Encyclopedia of Haunted Places

by Jeff Belanger

This book offers a guide to points of interest through the eyes of ghost hunters.

Genres: Paranormal, Nonfiction, Ghosts, Reference, Ghost Stories, Travel, Horror

360 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2005

About the author

Jeff Belanger is one of the most visible and prolific researchers of folklore and legends today. A natural storyteller, he’s the award-winning, Emmy-nominated host, writer, and producer of the New England Legends series on PBS and Amazon Prime, and is the author of over a dozen books (published in six languages). He also hosts the New England Legends weekly podcast, which has garnered over 5 million downloads since it was launched.

Always one for chasing adventures, Jeff has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, he’s explored the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, he’s searched the catacombs of Paris, France (where he encountered his first ghost), he faced his life-long struggle with basophobia on his birthday by going skydiving, and he’s been ghost hunting all over the world from a former TB asylum in Kentucky, to medieval castles in Europe, to an abandoned prison in Australia.

Jeff got his start as a journalist in 1997, where he learned how to connect with people from all walks of life. For his work, he’s interviewed thousands of people about their encounters with the profound.

His books include the best sellers: The Call of Kilimanjaro, The World’s Most Haunted Places, Weird Massachusetts, Our Haunted Lives, and Who’s Haunting the White House?. He’s a noted speaker and media personality. He’s spoken at MENSA’s national conference, has given a prestigious TEDx talk in New York City, and provides dozens of live lectures and programs to audiences each year.

Belanger has written for newspapers like The Boston Globe and USA Today, and has served as the writer and researcher on numerous television series including every single episode of Ghost Adventures (25 seasons and counting), Paranormal Challenge, and Aftershocks on the Travel Channel, and Amish Haunting on Destination America. He’s been a guest on hundreds of radio and television networks and programs including: The History Channel, The Travel Channel, Biography Channel, Reelz, PBS, NECN, Living TV (UK), Sunrise 7 (Australia), Bell (Canada), The Maury Show, The CBS News Early Show, CBS Sunday Morning, FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS affiliates, National Public Radio, The BBC, Darkness Radio, Australian Radio Network, and Coast to Coast AM.

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of really interesting places, it's hard to get them all, though! There were a few locales I was disappointed were not included, but overall I enjoyed reading about the locations that were included in the book. I recommend it for anyone who is just interested in haunted histories, but be warned: the synopses are brief, and often there is not a ton of info on each place, but it's a great starting point for brief descriptions of haunted places. Could definitely prompt future research.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

The choices in this book are, for the most part, interesting places that sound like a cool place to visit. Others are weird choices. Instead of being a place that has some documented history behind it, it’s this one paranormal investigator who goes ‘I was in this random place once and something weird happened’. I cannot understand why they were included.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the paranormal and ghost hunting. Some of the places I'm familiar with, others the book includes are new places to me and were very interesting to read about the varied tragedies/mysteries surrounding each place.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't really read encyclopedias but I have looked though it and the information in it is really interesting and it make you want to go check out some of the places.

[lekshmi]

spooky and funny

[Jessica Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very similar in vein with Belanger's other books. The White Lady of Union Cemetery video as described by Ed Warren is a total hoax. Warren's former assistant/alleged live-in underage girlfriend admitted she put a sheet over her head to act as the "ghost". I like scary movies and books and I enjoyed the first Conjuring movie. I even read one of the Warren's books, the Demonologist. Yet the more I learn about allegations that the Warren's financially exploited the real life people in their most famous cases, the more skeptical I am of all of their claims. If you compare the real life cases with the three Conjuring movie versions, the movies are about 95% fictional. Much of that fictionalization is to put the Warren's front and center when their real life involvement was peripheral at best. I didn't read every case in this book, because I just finished two of Belanger's books in the last month, but what I did read was more spooky than terrifying.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best read about ghosts in my opinion.

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried reading it but it was not for me. I like more info on places than the book provides.

[Bradley Milton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for a quick reference. Jeff Belanger continues to be one of the best researchers in the paranormal field. This book is somewhat-perfect for paranormal investigators. Going on a vacation trip and wanna know any good haunts nearby? This book will cover it.

A bit of caution to the readers though. This book only covers some of the famous haunts in major cities or popular destinations. It's definitely NOT the end-to-all Book of Haunted Places because it's still missing quite a bit of our locally famous haunts and so on. I'm also bummed out on some of the haunted places that Jeff covers in the book. Some places will only get a paragraph while other places will get a page or two worth of information/accounting.

Please Note: This review is based on the First Edition (as the cover shown on GoodReads). The Second Edition has new haunted locations, sporting a different cover and only available in paperback.

[MeriBeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

An encyclopedic compilation of famous ghost stories from around the world, Jeff Belanger's book is mildly interesting but extremely boring. It has taken me almost a year to read the book much of it spent wondering if I've read or heard these stories before. Turns out I had done both. Many of these stories have appeared on Haunted History by the History Channel, Ghost Adventures or Most Haunted by the Travel Channel, Ghost Hunters by SyFy Channel or have been posted in one form or another to the internet. In fact, I don't think there was a single 'new' story in the entire book. Additionally, the stories are presented in such a dry manner as to become completely dull and boring. For a book by a man who loves to tell us he learned his craft from the famed, or infamous depending on your point of view, Warrens, Jeff Belanger did a very poor job with this book.

[Zephan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is pretty good. I like it a lot. I'm having trouble keeping interest sometimes. But overall, I recomend this book to people who injoy paranormal fiction books. It gives you information about paranormal locations. I really enjoyed this book.


It also gives you really interesting information. Like the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Supposively, it is haunted. But this makes me a skeptic of this book. I think some people are lying about some of these stories. Which also makes me not like this book a bit. So overall, this book its pretty good.

[kylajaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This books contains more history and folklore, especially towards the end, than it does information about hauntings. It was enjoyable but also a little boring. I know all phenomena could be said to be conjecture, but I wonder how many of the hauntings presented here are real and true. There was a lot about cold spots... Not much to go on. Overall it's worth 2 1/2 stars. I started it two years ago... It took me that long to come back to and finish.

[Page Wench · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you just like to seek out reputedly haunted spots to see if you experience anything yourself or are a paranormal investigator, you will enjoy this book. It's different than a lot of other books in the same vein because it doesn't focus on the "famous" spots. I know my entry has never appeared in any other reference. My claim to fame...pages 206-207, Frank-N-Steins Pub and Gasthaus.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some creepy stories in these pages. Someone on Listia will like this book. =)

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am usually interested in ghost stories/hauntings, but I had trouble finishing this one. Not trying to stop anyone else from reading this one, but it wasn't for me.

[RumBelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A world tour of spirits, ghosts, haunted houses and more. Ghosts from many cultures and locations around the world. It's history and entertainment all rolled into one.