Ghosts of New England

by Hans Holzer

From Hans Holzer, an internationally known expert in the field of the paranormal, here is a chilling collection of true ghost stories. Two books in one, this volume combines Holzer's Yankee Ghosts and Ghosts of New England , each describing spine-tingling encounters with spirits in some of New England's most eerie haunts.

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Nonfiction, Ghosts

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Hans Holzer, whose investigations into the paranormal took him to haunted houses and other sites all over the world, wrote more than 140 books on ghosts, the afterlife, witchcraft, extraterrestrial beings, and other phenomena associated with the realm he called “the other side.” Among his famous subjects was the Long Island house that inspired The Amityville Horror book and film adaptations. Holzer studied at the University of Vienna, Austria, and at Columbia University, New York, earning a master’s degree in comparative religion. He taught parapsychology at the New York Institute of Technology. Holzer died in 2009.

Reviews

[Trista · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last two stories that don't take place in New England but in New York City are probably the best stories in the book. I was glad that the medium/transcript aspect didnt make up all of each story but it is many times THE story. I liked reading that the mediums' visions/conjurings/channelings were many times confirmed historically. I guess you have to be willing to believe that she didn't do research ahead of time but if you're familiar with these kinds of things in real life, its not hard to accept. Most of the investigations take place around 1964 and the book was published in 1989 so we can at least count on the medium not doing quick Google searches before investigating.
These are eerie stories with occasional gory elements. Reading one after another at night definitely gave me a light sense of the creeps which is fun. Also I'm happy to add another couple haunted locations to my list of places to visit.

[Jill Holmberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did find the stories very interesting but I was not a huge fan on the style of writing. The author wrote as if he was speaking the story to you and kept repeating parts such as the history of a physic he uses or "once again, as with any other case, I ask they make a written statement" and every story includes these and after half the book you want to scream "I already know that! I know who the physic is, I know the process of people contacting you!"

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book pretty interesting considering that the author was a PhD and he has a lot of psychic friends. I would recommend this book to people who are into ghost stories and the unexplained things that happen in this book.

[Alexa · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book could have been a fast read, I did take my time with it since it was a collection of ghost stories. Some of the stories were very interesting, especially those that had hints of our history in it. But, sometimes the book read as something it wasn’t. It’s stated that they’re all true ghost stories, and yes I believe in mediums and what not, but this book came off as a story about a medium. There were times it did feel like the stories were true but it favored more so that it was a book written about a medium telling the stories and experiences than them actually happening.

But, for a book I found on my grandpas shelf from the 80’s-90’s, it wasn’t terrible.

[Dennis Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holzer was the master of this field both in research and writing. This is yet another triumph!

[Katie Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I live in New England and I have visited the Von Trapp house not knowing it was haunted as well! Well done on mixing the transcripts within the stories.

[Stephanie Libertucci · Rating 2 out of 5]

finally finished - tbh these stories were rough

[Karla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have two things to say to so-called "Professor Hans Holzer":

1. Exclamation points are not acceptable this much in narrative writing.
2. New England consists of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont. New York and New Jersey are Mid-Atlantic states. Given that you named your book Ghosts of *New England*, I don't see why stories that take place in New York and New Jersey are included.

Also, how convenient that every single person he interviewed who lived with a ghost claimed to be psychic.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed. :( The book was rather boring, although I did enjoy reading the transcript of the mediums' various entranced conversations with the "ghosts" talking through the mediums. The writing was not great, though, and I was hoping for a little more visual detail or at least something more than footsteps and knocking. Ho-hum...

[Anna Wade · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only finished the first couple stories, however, the one thing that was consistent was that a ghost was always talking through a medium. The dialogue seemed made up just to keep the interest of the reader. I was often confused about what was going on since the writing seemed to talk about many different things at once. The stories, mainly the background, were interesting though.

[Jillyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be rather boring in its descriptions of various ghost stories. I was expecting more vivid description and a bit more of a "spine chilling"" factor, but I was left disappointed. It's interesting, but nothing remarkable.

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half the book is great (second half), first half is a bit slow. Overall, a fine book that serves as a time peice as well, as some of it is quite old.