Saturday, October 29, 2011

Review: Ghost Files: The Collected Cases from Ghost Hunting and Seeking Spirits by Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson



Title: Ghost Files 
Authors: Jason Hawes nad Grant Wilson 
Genre: Non Fiction 
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 
Number of Pages: 576 
Source: Sent












Ghost Files is actually two books in one: Ghost Hunting & Seeking Spirits by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson-from the Syfy show Ghost Hunters. I do have to admit that I am a huge fan of the show. Their goal is to help family who think they are being haunted by disproving them. Most ghost hunting groups try to prove rather then disprove, and that's what makes Jason & Grants group so different.

This book was the perfect October read. Some of the stories really gave me goosebumps. The first half of the book was written right before season 3 (The show is currently in season 7) of their show began. I loved seeing cast members who no longer on the show mentioned, and how they all got their start in ghost hunting told through the various cases. There were cases in this book that didn't make the show, and it was fun revisiting some of my favorite cases. I think this would be a fun book to listen to as an audiobook because I could really hear Jason's voice coming through in each case being told. After each case Grant had a little blurb-and it would have been nice to hear more from his point of view. The only real fault I had with this part of the book is the same thing I liked about it: the cases were super short. It would have been nice to get a more in-depth look at went on behind the scenes.

While I enjoyed the first half of the book, I loved the second half. Seeking Spirits was written right around season 5, and both Jason and Grant took turn telling their favorite cases. Most of these are considered "lost cases"-meaning they happened before the tv show or didn't make it on. I really liked how honest they were about all of the cases. There were some cases where they couldn't help the families or didn't have the resources to and the regret they felt at not being able to do more was obvious. They had just as many cases where they couldn't prove a haunting as ones where they could.

One of my favorites was a women thought she was being haunted because she would hear banging and screaming at odd times. It turns out that it was the guy next door having sex. The guys told him that he might want to consider getting a new bed or moving it to a different wall.One of the last cases in the book was one of my favorites.  It involved the Spalding Inn that Jason & Grant own. They not only told stories of what paranormal experiences happened to them, but of previous owners. Seeking Spirits was also interesting because they explained what different technical methods were  and how they were used. (Like what an EVP was-Electronic Voice Phenomena & how they were used in cases)

Ghost Files was a surprisingly fast and enjoyable read. I loved how you could sit the book down while in between books and then go back to it with no problems. I was going to review just my favorite cases from the book-but I had too many!! I have a feeling this is going to become a must read for Halloween every year from me. Oh-I almost forgot the most important thing: You don't have to be a fan of the show to enjoy this book. Cases and people are explained in such detail that you won't feel lost while reading it if you've never seen an episode.