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In Search of Ghosts.
Examines some of the most plausible cases of "real" ghosts and such related topics as psychical research, sâeances, poltergeists, and how spirit photographs are taken.
182 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1972
About the author
Daniel Cohen
204 books61 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Daniel Edward Cohen was born on March 12, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents divorced when he was very young and his mother, Sue Greenberg, married Milton Cohen, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Daniel Cohen attended Chicago public schools and was a "hanger-on" in the bohemian community around the University of Chicago while in high school in the early 1950s. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where he abandoned an interest in biology for journalism. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism in 1958. Cohen married Susan Handler, a writer, on February 2, 1958. He briefly worked as a proofreader for Time, Inc. in Chicago; but, demoralized by the paternalistic organizational culture, he took a job as assistant editor of Science Digest magazine in 1959. He was transferred to New York City shortly after being hired.
In addition to his editorial work, Cohen wrote articles for Science Digest and for other publications. Encouraged by praise of his articles on paranormal subjects, Cohen published his first book, Myths of the Space Age, a collection of skeptical essays on paranormal creatures and phenomena, in 1967. The Cohens moved to a farmhouse in Forestburgh, New York, in 1969 so Daniel could write full time. He originally planned to write popular science books, but the demands of the market led him to concentrate on books about ghosts, monsters, UFOs, and psychic phenomena. Since then, Daniel Cohen has written on an astonishing variety of subjects beyond just the paranormal: historical and current biographies; advice for teenagers; world history; science and technology; animals and nature; urban legends; and popular television, music, film, and sports personalities. He has noted that he writes mass-market paperbacks for children who are reluctant to read and not especially gifted. Thus, he chooses subjects of interest to such readers.
Susan Cohen was born on March 27, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, to Martin and Ida (Goldman) Handler. She earned a B.A. degree from the New School for Social Research in 1960 and an M.S.W. degree from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, in 1962. She worked as a social worker in the mid-1960s before writing The Liberated Couple, a feminist tract, in 1971. She wrote eleven gothic romances and mysteries under the penname Elizabeth St. Clair between 1974 and 1981. Susan and Daniel Cohen began collaborating on books in 1982 to help alleviate Daniel's workload. They have written books primarily on popular entertainment, advice for teenagers, and animals. The Cohens currently live in Cape May Court House, New Jersey.
Daniel Edward Cohen was born on March 12, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents divorced when he was very young and his mother, Sue Greenberg, married Milton Cohen, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Daniel Cohen attended Chicago public schools and was a "hanger-on" in the bohemian community around the University of Chicago while in high school in the early 1950s. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where he abandoned an interest in biology for journalism. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism in 1958. Cohen married Susan Handler, a writer, on February 2, 1958. He briefly worked as a proofreader for Time, Inc. in Chicago; but, demoralized by the paternalistic organizational culture, he took a job as assistant editor of Science Digest magazine in 1959. He was transferred to New York City shortly after being hired.
In addition to his editorial work, Cohen wrote articles for Science Digest and for other publications. Encouraged by praise of his articles on paranormal subjects, Cohen published his first book, Myths of the Space Age, a collection of skeptical essays on paranormal creatures and phenomena, in 1967. The Cohens moved to a farmhouse in Forestburgh, New York, in 1969 so Daniel could write full time. He originally planned to write popular science books, but the demands of the market led him to concentrate on books about ghosts, monsters, UFOs, and psychic phenomena. Since then, Daniel Cohen has written on an astonishing variety of subjects beyond just the paranormal: historical and current biographies; advice for teenagers; world history; science and technology; animals and nature; urban legends; and popular television, music, film, and sports personalities. He has noted that he writes mass-market paperbacks for children who are reluctant to read and not especially gifted. Thus, he chooses subjects of interest to such readers.
Susan Cohen was born on March 27, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, to Martin and Ida (Goldman) Handler. She earned a B.A. degree from the New School for Social Research in 1960 and an M.S.W. degree from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, in 1962. She worked as a social worker in the mid-1960s before writing The Liberated Couple, a feminist tract, in 1971. She wrote eleven gothic romances and mysteries under the penname Elizabeth St. Clair between 1974 and 1981. Susan and Daniel Cohen began collaborating on books in 1982 to help alleviate Daniel's workload. They have written books primarily on popular entertainment, advice for teenagers, and animals. The Cohens currently live in Cape May Court House, New Jersey.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 25, 2021
Yes, I do appreciate that with his 1972 non fiction book In Search of Ghosts (and which looks to be suitable and appropriate reading material for anyone from about the age of ten or so onwards), author Daniel Cohen textually presents his findings and information about ghosts as factual and often even with a rather academic and intellectual scope and flair, but equally and importantly so as very thoughtfully balanced with regard to the question of whether ghosts exist or whether they do not exist (and that Daniel Cohen points out in his introduction to In Search of Ghosts that while he himself does not believe in the existence of ghosts, Cohen is still afraid of them and the idea, the very concept that phantoms, that spirits and haunted places might be true, might in fact actually exist).
So because of Daniel Cohen’ textual sense of balance, In Search of Ghosts therefore does not only present evidence of phantoms, of hauntings as uncritically believable, but also points out and demonstrates that the majority of “true” haunted house stories do not actually have any verifiable proof and mostly just circumstantial evidence, and yes, that with regard to mediums, séances and spirit photography, not only is the evidence generally to be taken with a proverbial grain of salt, but that there also have been and continue to be quite either a goodly number of deliberate hoaxes or instances where the ghost stories are individuals being overtaken by their imagination. And although Daniel Cohen also never makes the claim that ghosts do not exist, his text for In Search of Ghosts does show that there is a lot of doubt regarding the existence of ghosts and that just because someone might believe he or she has experienced a haunting, has been visited by a departed spirit, this naturally does not automatically mean that this is an occurrence that truly occurred.
However, while my appreciation of In Search of Ghosts as a balanced and academically sound exploration of the question of whether ghosts and hauntings actually do in reality exist is four stars (and that I also do appreciate that Daniel Cohen has included a bibliography), writing style and narration wise, I do personally find Daniel Cohen’s writing rather annoyingly rambling and tedious, and so much so, that I could actually only finish In Search of Ghosts by engaging in a lot of skimming (and that this has definitely negatively affected my reading pleasure enough to only consider a three star rating in general for In Search of Ghosts, and not to mention that I also find it a bit strange that in other books on ghosts I have read from Daniel Cohen’s pen, he seems to be not balanced anymore but an uncritical believer in ghosts being real, in ghosts actually existing).
So because of Daniel Cohen’ textual sense of balance, In Search of Ghosts therefore does not only present evidence of phantoms, of hauntings as uncritically believable, but also points out and demonstrates that the majority of “true” haunted house stories do not actually have any verifiable proof and mostly just circumstantial evidence, and yes, that with regard to mediums, séances and spirit photography, not only is the evidence generally to be taken with a proverbial grain of salt, but that there also have been and continue to be quite either a goodly number of deliberate hoaxes or instances where the ghost stories are individuals being overtaken by their imagination. And although Daniel Cohen also never makes the claim that ghosts do not exist, his text for In Search of Ghosts does show that there is a lot of doubt regarding the existence of ghosts and that just because someone might believe he or she has experienced a haunting, has been visited by a departed spirit, this naturally does not automatically mean that this is an occurrence that truly occurred.
However, while my appreciation of In Search of Ghosts as a balanced and academically sound exploration of the question of whether ghosts and hauntings actually do in reality exist is four stars (and that I also do appreciate that Daniel Cohen has included a bibliography), writing style and narration wise, I do personally find Daniel Cohen’s writing rather annoyingly rambling and tedious, and so much so, that I could actually only finish In Search of Ghosts by engaging in a lot of skimming (and that this has definitely negatively affected my reading pleasure enough to only consider a three star rating in general for In Search of Ghosts, and not to mention that I also find it a bit strange that in other books on ghosts I have read from Daniel Cohen’s pen, he seems to be not balanced anymore but an uncritical believer in ghosts being real, in ghosts actually existing).
June 9, 2015
A very balanced book that looks at the history of ghosts as well as the beliefs in various aspects of the subject. This book, published in 1972, contains a lot of great historical information dealing with psychical research as well as early ghost stories. This is a must read for any fan of paranormal television as well as anyone involved in field investigations.
December 8, 2025
In truth should probably have been called "In Search of Anything But Ghosts." ;)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews