Speaking With the Spirits of the Old Southwest: Conversations With Miners, Outlaws & Pioneers Who Still Roam Ghost Towns

by Dan Baldwin

Discover the Chilling, True Stories of the Spirits Who Haunt the Otherworldly Landscape of the American Southwest Out in the Arizona desert, among the crumbling adobe and nearly forgotten ghost towns, the restless spirits of unfortunate souls still lurk, trapped between this world and the next. For years, Dan Baldwin and Dwight and Rhonda Hull have made it their mission to communicate with the spirits, using pendulums and psychic abilities to discover their ghostly secrets and help them pass to the other side. Discover the secluded spirits of the Courtland Jail in Cochise County, Arizona. Learn about the tragic fate of the miners in the Santa Rita Mountains. Feel the thrill of the investigators' conversation with the ghost of Mattie Earp, the common-law wife of the famous Tombstone lawman. Speaking with the Spirits of the Old Southwest is filled with spine-tingling stories and fascinating historical insights into one of the most spiritually active regions of the world. The authors also share files of the EVPs discussed in the book on their website. Includes photos of the authors' investigations in Arizona

288 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2018

About the author

Dan Baldwin is the author/co-author/ghostwriter of 50 published books on business, real estate, marketing, sales and related subjects.
His Western Novels are: CALDERA, CALDERA-A MAN ON FIRE, and TRAPP CANYON. All three are available for download or in paperback from www.amazon.com and www.creatspace.com and the other most possible sources.
His first mystery, DESECRATION is available for Kindle downloat at http://www.amazon.com/dp/b00eqm6kr0. A sequel, HERESY, will be released in late 2013. A thriller, SPARKY AND THE KING, is currently being marketed by his agent. Contact Baldwin at www.fourknightspress.com or www.danbaldwin.biz which are websites devoted to his fiction and non-fiction works and to writing tips and guidelines for his readers.

Reviews

[Jeri]

I am usually a sucker for paranormal books. Love em, whether scary or not. This one just didn't do it. I haven't ever heard of any "ghost hunters" or paranormal researchers as some would prefer to be called, ever using a pendulum to communicate with spirits or ghosts.

This book mostly consisted of a very brief history of the site and a readout of a pendulum session followed by what, if any, EVP said. I did love the fact that they pushed the issue that you shouldn't antagonize or be scared of ghosts or spirits. I would compare it to just like living people, you wouldn't want someone coming to your house to antagonize you, or you would get really angry too, so be respectful.

For me, I would've preferred hearing more about the history and facts surrounding each location. But, if you love the southwest or have a connection to any abandoned town there you may be interested in this book.

I was given an eARC by the publisher through NetGalley.

[Scarlett (Carrie)]

This was written wonderfully, it was easy to follow their conversations and who was talking. I loved that they gave some history about the place before they went into them. I've never heard of anyone uses a pendulum before and I really liked that touch.

I think I found the history part more interesting than the actual investigations but I'm a sucker for history and that's not saying the parts where they were making contact were boring because they weren't, at all.

Dan Baldwin is a good writer and he makes me want to go out there and try some of this with my pendulum! How cool it must be to connect with these spirits. I hope to read more from this group in the future! They work well together.

*Thanks to NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

[Kirsti]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

If you follow my reviews, then you know it's not a great leap that I would want to read this book, and thankfully I was approved on Netgalley for it. I've always loved stories of hauntings and spirits, and this takes on a theory that is not much put forward in most paranormal books that get published; that you can commune with spirits during the day, that they won't harm you, and that they travel to their own heaven whether it be an actual place or a heaven of their own making on Earth (such as their wedding day or other special event in which they were happy)

I did feel at times the conversations with the spirits repeated themselves, and some of the writing in the uncorrected proof needs to be polished. I highlighted a few spelling errors and even a sentence that repeated itself. I also felt like this was just such a small snippet of what these people do and I think I wanted to know more, and read more about them.

All in all I enjoyed my foray into American ghost towns; I think living in Orange NSW growing up has given me an appreciation for long abandoned mines and what happens when a small town loses the main employment (Lucknow, Ophir etc for us) Some can bounce back, like Lucknow did here, but many become overgrown and get reclaimed by nature. This book would interest anyone with a fondness for the Wild West, and of course for anyone interested in the paranormal. Three stars.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

Really interesting, I have no experience with investigators using a pendulum. Very solid 3.5-4 stars, still deciding. The historical background given was much appreciated and I think is always a valuable part of any investigations.

++++++++++++

I received a free ARC via NetGalley from Llewellyn Publications in exchange for an honest review.

One of my favorite things about NetGalley is that I have been auto-approved by Llewellyn so I can immediately read any book they've posted. This tends to make for some spooky reads, because they of course publish a lot of material related to all things paranormal. I believe in ghosts, I have had experiences of my own, and I love reading about the experiences of others. When I saw this book available, it was doubly exciting because there is something so tragic and romantic and, well, haunting, about the Old West. Despite its historical inaccuracies, Tombstone is one of my fave movies and I was hoping that some investigations would be made into the lives of the real men and women the movie represented. I was NOT disappointed in that respect at all.

The author, Dan Baldwin, has several years of experience using a dowsing pendulum to communicate with spirits who have not passed on. I am kind of glad that I did not now ahead of time about this tool that he uses, as it might have made me hesitate. Prior to reading this one, I had no idea what a dowsing pendulum even was. I have to admit much skepticism to start with and I am not entirely convinced of its work yet, but it certainly gives one much to think about.

Check out the rest of my review over on my blog: https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.b...

[Julia Simpson-Urrutia]

Update: So far am getting a feeling that this has a lot of "how-to" in this book, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I appreciate the comments about treating spirits with civility and the concept that there is a difference between a residual haunting, where spirits replay the same old story, to spirits that are trapped and want something to happen or want to relay a message or are simply angry. I am enjoying it!

[Adysnewbox]

This book was...not my cup of tea, although it did have its moments. I picked it up on a whim from the library, for Halloween weekend. I thought it would be fun to read some ghost stories from my region of the country. The authors of the book did include some basic historical background for many of the ghost towns they visited, and I appreciated that. I think a "haunted Old West" collection could be some good spooky fun.

HOWEVER...this book ended up being more tedious and not very spooky. The authors of "Speaking with the Spirits" are self-proclaimed mediums/clairvoyants/etc., and their idea of telling ghost stories is to recount their (usually VERY one-sided) conversations they have with the local ghosts. One medium receives yes/no answers via the swinging of his pendulum; another medium "senses" the emotions or responses from the ghosts around her. A large portion of the book is the recorded transcripts of their "conversations" with the lost spirits of the Old West. Since the ghosts can only answer with "yes" or "no," most of these transcripts started to sound the same. In a few cases, the mediums seemed to resolve conflicts of the ghosts, get new information from them about various famous historical figures, or encourage them to "cross over" and find peace. Much of the time, however, it felt like the mediums talking to each other, fabricating a conversation with a ghost that too often felt like them telling each other the conversation they wanted to hear. Besides not 100% believing in clairvoyant powers and the like, I felt that the historical aspect was glossed over in favor of recorded conversations that lost an awful lot in the translation to the printed page. Perhaps a video or audio recording would have made these stories more interesting. I guess I'll never know!

[Riley Mitchell]

Baldwin (an accomplished pendulum dowser) and the Hulls (Rhonda, a psychic medium, and Dwight, a paranormal researcher/animal communicator) visit a number of Old West locations throughout Arizona in this eclectic anthology, communicating with ghosts through a variety of psychic techniques, and collecting electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) along the way. The accessible book includes brief historical information about each of the locations visited, and edited transcripts of the audio recordings produced during the sessions at each stop. The authors even take the time to share a bit of wisdom about how best to conduct paranormal investigations. For example, Dwight describes the team’s preferred overarching approach to ghost communication: “You go in and you treat them [spirits] with respect, and you’ll build a relationship, and won’t be a ghost hunter chasing someone through a house. You’ll be someone invited to have a conversation.”

While Baldwin and the Hulls approach their collaborative work with an admirable mixture of persistence, purpose, and enthusiasm, one of the small disappointments of the book is that the authors do not consistently include information about whether they subsequently attempted to unearth additional evidence to shed a bit more light on the spirit “conversations” chronicled. Readers will naturally wonder if there’s not even more historical data out there that could help provide useful background information regarding who these ghosts might have been, how they lived their lives, and why they’re sticking around.

[Teresa]

I love ghost books and this one is not only about ghosts but is about real ghosts. Dan Baldwin takes us on a journey through Ghost Towns to contact and interact with real ghosts of miners, outlaws, and pioneers of the Southwest United States.

I love how he gives us a bit of history about each place visited in the book. I like how they communicate with the spirits. They mainly use a pendulum. I have a pendulum and have used it many times over the years with results. So I know you can communicate with one.

He does get a little long winded when it comes to telling us how they investigate and it does get a bit redundant when he says it over again at each place they visit. But other then that I really enjoyed the book and will be looking for more books by Dan Baldwin.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

[Rebecca Hill]

Old stories from long ago...

I loved the history that this book brought out on some of the old territorial places in Arizona. Tombstone, old hospitals, Indian ruins, its all here...

While I enjoyed the stories, I felt like it was very miscombobulated, and you can tell there were a lot of places where they were talking over each other - and the soundbites at the end did nothing. There were some places, especially the story of the young man that was closer to the end, where his mother did not want them to do anything - but they went back and investigated anyway. I felt as though they should have really left that one alone, with the mothers wishes being given.

Interesting overall, but not quite there for me.

[Producervan]

4 Stars

[Diana]

Book received from NetGalley.

Usually, I love seeing a new "true ghost sighting" book and reading it from cover to cover fairly quickly. Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to that expectation. I enjoyed reading about the ghosts that the investigators supposedly saw, especially since there were a few places mentioned that I hadn't heard of before. However, unless you're interested in ghost hunting or are new to these types of books, the long-winded explanations that the author gives on how his group goes about searching for the spirits get quite boring. Since that seems to take up most of the book, since it's explained again for each investigation I just couldn't give this a higher rating. I feel that most people who are going to pick up books like this have already been oversaturated in how to scientifically hunt for a spirit and don't need to be reminded of how things are done. I think if it's re-edited with that in mind it would be more entertaining.

[Christie Munson Muller]

Picked up this book at a local author's table in a Barnes & Noble. It was great to meet the author who was featured in the book. His role is to connect with spirits using a dowsing technique. The book uses a question and response format, throughout, to share specific conversations with the other side, which I found intriguing. I liked the inclusion of the specific spot and a bit of history mentioned on the locations of the sessions. Would have liked a correlating map to be included with the area marked for the places they visited for future reference, if I have the chance to visit.

[Holly Senecal]

Speaking With Spirit of The Old Southwest was not only a fun read, but interesting and full of history. I appreciated the respect that the authors have for the subject matter and their interest is infectious through their telling of the experiences they've had. If my Dad were still here I would be so excited to give him this book as a gift. I hope I get to go out to Arizona someday and meet these folks. I think it would be a fascinating conversation!
I read and reviewed this book voluntarily and give it a strong 3.5-4 stars. The only reason it isn't rated higher is because the writing style was a bit choppy between dialogue, session transcripts and narrative.

[Marie]

I lived in Arizona for more than 15 yrs and visited many of the places that the authors had. Tombstone is so filled with spirits that you can practically hear them. I found out a lot of things that I did not know about the places I had been to. The use of the pendulum was something that I had never heard of being used during spirit finding or ghost hunting. I plan to investigate this further as it is an interesting take on what a lot of people do. I noticed that they treated the spirits with dignity and respect as opposed to what some ghost hunters do as they demand and scream at the ghost or spirits. Tombstone is not the only place they went and that was interesting as well. For anyone who likes ghost adventures or communing with the spirits or that just want to know more about it, they should read this book. I really enjoyed it. I received this book from Llewellyn and net galley for an honest review.