Recommended Reads: A History of Ghosts, Spirits, and the Supernatural
An illustrated guide to the paranormal
Winter's grip has a way of stirring the darker corners of our collective imagination. As the chill persists month after month, shorter days turn into long, quiet nights. Frosted landscapes evoke a sense of melancholy that makes ghost stories feel all the more real.
The way winter transforms our surroundings is almost unnerving. The barren trees, their skeletal branches etched against a clouded sky, and the icy stillness that blankets uninhabited streets conjure images of death. Perhaps this convergence of natural decay and enforced introspection has made winter a perennial favorite for ghost stories and explorations of the paranormal. It is precisely in these moments of stillness that the enigmatic world of the supernatural feels most accessible.
Into this macabre landscape steps an extraordinary volume: the new book A History of Ghosts, Spirits, and the Supernatural from DK, a part of Penguin Random House. This spellbinding guide published in September 2024 invites us to traverse centuries of paranormal lore—from the ancient rituals of ancestor worship to modern-day ghost-hunting escapades. The book is a lavish compendium of 320 pages that explores mystifying tales and profiles of otherworldly entities such as vampires, werewolves, zombies, the Arabic jinn, Japanese yokai, and many more.
Admittedly, it's not necessarily a book that one picks up and reads straight through. I remember as a curious kid pulling encyclopedias off my parents' bookshelves and simply perusing whatever caught my attention. This book—gifted to me as a Valoween present from the Lady of the Manor—invites the same sort of browsing. It can either be flipped through at random or used as a resource with its exceptional table of contents, glossary, and index.
One aspect that sets this book apart (other than its dark subject matter) from those old, dusty encyclopedias, is its visual splendor. Glossy pages adorned with striking illustrations and photographs complement the well-researched text, transforming what could have been a dry account into a rich journey. DK seems to have a reputation of blending scholarly detail with a reader-friendly narrative and that is on full display here. The hardback cover, too, is a splendid work of design featuring holographic foil shades—most welcome on the coffee table or shelf of any haunted abode.
Its thematic organization allows the reader to wander through epochs and cultures, discovering how different peoples have tried to make sense of that inexplicable, often unsettling interplay between life and death. The book offers five main sections: Asking the Ancestors (Ancient world), Underworlds and Afterlife (Antiquity to Medieval), Meeting the Spirits (1400-1700), Occultism and the Undead (1700-1900), and Revisionism and Revivals (1900 onward). Each section is packed with numerous additional categories.
Perhaps my favorite section, Occultism and the Undead, for instance, offers such subject matter as Spiritism, seances, the Ouija, spirit photography, and the Victorian fascination with the paranormal. In Revisionism and Revivals, we explore topics such as the paranormal in pop culture, aura photography, ghost tourism, ghost stories, urban legends, and “creepypasta,” which are horror legends or images created or spread via the Internet.
Whether you are a fervent believer in the supernatural or a skeptic with a taste for the macabre, this book manages to resonate with the curious mind. For those who find solace in the eerie allure of winter's dead, A History of Ghosts, Spirits, and the Supernatural lets you peer into a world filled with mystery.
There is no better time to curl up with a warm cuppa and lose oneself in these spectral narratives. Winter, in its stark, unyielding beauty, reminds us that there are unknown realms waiting to be explored—one where the past whispers in the wind and every shadow might just be a ghost from another time.
Do you know of a book that embodies the mysterious spirit of Grimrose Manor? We want to hear from you! Add your recommendations in the comments for nonfiction books that capture our signature blend of the macabre and the mystical—your next suggestion might just be the focus of an upcoming review.
Two books I really liked are “The Witch’s Heart” and “Weyward”