A dictionary of ghost lore

by Peter Haining

Book by

Genres: Nonfiction

225 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1982

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Juliette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ye Gods alive, have mercy upon me – this dictionary is so bad, it turned a 180 and is now good by the sheer magnitude of its badness. Where do I begin?

I can sit down right now and compile a compendium of all the ghosts, fairies and paranormal occurrences I happen to have heard about, and it will be ready a week on Tuesday, except it will be nothing more than a sloppy mountain of regurgitated hearsay; a brain turd (pardon) of unfounded ideas.

For a book like this to have any value at all, some research must be done, and by this I do not mean referencing books by early 20th century spiritualists, who made things up as they went.

You see, if Peter Haining had done any research, he could have discovered that drude comes from German - not English – folklore, or that mare exists in Norse, Germanic and Slavic beliefs, and the word itself comes from Proto-Indo-European root mer. It is not, as Haining claims, a specifically French demon. In fact, a whole undiscovered realm of knowledge lay ahead of Haining, if he only cared to pop a couple of books open, before committing to writing his own.


Now I’ve read this book in the Polish translation. This was a mistake – it usually is. “Lazy Lawrence” is translated to “Gnuśny Wawrzyniec.” There’s “Jack Kajdaniarz.” There’s “Czkająca Dolina.” I wish this was all there’s to it.

But, lo and behold, it gets worse.
You see, what I assume happened here, is that a good part of the dictionary’s original entries had been removed and replaced with Polish ghosts and Polish haunted castles. Either that, or I’m supposed to believe that Peter Haining – who focuses mainly on Anglo-Saxon ghosts – suddenly writes profusely about an obscure Kasztelanka z Grodna, or Czarny Pies z Ogordzieńca, or some apparition from Łańcut.

Generally speaking, a translator’s role is to translate, my gentlemen translators, Wyżyński and Zarzecki. It is not to remove or replace content, or allow a random third party (Bogna Wernichowska) to add such bits as she sees fit.

I salute your achievement, Ms Wernichowska, and yours too, good sirs! Three heads put together, and you couldn't come up with one good idea. My eyes water as I read through the Mythical Beast you’ve created. That’s right – as customary at a medieval feast – you’ve taken the front of a pig and stitched it together with the rear end of pheasant, and served that to the reader.

My only regret at this point is that you never laid your hands on Shakespeare. Richard III? He was clearly an English king, therefore cannot possibly bear any relevance to a Polish reader. Just cross his name out from the play, and put in “Zygmunt August.”

[Sean Poindexter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book as a gift when I was 12. It is one of my most prized possessions.

[priv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meine Tante hatte damals den Buchbestand meines um Jahre älteren Cousins dezimiert und mir geschenkt. Darunter befand sich auch dieses Buch, welches ich damals mit großer Faszination gelesen habe. Ich nehme es immer noch dann und wann zur Hand. Eines jener Bücher, die ich niemals aussortieren werde...

[Samsalaqueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A whole lot is inaccurate but almost all of it is entertaining. I double checked a few accounts and not all were backed up by the internet but I definitely learnt a lot and added a few more books I want to read and movies I want to watch.