Poltergeist: Tales of Deadly Ghosts

by Peter Haining (Editor)

Stories tell of haunted houses, ghostly visitors, vengeful spirits, ghost hunters, apparitions, and a mysterious threat

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1988

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

[Shawn]

PLACEHOLDER REVIEW: read a story contained here and so am sticking the review here until such time (ellipsis)

"Parasite Mansion" by Mary Elizabeth Counselman has a woman waylaid (after a sniper shoots at her car!) into a strange household in a rotting mansion in the Alabama forests, where a young girl seems to be plagued by an invisible demon or poltergeist that assaults her. and fear of which holds (almost) the entire family at bay.

This is an interesting mash-up between the WEIRD TALES pulp yarn and a Southern Gothic, somewhat undone by the breathless pacing and pseudo-scientific wrap-up. It was adapted on the TV show THRILLER in the 60s and I'll have to make a point of checking that out - here, Counselman does a good job with the characters but it probably would have worked better paced out as a novella.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short stories covering a century of poltergeist stories. The introduction offers the context for the writing of each story. Well done!