts.

Belief in ghosts is surprisingly common worldwide. Mysterious glowing orbs, unexplained chills, things that literally go bump in the night: signs of paranormal activity have reportedly surged during the pandemic. As have specialist investigators, organised ghost hunts, eerie podcasts, TV shows and reports of everyday hauntings.

Sharing the details of some well-known and particularly mysterious hauntings together with some less-well-known tales and personal stories from her readers and listeners, Theresa explores these ghostly encounters through four categories of hauntings: residual, poltergeist, inhuman and intelligent.

With an introduction to modern parapsychology, a look at the latest science that digs deeper into our never-ending love affair with ghosts, psychic-themed self-help advice and ghost hunting tips, Haunted World is a timely and entertaining journey through the thrilling world of afterlife research.

 

What did I think?

This is a great book to read as the nights get darker and the spooky season approaches.  Let's just say I'm glad I read it during the day as I was creeped out enough, thank you very much.  It's a great book for dipping in and out of but I read it cover to cover as I couldn't put it down.

In this spooky virtual tour of 101 paranormal events from around the world, Theresa Cheung both captivated and chilled me with these ghostly tales.  There were some I had heard of but most of them were new to me.  I loved how each story is written concisely but often directing the reader to do some further research on the internet.  I would have read the book a lot quicker if I hadn't been googling to see the creepy photos. 

The book is split into four parts: residual, poltergeist, inhuman and intelligent.  Residual hauntings is the largest part as it's the most common type of haunting, that of past events playing on a loop, such as reports of the sighting of two young princes in the Tower of London.  The scariest haunting is that of the poltergeist that can move objects and people, but is often faked.  Equally scary perhaps (for me, at least) are the inhuman hauntings; things like dolls, paintings or other inanimate items.  I was particularly interested in the intelligent hauntings which suggest a level of consciousness remains when a person has died.

Whatever your interest or belief in ghosts, this is a very interesting and informative book.  It has a good spread of stories from around the world, although there are a few geographical bloopers that might annoy readers from Pontefract and Vancouver.  

Haunted World is chilling, goosebumpy read that both enlightens and entertains the reader and I highly recommend it for Hallowe'en reading.

I chose to read the paperback I received from Tandem Collective as part of a TikTok mailout and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: Ghosts of the British Museum: A True Story of Colonial Loot and Restless Objects - Noah Angell

What if the British Museum isn't a carefully ordered cross section of history but is in instead a palatial trophy cabinet of colonial loot - swarming with volatile and errant spirits?

When artist and writer Noah Angell first heard murmurs of ghostly sightings at the British Museum he had to find out more. What started as a trickle soon became a deluge as staff old and new - from overnight security to respected curators - brought him testimonies of their supernatural encounters.

It became clear that the source of the disturbances was related to the Museum's contents - unquiet objects, holy plunder, and restless human remains protesting their enforced stay within the colonial collection's cabinets and deep underground vaults. According to those who have worked there, the institution is heaving with profound spectral disorder.

Ghosts of the British Museum fuses storytelling, folklore and history, digs deep into our imperial past and unmasks the world's oldest national museum as a site of ongoing conflict, where restless objects are held against their will.

It now appears that the objects are fighting back.

 

What did I think?

You don't have to believe in ghosts to enjoy this interesting book but it's good to have an open mind and I thoroughly enjoyed my virtual visit to the British Museum.  

I didn't realise the origins of the British Museum and I have to say that I am horrified.  It's actually quite staggering and eye-opening to think how many artefacts have been taken (stolen) from their rightful place over the years and it's heartbreaking to think how many of them are hidden away in storage and will never see the light of day.  No wonder the objects are distressed - I'm crying virtual tears for them.

There are eleven chapters in the book as Noah Angell takes us on a virtual tour of the British Museum.  Each chapter begins with a fabulous drawing of the particular object that is being discussed and explored.  I love Egyptian history, although I've never been fond of ogling mummies, so I loved the chapter set in the Egyptian Sculpture gallery.  It really gave me goosebumps.

Ghosts of the British Museum is an easy read as the chapters aren't too long and each one is interesting.  It's a sobering read that is as controversial as it is fascinating; it certainly doesn't make me proud to be British and I can't see it being offered for sale in the museum shop.  The British Museum won't want you to read this book but I think it's important that we do read it.  A recommended but uncomfortable read.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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About the author:

Noah Angell is a writer and artist who works with orally transmitted forms such as storytelling and song. This work has led him to collaborate with the Polar Museum in the north of Norway, while working in North Carolina on a documentary film on gospel singer Connie B. Steadman, and in London, where he has collected testimony of the ghosts that haunt the British Museum. 

Born in the US, he was resident in London for over a decade and now lives in Berlin. This is his first book.

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BLOG TOUR: Fanning Fireflies (The Limerent Series Book 3) - LS Delorme

There is something rotting in Harrisville.

It's 1944 and Veronica works so she can afford to eat. Maybe one day she will save enough to own the home her family is living in, but for now, she doesn't have time for fanciful thoughts, or much else. She doesn't have time for the fire whispering to her, the ghosts trying to talk to her and the son of her boss, who can't stop staring at her. She definitely doesn't have time to think about Lazlo, the handsome black soldier that she processed at the draft office, but she can't seem to stop herself. As her ability to ignore Lazlo evaporates, so does her self-imposed ignorance about her hometown. There is, and always has been, something rotten in Harrisville. It shouldn't have been a surprise. After all, Veronica works in the cigarette factory, where corpses hide in the tobacco with the roaches.

 

What did I think?

I was drawn to Fanning Fireflies by the stunning cover and it as mesmerising inside and out.  I didn't realise it was the third book in The Limerent series when I started to read it and it can definitely be read as a standalone but I now want to read the earlier books.

Set in 1944, it's shocking to see the prejudices that people experienced in our not so distant past.  Love doesn't see the colour of your skin so when Veronica meets Lazio she can't stop thinking about him and vice versa.  Lazio is sent to fight in World War II but he writes to Veronica and he meets her every night in his dreams.

Veronica works in a cigarette factory and she has a gift (or a curse) that enables her to see ghosts and there are a surprising number of them in the factory.  When women from the town start going missing, the coloured residents are blamed but Veronica's gift holds the key to what is really happening to the missing women.

Mixing fantasy with historical fiction and romance, Fanning Fireflies is a genre-busting novel that completely blew me away.  It's so beautifully written and completely mesmerising that I couldn't put it down and I couldn't stop thinking about it long after I turned the final page.  The love story is just stunning and it adds an abundance of light to the shocking darkness of the racial prejudice.  A highly recommended read and one I will definitely be reading again.

I received a gifted paperback to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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