Ghosts of South Africa

by Pat Hopkins

Whether you believe in ghosts or not is immaterial - everyone enjoys a good ghost story. This title explores the ghosts that are a part of our nation's history - from The Flying Dutchman and Lady Anne Barnard to the Uniondale Hitchhiker and poison-murderer Daisy de Melker.

Some are benevolent, others vengeful; some are self-obsessed, others extrovert; some rattle chains, others move objects; some are confused, not realising they are dead, others have a purpose; some appear as humans, others as a footstep or a breath of cold air; some we recognise, others are forgotten; and some are friendly, while others scare the bejesus out of us. They can be found at sea, on old battlefields, sitting with you in a restaurant, or in your mind. They are everywhere. Sometimes funny, always highly entertaining, and very often hair-raisingly scary, Ghosts of South Africa will hold the reader enthralled.

Genres: Ghosts

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Pat Hopkins was a history and political science graduate from the former University of Natal, now the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He was an award-winning travel journalist and author and co-author of more than 18 books, including Place: A Collection of South African Travel and Landscape Quotations, 101 Beloved Bars of Southern Africa, Voëlvry: The Movement That Rocked South Africa, all published by Zebra Press, and Padlangs deur Suid-Afrika: 'n Streek-vir-Streek Reisgids, published by Struik Travel & Heritage.

Reviews

[Balthazarinblue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remember when those Rotor-Rooter ghost hunters had a huge controversy over whether they did or didn't fake a haunting? Yeah, that was because most ghosts aren't interesting enough to sustain a tv show. Let alone an investigation a week. Similarly, in this book, most of the ghosts are footnotes to the story. You get a really interesting history of a building, a battle or an eccentric local character's life and then it ends with PS. windows rattle, a woman in white glides through the halls and sometimes you can hear galloping horses. What I'm saying is, this was an interesting read, but not for the ghosts.