California Ghosts: True Accounts of Hauntings in the Golden State - Softcover

Dennett, Preston E

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0764319728 ISBN 13: 9780764319723

Publisher: Schiffer Pub Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever seen one? This chilling volume presents twenty-six true, first-hand accounts of spooks, spirits, and hauntings across the state of California, each published here for the first time. The book introduces many cases involving normal people who suddenly find themselves in bizarre paranormal situations. Told in the witnesses' own words, each case is illustrated by award-winning artist Christine Kesara Dennett. Learn what happens when homes are built over a Native American Burial Ground. Read how it feels to be hugged by a friendly ghost. Find out what to do when a ghost tries to choke and possess you. Join four young teen-aged boys who use themselves as bait to attract a hostile ghost called the White Witch. Also, visit a woman who received conclusive physical proof of life after death from the spirit of her deceased ex-husband, and find out how Charles Manson's notorious crimes left a trail of severely haunted houses. These are only a few of the amazing true accounts presented in this ghostly collection, and a full range of ghostly phenomena are presented, some funny, some scary, and some absolutely bone-chilling. All of them are true. Whatever you do, don't read this after dark!

About this title

From the Author:

NOTE TO THE READER
 
The stories you are about to read are true. The events really happened. As you read, you will follow firsthand an investigation that will lead directly into the heart of the Unknown. There you will find a strange world of seemingly impossible events. You will read fascinating accounts of haunted houses and ghostly apparitions of all types. You will hear stories that will boggle the mind. Some of the stories are sad, some are happy. Some are funny, some are scary. Some are downright bone-chilling. But most importantly, they are all true, and are told in the witnesses' own words.
You will experience the thoughts, feelings and emotions of those people, who for no reason they can fathom, have been plunged into the realm of the unexplained. You will be a silent witness to their journey through the world of the paranormal. So keep your mind open. Don't be too skeptical. The accounts you read just might change your views about those strange things we call ghosts.
 
INTRODUCTION
 
Of course, ghosts are real. I have talked to hundreds of people who don't have the luxury of disbelief  They have seen ghosts themselves and it is their accounts that make up the body of this book. The stories they told me have shattered my skepticism about ghosts. They spoke of furniture moving mysteriously, doors opening and closing, ghostly footsteps, disappearing objects, glowing apparitions, ghosts that answer phones, footsteps, glowing apparitions, ghosts that give loving hugs, ghosts that attack the terrified witnesses, child ghosts, poltergeists and much more. I heard stories that challenged everything I knew. After studying the accounts it became clear that ghosts are not only real, but they provide incontrovertible evidence that some aspect of the human organism survives death.

The people in this book have interacted with ghosts to an astonishing degree. They have not only seen ghosts, they have heard them, felt them and even smelled them. They have exchanged words and relayed messages. They have been hugged, poked, slapped, pushed, choked and even possessed.
 
After interviewing the many witnesses and visiting the places where ghosts haunt, I have come to know ghosts quite well. I have seen how hauntings begin, how they progress and how they end. I have watched firsthand as people living with ghosts struggle to understand what is happening to them.

I used to be extremely skeptical of ghosts. In fact, I was so skeptical that even after I saw a ghost, I still didn't believe in them. It was 1984, two weeks after my mother died. My family and friends were gathering for her service. As I stood waiting in the driveway, a full color apparition of my mother appeared. I saw her from four feet away for about ten seconds before she faded away. I literally could not believe my eyes and assumed I was hallucinating. I told no one. After all, ghosts weren't real.

Then, a few years later in 1988, a close friend confided to me that her house was haunted. I told her she must be either joking or crazy. However, she insisted that she was serious and proceeded to tell me a story that pierced through the thick armor of skepticism. Then I remembered my own secret ghost sighting. Could ghosts actually be real?

I was now on a quest to learn the truth about ghosts. My friend's story was only the first of an amazing series of stories told to me by a vast number of Californians. It didn't take me long to realize that my skepticism had blinded me to the reality of ghosts. I was not happy to find out that ghosts were real. It meant a huge change in the way I thought about the world.

And so this book was born. 
 
All of the cases in this book take place throughout California, in peoples' homes, in apartment buildings, business offices, graveyards and outside on the street -- in other words, everywhere. Several of the cases are still ongoing.

While the book presents a wide variety of ghostly visitations, the last five chapters involve cases of extreme hauntings in which people's encounters with ghosts reached the final stage of attempted possession.

Some of the witnesses whose stories are told in the book have allowed their real names to be used. Others have insisted upon complete anonymity and have been given pseudonyms. Needless to say, all of them now believe in ghosts. They will be the first to tell you that ghosts are real. The evidence for this is in the exciting pages that follow.  
 

From the Inside Flap:

Contents
Note To The Reader.........................

      Introduction.............................................

1.    Ghosts Of The Indian Burial Ground.............

2.    Woken Up By A Ghost............................

3.    The Ghost Who Answered The Phone.............

4.    The Ghost Who Came To Bed.......................

5.    Embraced By A Ghost..............................

6.    Only The Children.............................

7.    Footsteps On The Staircase........................

8.    A Vision of Blood.................................

9.    A Mentally Handicapped Ghost...............................................

10.   The White Witch...............................

11.   So, You Don't Believe In Ghosts?...........................................

12.   A Child Ghost.........................

13.   Poltergeist!...................

14.   A Brother's Ghost.........................

15.   The Haunted Armoire.............................

16.   The Ghost Dog....................................

17.   The Coldness of Ghosts........................................

18.   A Hand Across Death.......................................

19.   Adventures in Table Lifting.................................

20.   The Wizard of Reseda.................................................

21.   The Ghostly Legacy Of Charles Manson..........

22.   A Demon Named Bart.......................................

23.   A House Possessed....................................

24.   When Poltergeists Knock....................................

25.   The Haunted Apartments.................................

26.   The Wildwood Poltergeist.................................

     Conclusions...................................

About this edition

• Publisher: Schiffer Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0764319728
• ISBN 13: 9780764319723
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192