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Review: Eerie Britain is a Premiere Introduction for the Unfamiliar
Non-fiction paranormal books are my guilty pleasure—they’re always light fare, an escape, and usually inspire a short story or two. Therefore, I look for books on paranormal subjects about which I know little or nothing; unfortunately, not knowing the material means it’s easier for me to be turned off by the sometimes seemingly-scantily researched, poorly-written or flat-out boring. MB Forde’s Eerie Britain: Ten of Britain’s Most Terrifying and Peculiar Real-Life Stories, thankfully, fits none of these descriptions—and, in fact, I’d recommend it as the top primer to anyone unfamiliar withBritain’s scariest legends.
First, the text is definitely well-researched; incidents from the past are taken from direct accounts. The writer also provides a list of recommended reading and web resources at the end of the book, so I went on to do more research on two of the book’s cases I found most fascinating. Second, the style is not only easy to read, it’s linear and gripping; each case starts at Point A and ends at Point Z, providing a clear overview of the case’s origin, its repeated occurrences, and where the theories surrounding it stand today. Third, it was thoroughly entertaining—this is not, at all, what I would call “dry”—and, in fact, there were a couple of sections which honestly gave me the chills; the descriptions are vivid enough that, at times, I felt as though I was reading a good fiction.
If there were two negative things I’d say about this book, it’s that the punctuation is never inside the quotation marks, as it should be. As a writer, I was totally annoyed to the point of distraction by that. In addition, there were some poorly-constructed sentences (to the point at which I didn’t know what he was trying to say), and Chapter 5, in particular, was loaded with improper use of semi-colons and commas as well as typos. The second is that, although, as I said, I can tell it is well-researched, the citations should have been footnoted with the specifics on where to locate the original material.
Despite all of that, the book is honestly a worthwhile read. It grabbed my attention and held it, and because I entered knowing nothing about any ofBritain’s paranormal legends, I got my money’s worth.
You can purchase Eerie Britain for your Kindle here: http://amzn.com/B006J5LVJY
Will you see something before they do? Hear it when they don’t? Find out! LIVE Ghost Hunt on Paranormal Valley with Nathan Schoonover TONIGHT, Jan. 17!
Want to hunt ghosts in your own living room? Join Nathan Schoonover and the IndyPara and Poughkeepsie Paranormal Investigators on Paranormal Valley for a LIVE ghost hunt at the historic Blue Store Restaurant in Livingston tonight from 9 p.m. – 11 p.m. ET on http://www.yourbgm.tv!
Nathan explains it all in the video below.
You’ll be able to interact with the team through the chatroom—to ask questions or to report something you’ve seen. Don’t miss it! For even more info, visit here: http://www.yourbgm.tv/pv-live