Marna C. (feritgrrl) -
After reading the back copy taken from Dan Ackroyd's foreward to the book (his father is the chief author) I was expecting an interesting and entertaining memoir type account of the senior Mr. Ackroyd's experiences. Unfortunately, the book was quite different. It should more properly be titled, "A History of Spiritualism and its practitioners" as it mainly offers a listing of well known mediums of the past and the traits of each medium's seances and a history of their interactions with investigators trying to debunk them or gather evidence of life after death. While there are some mentions of the author's experiences, but very few between the mediums' entries. The book is actually pretty dry considering the topic, and doesn't even make a strong case for the existence of a spirit plane through its "scientific approach." It is difficult to see how this material could have inspired Ghostbusters at all, except perhaps for the "slime."There are a some detailed( and for me, stomach-churning) descriptions of mediums who could bring forth ectoplasm and its various forms. If you are looking for entertaining and engaging stories of investigations of hauntings, it may be better to pick up Troy Taylor,the books from the TAPS/Ghosthunters crew, or go to the "godfather of ghostly," Hans Holzer.
