A History of Ghosts

Starred review from September 29, 2009
Squarely aimed at the fans of Ghostbusters (and just in time for its nascent revival in family rooms, video games and, reportedly, the big screen), this look at the paranormal is written by none other than the father of that blockbuster's co-creator and star, Dan Aykroyd; what fans might not know is that the Aykroyd family's interest in séances, mediums and apparitions was what inspired the hit supernatural comedy. The author's own grandfather was a spiritualist: he believed the human personality survives after bodily death, and practiced regular communication with ghosts-much of which he documented in journals. Aykroyd broadens the discussion with historical figures like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, who joined the Society of Psychical Research three weeks after his father's death. He also disarms skeptics with a chapter on the séance as theatrical performance, not much different from a movie, in which the ultimate goal is "the willing suspension of disbelief" in an audience, whom can then be "frightened, amused, touched, moved" by illusions. Less a Ghostbusters also-ran than a knowing, historical origin story, this is a smart consideration of the paranormal and a curious artifact of the Aykroyd legacy.

October 19, 2009
Seances were all the rage in the mid-19th to 20th century, and Aykroyd's family (Peter is the brother of actor/comedian Dan of Ghostbusters fame) was in the thick of it. Into this history of the paranormal going back to upstate New York circa 1848, the author interweaves family anecdotes and excerpts of his grandfather's diaries and correspondence. Aykroyd would have done better to give more weight to these sections, especially because there are far superior general histories of spiritualism available, including Ruth Brandon's Spiritualists and Ronald Pearsall's Table Rappers. Verdict A nicely crafted book that readers intrigued by mediums and seances will find well worth their time despite its flaws.-Mary E. Jones, Los Angeles P.L.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.