I Never Believed In Ghosts Until . . .

by USA Weekend

100 of the most spine-tingling ghost stories collected from USA WEEKEND readers across America.

Genres: Ghosts, Paranormal, Nonfiction, Ghost Stories, Occult, Short Stories

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun to read people's actual accounts of the supernatural.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I put this in non-fiction, but have my doubts. Many of the accounts read too much like fiction, but I guess you never know. Some stories were creepy, but many were along the lines of moved into a new house, saw a ghost, moved out. Other folks toughed out their haunting longer than that, but eventually moved out. Shockingly, many discovered, through the ubiquitous library research, that their house had been built in the 1800s and someone died in it. For supposedly true stories, they all seemed kind of hum-drum. I thought truth was supposed to be stranger than fiction!

Also, most of the stories, at least 80 percent, are written by women. I wondered at that at first, then figured women are probably the primary audience of USA Weekend, which made them more likely to see the solicitation for true ghost stories.

I enjoyed it enough, found some good nuggets for story ideas, but it could have been creepier and scarier. Too many Ghost Whisperer type stories and not enough Amityville Horror.

[Onix Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. Although I myself have never had an experience with a ghost, I very much believe in them. these stories had a little of everything, love, helpful, evil ghost. as you read this book all you can say is wow. It's a very interesting book.

[Chy · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 2.75. Mostly it was just okay, but I kinda liked it. There were a couple of these stories that read as if the senders thought USA WEEKEND had requested them to make up some flash fiction. Others seemed embellished to make them more "interesting."

A few were touching, but only one actually came across as scary. (To me.)

Of the one hundred stories in the collection, I was glad to have found...(as in, I dog-eared the starting pages for)...about five of them. There were about eight of them that came across as complete BS. The rest were mediocre with varying levels of that feeling of...embellishment.

And there was one ghost cat story. I freakin' hate ghost pet stories. I got burnt out on them, bad, when I had to scroll through tons of them looking through "personal experiences" on sites about ghosts and such.

All in all, not bad for 20 cents.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
I very, very much enjoyed these stories - this is only the second book I've read on the subject of ghosts and the like with the first book being only okay. Maybe it was because this was so many stories as compared to just one but this was just much better.
There were a few, a very few, stories that IMO shouldn't have been included. Either easily explained or just plain not scary at all but that was maybe five out of all the stories and there are many.
I'm very much a skeptic about ghosts and everything like ghosts but I have to admit, this was damn scary. I keep expecting to see wisps of smoke go by my head or feel someone push me down while I'm walking. :)
I do have to admit also, these stories seemed true......

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK! This book was so intense I couldn't go to sleep without having the light one because these ghosts stories creeped me out so much.
This book had 100 ghost stores that were written by people who have had supernatural encounters with ghosts or spirits. They are so scary I couldn't put the book down (if that makes any sense whatsoever).
I totally believe in ghosts because I feel like I have encountered ghosts myself when I am in my grandmothers house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This book was wonderful and I will definitely read it again and again and again. It is the bet book ever.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good read. These are supposedly true stories submitted about 25 years ago to the newspaper about ghostly encounters. Some were a little too "out there" to be believable but others seemed truly real and truly creepy. This was a good lunchtime read. Not too scary, but I still wanted to turn the page.

[Tippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very amusing. If I had to guess, I'd say some could be real and others no way. A few had a religious current that turned me off. Whether or not they're real, most of them are pretty interesting. Fun easy read.

[Azra · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know, this one of those books that I don't even care if all the stories are 'true' or 'real.' This book is like one of those mixed bag of chocolate bars - each story is like a little bite sized bit of goodness.

[April Vangelderen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found some of the stories hard to believe.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun for spooky reading - I wish USA Today would publish a second collection like this.

[CJ | A Well-Read Tart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book YEARS ago. It has some of the best ghost stories EVER, and I have read a lot of ghost stories over the years.

[Charlotte Delautre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun and creepy

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok I am with alot of other people in saying this book has alot of stories tat just seem fake and yes there are maybe a few that weren't otherwise was a good book..I realize there are alot of unexplained and weird things out there that don't make sense to us and so I think there are ghosts or spirits that are roaming around for good reasons and then there are bad evil spirits as well..I know everyone has their own opinion and that is ok

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of them did not seem too real, though there were a few. The one I remember most was the one about the little girl carrying her doll & looking down over the balcony at the party below. She drops her doll.... you can probably guess the rest.

[Riley Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun quick read. Good stories to tell around a camp fire. Scary but not over the top.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good compilation of short ghost stories. None of them are more than three or four pages long while most of them are a page or two. None of them are gross or so gruesome that they can't be shared with kids...well, unless you have a super sensitive, over reactive kid...they're out there, we know that. Perfect for Halloween if you want to read some things that go bump in the night stories.

[Krissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't too bad but some of the stories were just too unbelieveable - I enjoyed it b/c I like ghost stories and there were some in there that were pretty creepy. All in all, I would recommend it to people who like ghost stories but just beware that some of the short stories are ones that you have most likely heard a million times before.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick easy and light read, short stories that are fairly well written. Not likely to convert any skeptics into believers, but interesting and entertaining if you enjoy stories about things that go bump in the night!

[happydog · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for true ghost stories. This book had some pretty good ones.

[Teri Kman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many, many short essays from ordinary folks who share their ghostly encounters. They all seem so believable!

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straight up just a fun book to read around Halloween time. I really enjoyed these stories.

[TOTO from Kansas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little read.

[tammy]

I love a good ghost story. Especially on a stormy night. Excellent book

[Sabrina Rutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book with all different types of real ghostly encounters!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love ro read abt real-life encounters!

[Wendy]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the many stories of true-life encounters with ghosts that people have experienced.