No Ghostbusters needed here

How to Hunt Ghosts

Joshua P. Warren

Firestone books 2003

… How to Hunt Ghosts

Joshua P. Warren

Firestone books 2003

Maybe you’ve seen the movie “Ghost.” Maybe you’ve seen “Ghostbusters,” or “The Frighteners.” But have you ever thought that, maybe, there’s a scientific explanation that is the motivation for those movies?

No, seriously. Have you?

All right, so the idea of ghosts isn’t exactly “conventional.” Ghosts are, more often than not, considered a concept of fantasy that is used to explain the unexplainable. But Joshua P. Warren gives justice to the arguments for the existence of ghosts.

Warren took on a difficult task: trying to explain to the world that ghosts do indeed exist. He’s heard all the skeptical arguments: those who see ghosts are really insane, ghosts are just an excuse for a cheap costume on Halloween, ghosts are merely optical illusions or people wearing ghost costumes, as demonstrated in the ’60’s classic cartoon “Scooby-Doo. But those skeptics haven’t been to actual haunted houses and heard documented recordings of sounds like footsteps up a staircase in a Louisiana home, nor have they been to Asheville, N.C., to see the fabled ghost of the Grove Park Inn.

Although there have been writers who have written pieces similar to Warren’s “How to Hunt Ghosts,” no writer has done it so well. The concepts and arguments in Warren’s book could fill volumes, yet he makes it easy on the reader with a simple, 100-page breakdown on the actual existence of ghosts. What make the book amazing, though, is its thoroughness within such a small amount of pages and Warren’s rarely flawed arguments.

Warren really hits the nail on the head in his attempts to prove his logic. He talks about the arguably proven existence of etheric bodies (better known as “souls”), the amazing tools created to help prove ghostly experiences and the recordings and documentations he’s made of his first-hand experiences with ghosts, but he does it with the lucidity of an owner’s manual. Everything he states is so simple, yet so accurately expressed and argued.

Warren’s biggest fault, however, is how thin his arguments are. On his Web site, www.howtohuntghosts.com, there are very few actual photos, and, judging from the book, there should’ve been at least a few dozen. The Web site, of course, isn’t nearly as detailed as this book.

There’s a lot of subjectivity on the topic, though. What constitutes as a photograph of a ghost and what a mistake with the film? Who’s to say what a ghost is and what a ghost isn’t? Warren rarely displays his biases, but they are there.

Despite the flaws, this book is well-argued, well-written and hard to put down. Even though you’re only hearing about it from one person’s biased perspective, this book is remarkably believable.

This book may sound like a joke, but it’s dead serious – pun intended.

Bottom Line: this book is perfect for open-minded and well-rounded readers.