Reviewed by Nemo C. Mörck
Dr Alice Vernon, at Aberystwyth University in the UK, is primarily interested in sleep disorders, hallucinations, and psychical research. She has previously dealt with the former in the book Night Terrors. Her new book, Ghosted, concerns psychical research and ghost hunting. Vernon does not believe in ghosts, but would like to believe, so it makes sense for her to delve into this. She suggests that we look for proof because we want our minds changed. Many have certainly come to believe in things that they would previously have just scoffed at. Vernon also notes that “nothing consumes our curiosity quite like experiencing something we cannot explain” (p. 4).
Vernon is a Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Creative Writing, so it is understandable that the ghost hunter Elliott O’Donnell caught her interest. After having provided some historical background and context, she shares one of his stories. Naturally, the Fox sisters, often regarded as the founders of Spiritualism, are also briefly covered, but Splitfoot is a late addition to the story (Willey, 2009) not mentioned in 1848 (see Lewis, 1848/2005). That aside, Vernon suggests that Spiritualism was “... borne out of grief. Around the time of the Fox sisters, there were mass outbreaks of disease such as typhoid, cholera and tuberculosis ...” (p. 18).
Later, in 1873, William Crookes arranged séances with the medium Florence Cook. Vernon notes that there were similarities between Cook and her materialised spirit Katie King. However, she is not entirely fair since there were also some important differences between them (Crookes, 1874). Naturally, she also covers William Volckman’s famous grabbing of Katie King and the aftermath.
Crookes defended Florence almost to the point of ruining his own career. He was relentlessly hounded by critics, even well into the twentieth century when it was revealed that Crookes’ opinion of Florence may have been helped by a few secret intimate exchanges (p. 27).
This is an allusion to Trevor Hall’s (1962) disputed thesis and the story is more complicated than Vernon’s treatment suggests.
The rise of Spiritualism angered some conjurers. Vernon focuses on the reactions of John Henry Anderson, the Great Wizard of the North, in the UK, and of Harry Houdini, in the US. However, she notes that the line between Spiritualism and conjuring could be blurry and uses the Davenport brothers as an example.
The Ghost Club also receives coverage. Vernon then moves on to familiar characters, Edmund Gurney, Frederic Myers, Frank Podmore, and their well-known work, Phantasms of the Living. Vernon appears to believe that it was first published in 1866 – long before the foundation of the SPR, in 1882, which she covers in passing. Later she claims: “The SPR was, and still is, mostly concerned with ghosts, apparitions, the potential of an afterlife and telepathy” (p. 49).
Our first President’s wife, Eleanor Sidgwick, evidently possessed a formidable intellect, but she is not well remembered as an “eminent physicist” (p. 41). Vernon considers her to have been responsible for some of the best work published by the SPR: “Her writing oozes with quick wit and absolutely brutal takedowns” (p. 44). Much in Ghosted should be familiar to SPR members. However, Vernon shares what she has learned from reading the correspondence between Oliver Lodge and his research assistant Benjamin Davies.
The Ghost Club and the SPR are not the only organisations that appear in the book. Vernon also covers the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP), founded in 1981, and two of its investigations. Vernon herself signed up to become an ASSAP-accredited investigator and writes about the training. In addition, the Churches Fellowship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies, founded in 1953, is also covered.
Vernon takes the reader back and forth through history. For example, she focuses on the Cheltenham Ghost and the Borley Rectory. Harry Price, who investigated the latter, “... became something of a rogue figure … going on independent investigations and taking the glory for himself while always keeping an eye on his rivals” (p. 70). She also covers the later critical assessment, by Eric Dingwall, Trevor Hall, and Mollie Goldney (1956). Vernon was surprised to find that Goldney was a coauthor – since she had worked as Price’s secretary before. However, after having read Goldney’s letters she realised that the letters to Dingwall were warm and informal and the letters to Price colder and more formal. Although Vernon does not make it clear, the critical assessment was disputed later (for a complete history see O’Connor, 2022).
Spirit photographers also caught Vernon’s interest and in addition to William Mumler she writes about the lesser-known Édouard Buguet. She also notes that “... the camera was employed in the séance room itself to document the process through a seemingly objective lens” (p. 98). Albert von Schrenck-Notzing’s investigation of Marthe Béraud (Eva C) and William Crawford’s investigation of Kathleen Goligher are used as examples.
Although her reference list is modest, given the complexity of much of what she covers, it is, nevertheless, evident that Vernon has devoted much time to research for this book, and she has searched widely during her own ghost hunt. I did not expect to find the Raudive voices, electronic voice phenomena, in Ghosted, but it is covered along with so much else. For example, a chapter is devoted to what Spiritualists call Summerland. Vernon has a rather informal writing style: “I thought A Stellar Key to the Summerland [by Andrew Jackson Davis] was one of the most bonkers books I’ve ever read ...” (p. 120). Oliver Lodge’s Raymond, or Life and Death is described as “a strange, sad book” (p. 143) and receives extensive coverage.
Later, since Vernon allows herself to travel in time, she returns to Harry Price. This time to cover his investigation of Helen Duncan and his involvement with Eileen Garrett and the R-101 airship disaster. Poltergeists also have to endure her scrutiny, in particular the Sauchie, Enfield, and Thornton Heath poltergeist cases.
By the time Vernon turns her attention to the Devils of Morzine, possession, I sense that she has gradually drifted away from ghost hunting, being distracted by much else. The notorious demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren appear, and like a good storyteller Vernon relates one of their cases – Cindy McBain. However, throughout the book Vernon maintains a healthy scepticism towards the material she covers but the book is written from the perspective of someone that is curious rather than dismissive. Vernon can also come across as chatty now and then, sharing personal experiences and reflections, particularly towards the end when she writes about acquiring an allegedly haunted doll.
The penultimate chapter concerns paranormal TV shows, in particular Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures. Vernon writes: “If Most Haunted is the Oliver Lodge of paranormal TV programmes, Ghost Adventures is, without a doubt, Harry Price” (p. 253). The programme leads, Yvette Fielding and Zak Bagans, are also about as contrasting as can be. Vernon moves on to personal experiences, modern ghost hunting, and lucrative ghost tourism.
In the final chapter we learn that Vernon was affected by her research:
There were times in this book when I laughed at some of the things I wrote about, but equally there were moments that genuinely upset me, when my ability to take a rational and objective approach was complicated by the palpable grief I uncovered in my research (p. 272).
However, she does not end up believing in ghosts, but as a result of her research her perspective on ghost hunting has changed and she thinks that it is about so much more besides searching for evidence of ghosts. Vernon generously shares her personal reflections and, eventually, concludes
… I understand that my own scepticism is fragile because, ultimately, I’m someone who stares into the void and needs to see something stare back. I’ll keep looking (p. 278).
The truth is out there, Vernon, but so are lies.
In summary, I am happy to recommend Ghosted. I am impressed by how much she manages to cover on 304 pages, including references and index. Much research has gone into this book and it is well-written. Vernon remains sceptical, but she does not let it ruin a good story.
References
Crookes, W. (1874). Spirit forms. The Spiritualist, 4(14), 157-158.
Dingwall, E. J., Goldney, K., & Hall, T. (1956). The haunting of Borley Rectory. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 51, 1-180.
Hall, T. H. (1962). The spiritualists. Duckworth.
Lewis, E. E. (2005). Report of the mysterious noises, heard in the house of Mr. John D. Fox, in Hydesville, Arcadia, Wayne county. Psypioneer, 1(12), 134-167. Original work published 1848.
O’Connor, S. (2022). The haunting of Borley rectory. Simon & Schuster.
Willey, G. (2009). How old Splitfoot infiltrated Spiritualism. Psypioneer, 5(6), 187-189.