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The Book of Indian Ghosts
Every community, tribe, and sub-community in India has its own ghosts. For centuries, the spirit world has captured the imagination of Indians. Some are believed to live near waterbodies and sneak up on passers-by; others roam around fields on summer afternoons, seduce lost men, and, in some cases, protect you from evil. From the north Indian chudails, who are said to prowl neighbourhoods in search of their victims, and the mechho bhoots from West Bengal that love fish, to the fearsome ghosts from Tamil Nadu called muni pei—the Indian ghost family is enormous, with no official headcount.
Who are these shadowy creatures that haunt dense forests? What are the mysteries hidden beneath the surface of deep, calm waters? And how are we to understand these restless spirits who have permeated our memories, psyches, imaginations, and literatures?
Riksundar Banerjee, an authority on Indian ghosts, investigates stories of creatures from the spirit world from all over India, in an effort to unravel the truth behind the legends, beliefs, superstitions, and experiences all of us are aware of. The result is The Book of Indian Ghosts—an authoritative, deeply researched, and spooky account of the otherworldly beings that haunt India and Indians.
Who are these shadowy creatures that haunt dense forests? What are the mysteries hidden beneath the surface of deep, calm waters? And how are we to understand these restless spirits who have permeated our memories, psyches, imaginations, and literatures?
Riksundar Banerjee, an authority on Indian ghosts, investigates stories of creatures from the spirit world from all over India, in an effort to unravel the truth behind the legends, beliefs, superstitions, and experiences all of us are aware of. The result is The Book of Indian Ghosts—an authoritative, deeply researched, and spooky account of the otherworldly beings that haunt India and Indians.
- GenresHorrorNonfictionIndia
278 pages, Hardcover
Published May 1, 2021
17 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 16, 2022
Why so bland and boring?!
May 5, 2022
This compact, lucid and fairly comprehensive survey of Indian ghosts contains~
— an incisive 'Introduction';
— brief description or fictional encounters with Eighty-Four (84) different types of supernatural entities found among variuos parts and people of India;
— Acknowledgements, Author's Note, Bibliography.
The write-ups are very brief in most cases. Although the stories accompanying some of them are good, in my opinion the work would have been wealthier if the author had used literary exmples to substantiate various types of ghosts. In that process he could have described ghosts of different parts of India in different volumes. That would have also allowed him to explore the relation between folk beliefs and literary constructions feeding each other with changes in societal norms.
Nevertheless, this was a very good read.
Recommended.
— an incisive 'Introduction';
— brief description or fictional encounters with Eighty-Four (84) different types of supernatural entities found among variuos parts and people of India;
— Acknowledgements, Author's Note, Bibliography.
The write-ups are very brief in most cases. Although the stories accompanying some of them are good, in my opinion the work would have been wealthier if the author had used literary exmples to substantiate various types of ghosts. In that process he could have described ghosts of different parts of India in different volumes. That would have also allowed him to explore the relation between folk beliefs and literary constructions feeding each other with changes in societal norms.
Nevertheless, this was a very good read.
Recommended.
August 15, 2021
Book: The Book of Indian Ghosts
Author: Riksundar Banerjee
Publisher: Aleph Book Company (10 May 2021);
Language: English
Hardcover: 278 pages
Item Weight: 330 g
Dimensions: 13.97 x 1.91 x 21.59 cm
Country of Origin: India
Price: 420/-
‘In the history of time, one lifespan disappears like a pebble in the sea. What happens after we die? Do we leave this existence forever? For millennia, the fear of the unknown has inspired a deep fascination about the afterlife among humans. This fascination is usually tinged with dread, although, the idea of an eternity spent wallowing in misery doesn’t make much sense. Be that as it may, this fear of the unknowable eternity that awaits us after we leave our earthly shells is what has given rise to the concept of ghosts.’ -- Introduction
India has, debatably, the most miscellaneous families of ghosts to be found anywhere on the planet because of the straightforward actuality that Indian society is, perhaps, the most assorted on earth, with each of its subsets having a distinctive method of worship, culture, lifestyle, and so on.
This book is by no means exhaustive but does include a representative sample of ghosts from every part of the country.
The author has comprehensively dealt with 84 varieties of ghosts mentioned in the lores of our country. From the well known Chudail, Dakini, Ekanore, Mamdo, Mechho Bhoot, Shankhchunni and Rakshasa the author deals with the not so well known varieties of apparitions such as the Chetkin, Dund, Chordewa, Tola, Ulkamukhi, Dakan Sakan, Gayal and so many many other varieties.
Unquestionably it is no happenstance that throughout humankind’s written history, ghost stories have been ubiquitous in religion, mythology and literature. Our earliest recorded epics – Gilgamesh, The Odyssey – all coalesce heroic journeys with fearsome visits from ghosts.
Ghost stories have often been associated with war – which is, in any case, an activity that often leads to death – and soldiers make for unassailably robust and honest protagonists in ghost stories (as do lawyers, doctors and ministers of the church).
Ghosts have been institutionalized and turned into festivals – China’s Hungry Ghost Festival, or Mexico’s Dias de los Muertos – and by the 18th century the ghost story was an established genre of Western literature.
Gothic writers like Ann Radcliffe (whose hauntings were all revealed as hoaxes by the end of each of her novels) and Horace Walpole popularized ghost stories even more, and tiled the way for later writers such as Dickens (A Christmas Carol may be the most famous ghost story of all time) and Bram Stoker, who applied many of the methods of the characteristic ghost story to eastern European vampire folklore, creating ‘Dracula’ in the process.
By the end of the 19th century, Spiritualism was in vogue.
Well-to-do Victorians and Edwardians throughout both Britain and America swarmed into mediums’ parlours, hoping a séance would lead to a message from Uncle Henry or a glimpse of ghostly ectoplasm. The latter was believed to be an emanation from the beyond, but was instead revealed to be a few yards of chiffon hidden away by the medium before the start of the proceedings.
Even though the psychics of the Spiritualism craze and the accompanying interest in ‘spirit photography’ were all debunked by the likes of magicians J. N. Maskelyne and Harry Houdini, and the fad had largely faded by the 1930s, belief in ghosts had not.
The growing recognition of horror literature – which exploded in the 1970s as the work of Stephen King hit bookshops and cinema screens generated screams with films like The Exorcist and The Omen – led to a resurrection of interest in classic ghost tales, and the influx of reality television brought with it an authentic haunted house-full of ghost-hunting and paranormal investigation programmes.
And, nearly 5,000 years after the first recorded ghost stories, we are still encountering spirits from beyond and scaring one another with fictionalized accounts. Our thirst to believe has not changed, even if our means of transmission have.
The ghost, in the classic sense, is thought to be the spirit of someone who has died. Encounters with ghosts are – as in the scenario that opened this introduction – often connected to architecture and family ties, especially those that are wrapped up in grief, and may include ‘cold spots’ (an area of a house or room where the temperature is inexplicably lower), rapping or banging sounds, music, smells and the sensation of being touched.
Despite certain culturally shared notions, defining a ‘ghost’ is not a straightforward undertaking. In our contemporary, Western thinking, the ghost is the spirit of a deceased individual that manifests itself to us after their death; but in the past, and in other cultures, the ghost may be very different.
Belief in ghosts seems to be nearly universal, but the shape the undead spirit takes varies according to the particular society’s collective imagination.
The very word ‘ghost’ has altered in both meaning and form over the last five or so centuries.
Consistent with the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was originally derived from the German word gást, which in turn evolved out of the pre-Teutonic gaisto-z or ghoizdo-z, meaning ‘fury, anger’; until about 1590 ‘ghost’ referred to the essence of life, rather than the survival after death.
This original meaning survives in the phrase ‘give up the ghost’, which dates back to at least 1388, when a translation of Matthew 27: 50 stated: ‘Jhesus eftsoone criede with a greet voyce and gaf vp the goost.’
This use of the word also survives in the name ‘Holy Ghost’, the third part of the Christian Trinity. The Holy Ghost probably has its roots in the Hebrew ruah ha-qodesh; ruah originally meant ‘breath’ or ‘wind’, and ruah ha-qodesh was the holy breath of God that inspired human beings.
The 4th century Latin translation of the Bible rendered this as spiritus sanctus, with spiritus again referring to ‘breath’ or ‘wind’, and by the time of Middle English, the phrase had become ‘holi gost’.
As humanity has spread and changed, so have its ghost beliefs. Improvements in science and technology have allowed us to investigate the nature of ghosts; while some investigators have sought to use new devices to capture proof of the existence of the frustratingly elusive undead, others have experimented with the human brain in an effort to find non-supernatural explanations for ghosts.
Mental illness, repressed trauma, the hypnagogic state experienced between sleep and wakefulness, electromagnetic fields and extreme low-frequency infrasound have all been advanced as theories to explain the experience of encountering a ghost, although a single explanation has yet to be widely accepted – or at least as widely accepted as the notion that a ghost is a spirit of the dead.
As with the mortal world, so with the spirit world, most of the communities in our society have their own types of ghouls, spirits, and other undead creatures. However, a number of them have several things in common, should not be surprising given that all Indians have a fair amount in common.
Riksundar says, ‘An interesting fact of the spirit world is that spectres are but a reflection of the society they arise from. When calm, peace, equality, and fraternity become the traits most associated with our society, all malevolent spirits will drift away. The answer to our nightmares lies within us.’
The bullet point scrutiny by the author at the very onset of the book is remarkable. Mark the following observations:
1) Over time, humans realized that the deceased would always outnumber the living. The emptiness created by the nonexistence of someone is impractical to fill. But the uneasiness and vagueness that follow death emerge in the tales of the deceased who return among us as ‘ghosts’.
2) There are abundant potential reasons why these ethereal figures enter the imagination of the living. For instance, someone who had been oppressed in their lifetime might come back to seek justice. Throughout history, there have been vicious injustices commited on those belonging to the marginalized sections of the society. This may have led to the emergence of legends about notorious spirits such as the ‘masan’ or ‘kanipishachi’ that especially set about seeking justice for their oppressed ‘class’.
3) Notably, the ‘dayani’ of North India seeks to avenge the brutality meted out to lower-caste, dark-skinned women. The coercion and pain of women throughout centuries have engendered one of the largest corpuses of ghost stories. It elucidates why there are so many female ghosts in both literature and film. Throughout history, in all cultures, women have been dispossessed, persecuted, and abused.
4) Other than the patriarchy, social barriers have also greatly affected women. In Indian culture, there was a time (until the 18th century) when a man could have a large number of wives. The principal role of these wives was to keep giving birth until their bodies ultimately gave up. Naturally, there are incalculable stories that can be found of ghosts that have risen from the death of expectant women, or women who died while giving birth, or women who were sexually abused. Whether it is the ‘sankhchunni’ or the ‘chiroguni’ — these macabre phantoms seek revenge on behalf of women who were terrorized when they were alive.
5) The legends surrounding the ghosts of unmarried women, such as the petni or the kichin, strike fear since they can also seek horrific sexual gratification from the living. Sexual desires have often driven ghosts into finding a way back to the mortal world.
6) Even some male ghosts like the supurus have repute for attempting to have sex. Female spirits are not the only sort of ghosts who seek retribution. In fact, the majority of unquiet phantoms are those who are seeking vengeance on those who oppressed or murdered them when they were living.
For this book, the author has collected ghost stories from various sources — books on ghosts in the regional languages, particularly in the Bengali language.
He has also re-imagined ghostly encounters that he first came across in books that he had bought from book fairs and read through the night when he was a child fascinated with otherworldly creatures and their worlds; from stories and folk tales narrated by locals to him in the course of his research.
This book is to be treated as a helpful primer for beginners seeking to cut their teeth into Indian spirits and a breezy refresher for the accustomed reader of the same subject.
I wish the author my love, regard and good wishes for all his impending projects.
Keep the blaze smouldering brother!!
Author: Riksundar Banerjee
Publisher: Aleph Book Company (10 May 2021);
Language: English
Hardcover: 278 pages
Item Weight: 330 g
Dimensions: 13.97 x 1.91 x 21.59 cm
Country of Origin: India
Price: 420/-
‘In the history of time, one lifespan disappears like a pebble in the sea. What happens after we die? Do we leave this existence forever? For millennia, the fear of the unknown has inspired a deep fascination about the afterlife among humans. This fascination is usually tinged with dread, although, the idea of an eternity spent wallowing in misery doesn’t make much sense. Be that as it may, this fear of the unknowable eternity that awaits us after we leave our earthly shells is what has given rise to the concept of ghosts.’ -- Introduction
India has, debatably, the most miscellaneous families of ghosts to be found anywhere on the planet because of the straightforward actuality that Indian society is, perhaps, the most assorted on earth, with each of its subsets having a distinctive method of worship, culture, lifestyle, and so on.
This book is by no means exhaustive but does include a representative sample of ghosts from every part of the country.
The author has comprehensively dealt with 84 varieties of ghosts mentioned in the lores of our country. From the well known Chudail, Dakini, Ekanore, Mamdo, Mechho Bhoot, Shankhchunni and Rakshasa the author deals with the not so well known varieties of apparitions such as the Chetkin, Dund, Chordewa, Tola, Ulkamukhi, Dakan Sakan, Gayal and so many many other varieties.
Unquestionably it is no happenstance that throughout humankind’s written history, ghost stories have been ubiquitous in religion, mythology and literature. Our earliest recorded epics – Gilgamesh, The Odyssey – all coalesce heroic journeys with fearsome visits from ghosts.
Ghost stories have often been associated with war – which is, in any case, an activity that often leads to death – and soldiers make for unassailably robust and honest protagonists in ghost stories (as do lawyers, doctors and ministers of the church).
Ghosts have been institutionalized and turned into festivals – China’s Hungry Ghost Festival, or Mexico’s Dias de los Muertos – and by the 18th century the ghost story was an established genre of Western literature.
Gothic writers like Ann Radcliffe (whose hauntings were all revealed as hoaxes by the end of each of her novels) and Horace Walpole popularized ghost stories even more, and tiled the way for later writers such as Dickens (A Christmas Carol may be the most famous ghost story of all time) and Bram Stoker, who applied many of the methods of the characteristic ghost story to eastern European vampire folklore, creating ‘Dracula’ in the process.
By the end of the 19th century, Spiritualism was in vogue.
Well-to-do Victorians and Edwardians throughout both Britain and America swarmed into mediums’ parlours, hoping a séance would lead to a message from Uncle Henry or a glimpse of ghostly ectoplasm. The latter was believed to be an emanation from the beyond, but was instead revealed to be a few yards of chiffon hidden away by the medium before the start of the proceedings.
Even though the psychics of the Spiritualism craze and the accompanying interest in ‘spirit photography’ were all debunked by the likes of magicians J. N. Maskelyne and Harry Houdini, and the fad had largely faded by the 1930s, belief in ghosts had not.
The growing recognition of horror literature – which exploded in the 1970s as the work of Stephen King hit bookshops and cinema screens generated screams with films like The Exorcist and The Omen – led to a resurrection of interest in classic ghost tales, and the influx of reality television brought with it an authentic haunted house-full of ghost-hunting and paranormal investigation programmes.
And, nearly 5,000 years after the first recorded ghost stories, we are still encountering spirits from beyond and scaring one another with fictionalized accounts. Our thirst to believe has not changed, even if our means of transmission have.
The ghost, in the classic sense, is thought to be the spirit of someone who has died. Encounters with ghosts are – as in the scenario that opened this introduction – often connected to architecture and family ties, especially those that are wrapped up in grief, and may include ‘cold spots’ (an area of a house or room where the temperature is inexplicably lower), rapping or banging sounds, music, smells and the sensation of being touched.
Despite certain culturally shared notions, defining a ‘ghost’ is not a straightforward undertaking. In our contemporary, Western thinking, the ghost is the spirit of a deceased individual that manifests itself to us after their death; but in the past, and in other cultures, the ghost may be very different.
Belief in ghosts seems to be nearly universal, but the shape the undead spirit takes varies according to the particular society’s collective imagination.
The very word ‘ghost’ has altered in both meaning and form over the last five or so centuries.
Consistent with the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was originally derived from the German word gást, which in turn evolved out of the pre-Teutonic gaisto-z or ghoizdo-z, meaning ‘fury, anger’; until about 1590 ‘ghost’ referred to the essence of life, rather than the survival after death.
This original meaning survives in the phrase ‘give up the ghost’, which dates back to at least 1388, when a translation of Matthew 27: 50 stated: ‘Jhesus eftsoone criede with a greet voyce and gaf vp the goost.’
This use of the word also survives in the name ‘Holy Ghost’, the third part of the Christian Trinity. The Holy Ghost probably has its roots in the Hebrew ruah ha-qodesh; ruah originally meant ‘breath’ or ‘wind’, and ruah ha-qodesh was the holy breath of God that inspired human beings.
The 4th century Latin translation of the Bible rendered this as spiritus sanctus, with spiritus again referring to ‘breath’ or ‘wind’, and by the time of Middle English, the phrase had become ‘holi gost’.
As humanity has spread and changed, so have its ghost beliefs. Improvements in science and technology have allowed us to investigate the nature of ghosts; while some investigators have sought to use new devices to capture proof of the existence of the frustratingly elusive undead, others have experimented with the human brain in an effort to find non-supernatural explanations for ghosts.
Mental illness, repressed trauma, the hypnagogic state experienced between sleep and wakefulness, electromagnetic fields and extreme low-frequency infrasound have all been advanced as theories to explain the experience of encountering a ghost, although a single explanation has yet to be widely accepted – or at least as widely accepted as the notion that a ghost is a spirit of the dead.
As with the mortal world, so with the spirit world, most of the communities in our society have their own types of ghouls, spirits, and other undead creatures. However, a number of them have several things in common, should not be surprising given that all Indians have a fair amount in common.
Riksundar says, ‘An interesting fact of the spirit world is that spectres are but a reflection of the society they arise from. When calm, peace, equality, and fraternity become the traits most associated with our society, all malevolent spirits will drift away. The answer to our nightmares lies within us.’
The bullet point scrutiny by the author at the very onset of the book is remarkable. Mark the following observations:
1) Over time, humans realized that the deceased would always outnumber the living. The emptiness created by the nonexistence of someone is impractical to fill. But the uneasiness and vagueness that follow death emerge in the tales of the deceased who return among us as ‘ghosts’.
2) There are abundant potential reasons why these ethereal figures enter the imagination of the living. For instance, someone who had been oppressed in their lifetime might come back to seek justice. Throughout history, there have been vicious injustices commited on those belonging to the marginalized sections of the society. This may have led to the emergence of legends about notorious spirits such as the ‘masan’ or ‘kanipishachi’ that especially set about seeking justice for their oppressed ‘class’.
3) Notably, the ‘dayani’ of North India seeks to avenge the brutality meted out to lower-caste, dark-skinned women. The coercion and pain of women throughout centuries have engendered one of the largest corpuses of ghost stories. It elucidates why there are so many female ghosts in both literature and film. Throughout history, in all cultures, women have been dispossessed, persecuted, and abused.
4) Other than the patriarchy, social barriers have also greatly affected women. In Indian culture, there was a time (until the 18th century) when a man could have a large number of wives. The principal role of these wives was to keep giving birth until their bodies ultimately gave up. Naturally, there are incalculable stories that can be found of ghosts that have risen from the death of expectant women, or women who died while giving birth, or women who were sexually abused. Whether it is the ‘sankhchunni’ or the ‘chiroguni’ — these macabre phantoms seek revenge on behalf of women who were terrorized when they were alive.
5) The legends surrounding the ghosts of unmarried women, such as the petni or the kichin, strike fear since they can also seek horrific sexual gratification from the living. Sexual desires have often driven ghosts into finding a way back to the mortal world.
6) Even some male ghosts like the supurus have repute for attempting to have sex. Female spirits are not the only sort of ghosts who seek retribution. In fact, the majority of unquiet phantoms are those who are seeking vengeance on those who oppressed or murdered them when they were living.
For this book, the author has collected ghost stories from various sources — books on ghosts in the regional languages, particularly in the Bengali language.
He has also re-imagined ghostly encounters that he first came across in books that he had bought from book fairs and read through the night when he was a child fascinated with otherworldly creatures and their worlds; from stories and folk tales narrated by locals to him in the course of his research.
This book is to be treated as a helpful primer for beginners seeking to cut their teeth into Indian spirits and a breezy refresher for the accustomed reader of the same subject.
I wish the author my love, regard and good wishes for all his impending projects.
Keep the blaze smouldering brother!!
July 12, 2021
Supernatural beings have always been a dire fascination of mine. In the Indian context, supernatural so-called 'evil' creatures cannot be termed by this one term called "Ghosts". That's the popular lingo. Subdivisions are there--- bhoot, pretas, rakshasas, demons, monsters, spirits....
Riksundar Banerjee's book gave me a very different feeling. He has constructed almost 80+ chapters each focusing on supernatural ghostly beings across India, but its just not a academic catalogue or marked by some monotonous description. Instead, what I found largely starking are the stories which he's included. Banerjee introduces most of his creatures through stories (some of which I'm assuming he's written himself and some have been handed down generations through spoken lores). The stories span mostly rural India, with a distinctive focus to the rural terrains of Bengal.
One thing I've always found myself thinking while reading spooky stories is that there's this inherent feeling of loss and grief in the narrative. If you keep aside the general feeling of horror that arises out of ghosts, you can fondly realise that most supernatural beings are born of dead creatures. Unhappy men and women dying and then turning into a a vengeful spirit. Unsatisfied brutal murders taking shape of thirsty ghosts. Wronged entities stamped by popular lingo of good vs. evil, auspicuous omens vs. bad omens, 'shubh and asubh'. It's also really alarming that Indian societies nowdays look at all concepts related to death as "ashubh" (inauspicious) although each human is slowly inching towards their grave themselves. Conclusively, I've faced sadness for ghosts. Most of them have fcaed early departure, so maybe they just want to linger by. (Added note: In Bengali mainstream literature, for example in stories by Shirshendu Mukhopadhay and Leela Majumdar, many harmless, helpful "good" ghosts also appear and they form a character in the book quite playfully! Those stories make me happy and not sad)
⠀
In "The Book of Indian ghosts", I naturally appreciated the revisiting of many supernatural creatures through Banerjee's deeply textual research. But more than that, I loved this subtle sensitivity and sympathy with which some articles and stories have been written here. It's very interesting to note those little details, about the evolution of ghosts and what deeper implications they imply, how they came to be in the primary gossip and began to stay in the minds of people.
Thanks Aleph Book Company for the copy.
Riksundar Banerjee's book gave me a very different feeling. He has constructed almost 80+ chapters each focusing on supernatural ghostly beings across India, but its just not a academic catalogue or marked by some monotonous description. Instead, what I found largely starking are the stories which he's included. Banerjee introduces most of his creatures through stories (some of which I'm assuming he's written himself and some have been handed down generations through spoken lores). The stories span mostly rural India, with a distinctive focus to the rural terrains of Bengal.
One thing I've always found myself thinking while reading spooky stories is that there's this inherent feeling of loss and grief in the narrative. If you keep aside the general feeling of horror that arises out of ghosts, you can fondly realise that most supernatural beings are born of dead creatures. Unhappy men and women dying and then turning into a a vengeful spirit. Unsatisfied brutal murders taking shape of thirsty ghosts. Wronged entities stamped by popular lingo of good vs. evil, auspicuous omens vs. bad omens, 'shubh and asubh'. It's also really alarming that Indian societies nowdays look at all concepts related to death as "ashubh" (inauspicious) although each human is slowly inching towards their grave themselves. Conclusively, I've faced sadness for ghosts. Most of them have fcaed early departure, so maybe they just want to linger by. (Added note: In Bengali mainstream literature, for example in stories by Shirshendu Mukhopadhay and Leela Majumdar, many harmless, helpful "good" ghosts also appear and they form a character in the book quite playfully! Those stories make me happy and not sad)
⠀
In "The Book of Indian ghosts", I naturally appreciated the revisiting of many supernatural creatures through Banerjee's deeply textual research. But more than that, I loved this subtle sensitivity and sympathy with which some articles and stories have been written here. It's very interesting to note those little details, about the evolution of ghosts and what deeper implications they imply, how they came to be in the primary gossip and began to stay in the minds of people.
Thanks Aleph Book Company for the copy.
May 8, 2022
"Our eyes and ears often deceive us, but we tend to trust them more than we should. Often, what is in front of us is not what we perceive it to be."
BOOK:The book of Indian Ghosts
AUTHOR: Riksundar Banerjee
GENRE: #urbanlegends #indianfolklore #ghoststory #horror
RATING: ☠☠☠☠🦴🦴(4.2)
Riksundar Banerjee have done thorough research to write this book about Indian Ghosts. Being his debut English book, he have done a wonderful job, as there are lots of people curious to know about the supernatural this can be used as a catalogue of the wide varieties of Indian Ghosts. The author have previously written four books in Bengali, his mother tongue.
This is a non exaggerated collection of Indian Superstitious / supernatural beliefs, citings, experiences, folklores/legends. India being a diverse country have that diversity among the supernatural as well.
#folklore
#urbanlegend
#thebookofindianghosts
#riksundarbanerjee
#bengali
#begaliauthor
#author
#indianauthor
#horror
#indianhauntings
#hauntings
#mayread
#reading
#reads
#readerssnapshot
#bookstagram
#booksbooksbooks
#bookstagrampost
#bookstagrammer
#readerssnapshot
#horrorcitings
#indianghosts
#supernatural
#superstitions
#goodreads
#booklover
#readinglove
BOOK:The book of Indian Ghosts
AUTHOR: Riksundar Banerjee
GENRE: #urbanlegends #indianfolklore #ghoststory #horror
RATING: ☠☠☠☠🦴🦴(4.2)
Riksundar Banerjee have done thorough research to write this book about Indian Ghosts. Being his debut English book, he have done a wonderful job, as there are lots of people curious to know about the supernatural this can be used as a catalogue of the wide varieties of Indian Ghosts. The author have previously written four books in Bengali, his mother tongue.
This is a non exaggerated collection of Indian Superstitious / supernatural beliefs, citings, experiences, folklores/legends. India being a diverse country have that diversity among the supernatural as well.
#folklore
#urbanlegend
#thebookofindianghosts
#riksundarbanerjee
#bengali
#begaliauthor
#author
#indianauthor
#horror
#indianhauntings
#hauntings
#mayread
#reading
#reads
#readerssnapshot
#bookstagram
#booksbooksbooks
#bookstagrampost
#bookstagrammer
#readerssnapshot
#horrorcitings
#indianghosts
#supernatural
#superstitions
#goodreads
#booklover
#readinglove
August 14, 2021
Even though I am not a huge fan of horror movies, I can tolerate the same jumpscares when it comes to reading such stories. Hence, The Book of Indian Ghosts caught my attention immediately after its release. Putting together the stories of 84 ghosts or otherworldly beings, this book elaborates upon their origin, existence, the belief associated with them and the characteristic features that can help us identify these ghosts.
Read the full review here: https://www.aliveshadow.com/category-...
Read the full review here: https://www.aliveshadow.com/category-...
September 3, 2022
A compendium of Indian ghost stories written in an engaging fashion, humanizing the whys behind the scares. Surprisingly enough, this book is not intended to scare, without even the rudimentary drawings not possessing a scare value but adding to the stories. India’s rich verbal history of ghost stories intended to scare people into living a moral and safe life was well brought out in this attempt by Banerjee.
July 9, 2021
“Encyclopaedia on Indian Ghosts”
Totally Outlandish, spooky, Gut-wrenching and ghastly!
Totally Outlandish, spooky, Gut-wrenching and ghastly!
October 14, 2021
I enjoyed this one, even I am not a fan of horror genre. Yes, I like watching horror movies, but I have hardly read a few good books in this genre.
This book talks about Indian ghosts; it tells us how many types of ghosts are found in India, and while telling telling this, it narrates a story or folklore.
Because the writer is Bengali, so most of the ghosts are of Bengali origin, but it has given space to the other states' ghosts also.
I want to read more books like this.
This book talks about Indian ghosts; it tells us how many types of ghosts are found in India, and while telling telling this, it narrates a story or folklore.
Because the writer is Bengali, so most of the ghosts are of Bengali origin, but it has given space to the other states' ghosts also.
I want to read more books like this.
August 20, 2022
The amount of research that the author put into the materialization of this book is very impressive. Well done! 👍🏼
August 29, 2021
I have been an ardent fan of Fear Files, Aahat and horror movies for as long as I remember. One summer afternoon I had switched the TV on and found an episode of a headless ghost plaguing a forest playing on the channel. The ghost was afraid of trains and the protagonist barely saved himself by running towards the train platform when he found the chance to run away. The headless ghost is referred to as Skondhokata by the people of Bengal. The legends say that Skondhokata is the spirit of those people who died by having their heads cut off in train accidents. The Skondhokata searches for its missing head. Many times they attack passing humans to enslave them, and then force them to search for their severed heads so that they can return to their 'ordinary' lives.
It is not a mere coincidence that the root meaning of 'ghost' translates to 'bhoot' or 'bhut' in hindi, which is another word for 'past'. Thereby oftentimes these ghosts are believed to be the spirits of unsatisfied human being who were unable to find peace in death and are stuck to their past lives, in the hopes of making things normal again. Banerjee accounts more than eighty ghosts popular in Indian myths, folklores and literature, from Besho Bhoot, to Brahmadaitya, to Pishachas and many more.
To the ten-year-old me this would have been the perfect guide/encyclopaedia of ghosts. I loved reading this eerily gothic book with its fluid prose and dark, stunning illustrations.
It is not a mere coincidence that the root meaning of 'ghost' translates to 'bhoot' or 'bhut' in hindi, which is another word for 'past'. Thereby oftentimes these ghosts are believed to be the spirits of unsatisfied human being who were unable to find peace in death and are stuck to their past lives, in the hopes of making things normal again. Banerjee accounts more than eighty ghosts popular in Indian myths, folklores and literature, from Besho Bhoot, to Brahmadaitya, to Pishachas and many more.
To the ten-year-old me this would have been the perfect guide/encyclopaedia of ghosts. I loved reading this eerily gothic book with its fluid prose and dark, stunning illustrations.
September 14, 2021
Spanning just over 250 pages, The Book of Indian Ghosts carries 84 entries, each centred on a ghost found in some part of India. Of the 84 ghosts found in this book, majority of them belong to the region of Bengal. This is because the author, Riksundar Banerjee, is a Bengali himself. However, as a North Indian, I wanted to read more about the ghostly figures about whom I have heard stories as a child. But the book as whole was enjoyable.
The book is meant to be read slowly, nibbling at one or two entries at a time. The methodology adopted by the author to present the ghostly figures featured in this book includes fictionalised narratives, personal narratives and descriptive passages about the ghosts. The book also carries a few illustrations, which only serve to enhance the reader's experience. Although the book is based on a thorough research, the narrative aspect of the book could have been better. I mean, when reading a book about ghosts, I want to be scared a bit. But that seldom happened. There were only a handful of entries that were interesting and scary at the same time. I also feel that ghosts should have been classified into groups, perhaps on the basis of their geographical location or something else. The alphabetical arrangement did put me off a bit. But as a final verdict, I would say that this book is definitely worth a shot.
The book is meant to be read slowly, nibbling at one or two entries at a time. The methodology adopted by the author to present the ghostly figures featured in this book includes fictionalised narratives, personal narratives and descriptive passages about the ghosts. The book also carries a few illustrations, which only serve to enhance the reader's experience. Although the book is based on a thorough research, the narrative aspect of the book could have been better. I mean, when reading a book about ghosts, I want to be scared a bit. But that seldom happened. There were only a handful of entries that were interesting and scary at the same time. I also feel that ghosts should have been classified into groups, perhaps on the basis of their geographical location or something else. The alphabetical arrangement did put me off a bit. But as a final verdict, I would say that this book is definitely worth a shot.
October 14, 2021
A special read this spooky October!
Undoubtedly every place in the world has its own stories about ghosts and paranormal entities. This amazing book, The Book of Indian Ghosts talks about all sorts of ghosts from every community in India, collected from all sorts of locations. India has diversity in humans, so of course, there's diversity in India's ghosts.
I'm quite fascinated with the world of paranormal beings especially movies, be it ghosts, zombies, vampires, and I always wish to know more about them. I even bought Dracula and Frankenstein (these aren't ghost stories, I know) over a year ago but I couldn't bring myself to read them. But when I found The Book of Indian Ghosts, I had to keep everything aside to get into the world of it. After all, my childhood favourite was none other than the Goosebumps series from RL Stine and that's what made me a reader. Now that I've grown up, those books do not give any chills and seem childish, so I was delighted to read something meant to be read as an adult and not just a children's horror story.
The book features short stories and at the end of each story it describes the characteristics of the ghost mentioned, and where it is found. Haunting illustrations make the reading experience creepier, authentic and intriguing, I wish there were more illustrations for each of the ghosts mentioned.
What I can say is that this book is not meant to be read at night, especially looking at those illustrations!
I was relieved that I knew at least a few of them like the Aadam Bhediya (werewolf). This book is indeed a well-researched and well-detailed spooky account of 84 of such scary entities with a deeper insight through interviews from locals and books, a lot of them from Bengali literature as the author himself is Bengali. The book has creepy illustrations and yes, the sources of each fact have been provided in this book.
Since I usually read at night, reading this book took a longer than usual time considering that I had to pick up another book before actually going to sleep, in order to clear my mind of these ghosts. The book cover holds two of such haunting illustrations and what's inside is much more amazing!
Undoubtedly every place in the world has its own stories about ghosts and paranormal entities. This amazing book, The Book of Indian Ghosts talks about all sorts of ghosts from every community in India, collected from all sorts of locations. India has diversity in humans, so of course, there's diversity in India's ghosts.
I'm quite fascinated with the world of paranormal beings especially movies, be it ghosts, zombies, vampires, and I always wish to know more about them. I even bought Dracula and Frankenstein (these aren't ghost stories, I know) over a year ago but I couldn't bring myself to read them. But when I found The Book of Indian Ghosts, I had to keep everything aside to get into the world of it. After all, my childhood favourite was none other than the Goosebumps series from RL Stine and that's what made me a reader. Now that I've grown up, those books do not give any chills and seem childish, so I was delighted to read something meant to be read as an adult and not just a children's horror story.
The book features short stories and at the end of each story it describes the characteristics of the ghost mentioned, and where it is found. Haunting illustrations make the reading experience creepier, authentic and intriguing, I wish there were more illustrations for each of the ghosts mentioned.
What I can say is that this book is not meant to be read at night, especially looking at those illustrations!
I was relieved that I knew at least a few of them like the Aadam Bhediya (werewolf). This book is indeed a well-researched and well-detailed spooky account of 84 of such scary entities with a deeper insight through interviews from locals and books, a lot of them from Bengali literature as the author himself is Bengali. The book has creepy illustrations and yes, the sources of each fact have been provided in this book.
Since I usually read at night, reading this book took a longer than usual time considering that I had to pick up another book before actually going to sleep, in order to clear my mind of these ghosts. The book cover holds two of such haunting illustrations and what's inside is much more amazing!
October 23, 2021
🎭The book"The book of Indian Ghosts" is an amazing book written by the author Riksundar Banerjee. The Book of Indian Ghosts is a fascinating compilation of stories from all across the Indian subcontinent.
🎭 The Book of Indian Ghosts contains 84 stories, each centered on ghosts collected from all sorts of locations. The majority of them relate to the sector of Bengal. This is because the writer Riksundar Banerjee is a Bengali himself.
🎭In India, there are phrases used to address these so-called evil creatures. For example- they call them bhoot, pretas, rakshasas, demons, monsters, spirits, and many more.
🎭It is also intriguing to notice that various ghosts had a weak and disturbed life on Earth and that’s why they might be staying throughout in the urge of finding closure.
🎭The book has weird illustrations and yes, the sources of each piece of information have been given in this book. The book accentuates short tales and at the edge of each tale it depicts the characteristics of the ghost presented, and where it is found.
🎭The novel is fast-paced combined with lucid language and an intriguing narration style which will keep you hooked throughout the novel. The rhythm of storytelling is elegant, and there's a big amount of examination and research behind creating the script.
🎭The book contains transparent vocabulary and smooth composition that sums up avidity in the reader. It has crisp content and suspense which glues readers to know what the unpredictable ending is about to be. Enjoyed every bit of the plot and would recommend it to all horror books lovers.
🎭 The Book of Indian Ghosts contains 84 stories, each centered on ghosts collected from all sorts of locations. The majority of them relate to the sector of Bengal. This is because the writer Riksundar Banerjee is a Bengali himself.
🎭In India, there are phrases used to address these so-called evil creatures. For example- they call them bhoot, pretas, rakshasas, demons, monsters, spirits, and many more.
🎭It is also intriguing to notice that various ghosts had a weak and disturbed life on Earth and that’s why they might be staying throughout in the urge of finding closure.
🎭The book has weird illustrations and yes, the sources of each piece of information have been given in this book. The book accentuates short tales and at the edge of each tale it depicts the characteristics of the ghost presented, and where it is found.
🎭The novel is fast-paced combined with lucid language and an intriguing narration style which will keep you hooked throughout the novel. The rhythm of storytelling is elegant, and there's a big amount of examination and research behind creating the script.
🎭The book contains transparent vocabulary and smooth composition that sums up avidity in the reader. It has crisp content and suspense which glues readers to know what the unpredictable ending is about to be. Enjoyed every bit of the plot and would recommend it to all horror books lovers.
November 21, 2021
Book : The Book of Indian Ghosts
Writer : Riksundar Banerjee
Publication : Aleph
I.S.B.N. : 9789390652266
Page count : 264
Printed price : ₹599
Reading period : 26th June, 2021 - 11th July, 2021
There is no worse feeling than when a book raises your expectations and then fails to meet them. Riksundar Banerjee's 'The Book of Indian Ghosts' packs a punch when it comes to the extent of data it deals with, but it is not able to manage the matter of presentation of the stories of different types of ghosts.
Indian culture is hugely diverse, and, as a result, the way Indian culture has pictured the supernatural also has varied manifestations. Reading a book on such a subject, which presents details of ghosts from the Bengali countryside to the North East and all the Himalayas, spanning the entire expanse of the country even upto the villages of the interior of Tamilnadu, has a tinge of excitement to it and craves a sense of macabre as well as an understanding of the real social and scientific reasons behind those myths. However this book fails on all counts except the amount of information it deals with. Where the ghosts are described through stories, they fail to instill a semblance of eeriness that is expected and when the writer goes into the essay mode, he leaves out intricate information about the social, cultural and scientific backgrounds of the existence of the story of such a spirit. The only redemption of the book remains the amount of superficial information it provides about 80-odd supernatural beings, just enough to finish this book, once picked up.
Writer : Riksundar Banerjee
Publication : Aleph
I.S.B.N. : 9789390652266
Page count : 264
Printed price : ₹599
Reading period : 26th June, 2021 - 11th July, 2021
There is no worse feeling than when a book raises your expectations and then fails to meet them. Riksundar Banerjee's 'The Book of Indian Ghosts' packs a punch when it comes to the extent of data it deals with, but it is not able to manage the matter of presentation of the stories of different types of ghosts.
Indian culture is hugely diverse, and, as a result, the way Indian culture has pictured the supernatural also has varied manifestations. Reading a book on such a subject, which presents details of ghosts from the Bengali countryside to the North East and all the Himalayas, spanning the entire expanse of the country even upto the villages of the interior of Tamilnadu, has a tinge of excitement to it and craves a sense of macabre as well as an understanding of the real social and scientific reasons behind those myths. However this book fails on all counts except the amount of information it deals with. Where the ghosts are described through stories, they fail to instill a semblance of eeriness that is expected and when the writer goes into the essay mode, he leaves out intricate information about the social, cultural and scientific backgrounds of the existence of the story of such a spirit. The only redemption of the book remains the amount of superficial information it provides about 80-odd supernatural beings, just enough to finish this book, once picked up.
February 6, 2022
The book of Indian Ghosts comprises of 84 different stories. The author has depicted precisely each characters. Name of each chapter resembles the ghost which is found in the particular region of the different part of India. The names of parts are given in chronological order.
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At the end of the every story, he has given the characteristic of each ghosts mentioned in title. Also, he has given the specific target of ghost with precise details. He has researched about various stories and beliefs of ample places and has pours the truth of the stories. He has tried to the assemble multiple stories in this book with proper format. Blending of stories requires a great efforts and research which is done to the point from the core of the truth.
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Amalgamation of context related to supernatural power is described with raw things. One can consider it as the source of true stories related to Indian ghost and can get the greatfull knowledge of ghost from this book. Hooking through out the book is the effortless.
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Highly Recommended! :)
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At the end of the every story, he has given the characteristic of each ghosts mentioned in title. Also, he has given the specific target of ghost with precise details. He has researched about various stories and beliefs of ample places and has pours the truth of the stories. He has tried to the assemble multiple stories in this book with proper format. Blending of stories requires a great efforts and research which is done to the point from the core of the truth.
.
Amalgamation of context related to supernatural power is described with raw things. One can consider it as the source of true stories related to Indian ghost and can get the greatfull knowledge of ghost from this book. Hooking through out the book is the effortless.
.
Highly Recommended! :)
October 25, 2024
Catalog of 84 ghosts of the Indiansub continent, heard, researched and read about by the author. It is indeed an offbeat subject to prod into, give how much the present world emphasizes on scientific temper and all. The author holds a PhD in the study of ghosts. I am sure many readers born before 1980s would resonate with some of the mentions in this book , to what they have heard from the Uncles in the localities and perhaps in an unguarded moments seemed to have imagined (?). I guess with the advent of consistent electricity, and uninterrupted light sources, the frequency of such apparition has reduced significantly, but who is to say that it has become zero. So if not for academic interests, the book is a good read just to satiate the inexplicable experiences that the reader may have come across in their lives.
July 7, 2025
I picked it up some time last year and forgot I had it until I went to pick up another copy and had a moment of hesitation.
It was quite informative, with useful notes at the end of each chapter/ghost. However, the book leaned a lot towards Bengali ghosts. Some of the non-Bengali ghost names may have been 'mispronounced'. Nevertheless, it is a quick read and good starting point for someone starting their foray in to the Indian paranormal scene. I learned about some new ghosts, which is always fun.
Best part: the stories by the author to describe some of the ghosts. One of my personal favourites is the one about Barul in Chapter 6.
90% would recommend.
Less 10% since some ghosts have very short backstories.
It was quite informative, with useful notes at the end of each chapter/ghost. However, the book leaned a lot towards Bengali ghosts. Some of the non-Bengali ghost names may have been 'mispronounced'. Nevertheless, it is a quick read and good starting point for someone starting their foray in to the Indian paranormal scene. I learned about some new ghosts, which is always fun.
Best part: the stories by the author to describe some of the ghosts. One of my personal favourites is the one about Barul in Chapter 6.
90% would recommend.
Less 10% since some ghosts have very short backstories.
January 6, 2022
Fun read. Chronicles short stories (mostly oral folktales) from different parts of the country about the different types of ghosts and spirts. Some of them are quite interesting, but much too short to actually get interested or scared. But then again, the author's intention is not really to scare you, it is not a collection of horror stories in that sense. Rather, to provide a glossary of the variety of ghosts existing in the Indian literary and oral tradition. In that sense, the book serves its purpose and may be quite helpful to someone wanting to write their own horror novel set in India.
May 22, 2022
I picked up this book because of all the reviews. I was expecting scary stories however this book is more on the lines of being an encyclopedia of all the possible types of ghosts with a characteristic description of each of them towards the end of every chapter. It would’ve been great to see more story narrations over short chapters. I read most of it until I grew tired of the short chapters and started skimming through the final few chapters.
Brownie points for the illustrations as it helped put more description to the ghosts mentioned throughout the book.
Brownie points for the illustrations as it helped put more description to the ghosts mentioned throughout the book.
December 6, 2025
I love reading horror stories, but this one felt more like a textbook of ghosts — complete with characteristics listed at the end of each chapter. It was definitely informative, though I personally would’ve enjoyed it even more if each ghost was presented through short tales or eerie narratives.
That said, the illustrations were fantastic — kudos to the artist! Despite the textbook-like format, I genuinely enjoyed reading this and exploring the spooky world it offered.
That said, the illustrations were fantastic — kudos to the artist! Despite the textbook-like format, I genuinely enjoyed reading this and exploring the spooky world it offered.
January 6, 2022
Five Stars
One of the best books I have read this month!
Highly recommend it! I only leave positive feedback and reviews when I love the book.
Feel free to ask anything regarding this book.
A must read for sure.
I'd recommend this book to everyone who would like to read an amazing book.
The book is written in a very interesting way .
A must read for sure
One of the best books I have read this month!
Highly recommend it! I only leave positive feedback and reviews when I love the book.
Feel free to ask anything regarding this book.
A must read for sure.
I'd recommend this book to everyone who would like to read an amazing book.
The book is written in a very interesting way .
A must read for sure
January 6, 2022
Amazingly woven like an interesting spell. I didn't think this book was going to be this good. It was , as you might expect , engaging , a total different piece of art from every aspect.
It sets a very high bar for whatever he does that comes next.
Must Read
It sets a very high bar for whatever he does that comes next.
Must Read
June 1, 2025
In this book some ghosts are described as a documentary and some have their story,when u read the ghosts which are described as a documentary it kills the joy of reading,in India every ghost has a story,so every ghost should have a story
November 8, 2022
Informative.
January 2, 2023
pretty good pretty nice pretty interesting. very easy read and nice
January 9, 2023
The ghost that asks for smoke, the ghost that haunts/kills people who wear torn clothes, and many other strange stories are mentioned in the book.
This book is an encyclopaedia of the types of ghosts found in India. The author describes the characteristics of each ghost, such as Chudail, Dayan, Ghoul, Vetal, and a story about it.
Not all ghosts are scary and evil, few are kind as well. The stories are very short but could have been scarier. It did not give me chills down my spine 😄
This book is an encyclopaedia of the types of ghosts found in India. The author describes the characteristics of each ghost, such as Chudail, Dayan, Ghoul, Vetal, and a story about it.
Not all ghosts are scary and evil, few are kind as well. The stories are very short but could have been scarier. It did not give me chills down my spine 😄
September 20, 2023
Mostly focused on bengal.. no specific discussion or distinction made.
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