Real Ghost Encounters - by Rob Gandy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Nothing will be the same again after reading this book" - Jeremy Harte, Folklore Society.

"A collection of uncanny tales in the classic folklorist tradition, Real Ghost Encounters provides a trove of new cases to puzzle over." - Matthew Kibbey, Editor FATE Magazine

The world is filled with strange occurrences that we can't explain with our rational minds. An odd feeling, a sudden appearance, a haunting figure in the distance...

At one time or another, many of us have encountered what we might describe as a 'ghost'. In this fascinating collection, author Rob Gandy makes use of his background as a statistician to try to understand the phenomenon and presents without judgement a wide range of true ghost stories. Ranging from mysterious hitchhikers who appear on the side of the road to haunted places where spirits crop up again and again to instances of 'timeslips', where a person or group of people suddenly experience a scene from the past, these incredible stories will reshape your understanding of the supernatural.

Take an open mind to the stories presented within and judge for yourself whether there can be any other explanation for these extraordinary events.

This edition includes a foreword from leading folklorist and urban legend researcher Jan Harold Brunvand.

Review Quotes

"Real Ghost Encounters is a searching survey of paranormal encounters, examining worldwide similarities and variations. Why do so many sets of incidents resemble one another so closely despite the distances that separate them? Rob Gandy doesn't merely reproduce the wealth of accounts he has collected but examines them for potential explanations, offering possibilities for the reader's judgment. Especially intriguing are the assemblages of different forms of manifestation in a single place or to just one person; do such sites and folk attract ghosts (however we define the term) or generate them, or are the apparitions harder to categorise? Like all the best writing, Real Ghost Encounters makes us look again at what we may have taken for granted, and any open mind should find it fascinating. As rigorous in its scrutiny as in its research, it deserves to stimulate the broadest audience, whether skeptical or convinced of the supernatural."--Ramsey Campbell, winner of Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association

"A superb collection of contemporary ghost experiences guaranteed to quash speculation that apparitions sightings are a thing of the past."--Alan Murdie, Chairman of the Ghost Club

"Believe in ghosts? Don't believe in ghosts? Think you may have seen a ghost... but don't trust your senses? Read Rob Gandy's intriguing accounts of people like you. It may just shift your perception."--Richard Madeley, Presenter

"The plural of anecdote has long been considered not to be proof by many of those skepticalwith regard to psychic phenomena, but in this fascinating book Dr Rob Gandy supplies numerous accounts of how supernatural encounters take place all the time and how these should make those of us of a reasoning mind-set to question the true nature of reality."--Anthony Peake, author of Is There Life After Death?

"This book has it all, everything from bizarre road ghosts and poltergeists to terrifying haunted houses and mysterious 'timeslips', where individuals seem to witness and interact with astonishing visions from the past. In these pages Rob Gandy investigates a spectrum of paranormal phenomena that seem to persist throughout various periods in history, so read on if you dare."--Brian Allan, Phenomena Magazine

"Rob Gandy's dedication to getting ordinary people to share their extraordinary experiences has yielded a rich harvest of mostly first-hand ghost stories over the years, many of which have appeared in the pages of Fortean Times. Whether dealing with road ghosts and phantom hitchhikers, timeslips or 'haunted people', Rob always marshals his materials, checks his facts and presents his cases with an admirable combination of open-mindedness, common sense and Fortean rigour. In these pages you'll find some classic cases, like the 'Ruskington Horror' and the Broad Street timeslip, as well as a treasure-trove of personal testimonies describing strange and often terrifying encounters with the unknown. This thoroughly enjoyable collection will appeal to ghost fans, Forteans, folklorists and all lovers of weird tales well told."--David Sutton

"A collection of uncanny tales in the classic folklorist tradition, Real Ghost Encounters provides a trove of new cases to puzzle over."--Matthew Kibbey, Editor FATE Magazine

"Nothing will be the same again after reading this book. Prepare yourself for a world of hovering shapes, hooded stilt-walkers and faceless men, where impossible traffic runs on repeat and a street can drop back fifty years in time. These are not the comfortable spooks of a Christmas fireside tale but strange, modern, edgy encounters caught in the headlights of people who are trying to go about the ordinary business of their lives. Rob Gandy is an ideal listener, attentive to every detail of these shaking wardrobes, purposeful mists and things in the back of the car. What explanation can there be? - except to say that other people have had very similar experiences at the same stretch of water or flat road junction. Read this book, and when the uncanny breaks across your path on a darkened street - well, at least you'll know you're not the first to see it."--Jeremy Harte, Folklore Society

About the Author

Rob Gandy is a retired professional statistician and senior healthcare manager. He was involved with a number of universities during his career, including a stint of 13 years as Visiting Professor at Liverpool John Moores University, and published more than 140 papers for various journals and conferences. He has a lifelong eclectic interest in strange and weird phenomena and is a regular contributor to the Fortean Times and The Ghost Club Journal.

Jan Harold Brunvand is a retired American folklorist, researcher, writer, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah. He is best known for popularizing the concept of the urban legend through books such as The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings (1981) and Too Good To Be True (1999). His books became so popular that he was dubbed 'Mr Urban Legend'.