T.E. W. (terez93) reviewed on 6/21/2020 + 323 more book reviews

There are few if any cultures which have not, at some point, had some notion or conception of life after death: hauntings and spirits seem universal concepts in the human experience (or imagination). As such, each imparts a unique perspective to what happens after we die. This thoroughly researched book engages some of those perspectives in the US.

Left over from my Halloween reading list (!), this fascinating book is a unique exploration of how we as a society conceptualize and negotiate "haunted" spaces. If you're expecting a volume of ghost stories from around the country, you might be disappointed. This book is instead, in the author's words, "about the relationship between place and story; how the two depend on each other and how they bring each other alive." That is, "how do we interact with stories about the dead and their ghosts, and how do we inhabit and move through spaces that have been deemed haunted? ... Even if you don't believe in the paranormal, ghost stories and legends of haunted places are a vital, dynamic means of confronting the past and those who have gone before us."

It's arranged somewhat topically, focusing more on the locations than the events: houses; then bars, restaurants, hotels and brothels; then civic (public) spaces; then entire cities and towns, all of which can retain notions of the hereafter, which are transmitted to future generations, sometimes for centuries. As some other reviewers have noted, the book is primarily an account of the story BEHIND the stories: some would call it "debunking," but I think it's more complex than that. Dickey systematically explores accounts of famous locations and their supposed hauntings, especially focusing on bringing to light the real origins of notions of these haunted places, and the imagined events which often give rise to dubious claims about the paranormal. One overarching theme regarding these diverse, supposed-haunted locales is: often times, they really aren't. Myth and legend are rarely rooted in historical fact, as far as ghost stories go, with much of the material simply derived from the imagination. Invented occurrences, people and perceptions underlie much of the history of haunted places, at least in the author's estimation.

It was refreshing, however, to see that an investigator delved into the actual history of the various places he visited in an effort to get to the bottom of where the stories come from, rather than being satisfied with the fact that much of the circumstances surrounding a tragic event or notorious occurrences that gave rise to a haunting were simply untrue. That's not where the story ends for this book: it's really where it begins. If the events aren't factual, where do the stories come from, and why do they persist? Dickey is thus genuinely interested in how the legacy of hauntings and haunted places arise and persist through the ages, and that's the real focus of the book.

One of the sections I was most impressed by, other than the diversity of the locations and the ample research, was the discussion of "ghost hunters," in this case, predominantly in Los Angeles. The public space section includes a minor expose of the ghost hunting phenomenon, something the author finds generally distasteful. Although the phenomenon is centuries old, with ghost and demon hunters dating back probably to distant antiquity, the proliferation of these groups has been notable in the past decade or so. Dickey's ire seems largely due to be the fact that what once may have been a legitimate pursuit became just another LA "scene," particularly in Los Angeles, the focus of his inquiry here - various groups, with names such as GHOULA and the Paranormal Hot Squad, conduct activities more with the intent of being "discovered" as opposed to enlightened. As Dickey notes, "ghost hunting" "shows" were all the rage until rather recently, but there now appear to be few survivors (pun intended), with the ubiquitous Ghost Adventures the ostensible exception.

On the other hand, he himself noted, "Spend enough time debunking the legends associated with haunted places, trying to see past it all-the marketing, the dubious electronic devices, and all the other trappings-and you sometimes forget how real, and how persistent, the belief in ghosts is for many of us. A belief that in various ways, and for various people, gives an explanation and a meaning to experiences that can't be explained away easily. That belief can help us mourn and give us hope." Perhaps that's the point: with a modicum of introspection, engaging with the way in which we conceive haunted places, and how we negotiate those liminal spaces, can ultimately reveal much about the way in which we see ourselves and the world around us, even the unseen one.

----------NOTABLE PASSAGES----------

This is how ghost stories are born... not from a complete story so much as from bits and pieces that don't quite add up, a kaleidoscope of menace and unease that coalesce in unpredictable ways.

More than just simple urban legends and campfire tales, ghost stories reveal the contours of our anxieties, the nature of our collective fears and desires, the things we can't talk about in any other way. The past we're most afraid to speak aloud in the bright light of day is the same past that tends to linger in the ghost stories we whisper in the dark.

Ghosts bridge the past to the present; they speak across the seemingly insurmountable barriers of death and time, connecting us to what we thought was lost. They give us hope for a life beyond death and because of this, help us to cope with loss and grief. Their presence is the promise that we don't have to say goodbye to our loved ones right away and that... what was left undone in one's life might yet be finished by one's ghost.

This usage of the word "haunting" predates its associations with ghosts by several centuries, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and it's not until Shakespeare that ghosts also begin to haunt.

Uncomfortable truths, buried secrets, disputed accounts: ghost stories arise out of the shadowlands, a response to the ambiguous and the poorly understood.

This is the recurring structure of a classic ghost story, after all: the ghost remains because it cannot believe the perverse normality of a world that has gone on living, that has forgotten whatever personal tragedy happened here. The carpets are cleaned, the furniture sold, and the house continues with new inhabitants, the ghost alone keeping vigil over whatever once took place.

The most famous piece of American oration, the Gettysburg Address, was delivered at the dedication of one such cemetery. Lincoln's speech, brief and iconic, makes a simple and elegant point: it is beyond the power of any great speaker - including the president - to consecrate this, since only the bodies of the dead soldiers can do this, and it is they on whom the foundation of the United States rests. At the heart of Lincoln's speech is this solemn belief that the greatness of the country lies in its ghosts to whom we are constantly indebted.

Ghost stories, for good or ill, are how cities make sense of themselves: how they narrate the tragedies of their past, weave cautionary tales for the future.

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