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IN SEARCH OF GHOSTS by Daniel Cohen

IN SEARCH OF GHOSTS

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Pub Date: March 27th, 1972
Publisher: Dodd, Mead

Cohen does not confine himself to Haunted Houses as Larry Kettlekamp did in his 1969 investigation, but wanders instead from a tour of some of the better known (mostly British) abodes of ghostly maids and gentlemen (the poor, it would seem, depart with less reluctance) to the parlors of mediums and spiritualists. Nor does Cohen offer any of Kettlekamp's intriguing parapsychological speculation, though he does make some show of seeking the ""truth"" behind each alleged case of spectral appearances, unexplained rapping and crashing, levitation, communication with the departed, etc. Much of the book is devoted to reporting the apparent ghost-raising of prominent mediums and then -- calling on the investigations of the Society for Psychical Research -- exposing them as frauds. Of the few manifestations that have not been proven hoaxes, Cohen leaves it to the reader to ""make up your own mind"" as ""the record is hopelessly confused."" From the introductory confession that he does not believe in ghosts but is afraid of them anyway, Cohen offers nothing that has not been said before, preferring also to grope in the beclouded past rather than examine the less sensational modern research on parapsychology. However, considering the tendency of 133-class books to vanish as soon as they're shelved, this can be recommended as a responsible exercise in re-visitation.