A History of Ghosts

The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts and Ghostbusters

By: Peter H. Aykroyd

Narrated by: Jeremy Gage, Dan Aykroyd

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Peter Aykroyd spent his childhood watching his family’s parlor séances through the crack of a basement door. Here, for the first time, Aykroyd tells the strange and delightful story that inspired his son, Dan, to make the mega-hit Ghostbusters.

Part history, part family legend, A History of Ghosts starts in 1848 in upstate New York, where the spiritualist craze first began. Aykroyd introduces the listener to notable mediums while telling the story of the development of spiritualism, interweaving a personal history marked by a fascination with ghosts and spirits with the larger narrative about the role the paranormal has played in our culture. Such legendary figures as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini appear - and vanish.

Everyone loves a good ghost story. Successful TV shows such as Medium and Ghost Hunters are proof that our national obsession with ghosts is here to stay. Millions of Americans believe in the paranormal—and even skeptics have heard a bump in the night and suspected it might be something supernatural.

©2009 Peter H. Aykroyd (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"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." ( Publishers Weekly)

Interesting research, but rather dry

Literally the reading of notes and diaries. Honest, not sensational accounts of 1920's seances.

History of mediums

It’s called history of ghost, but that’s a very small part. This book is better described as a deep study of the spiritual movement of the early 1900’s and the people and places that played a part in it. I expected more talk of ghost and was a bit disappointed. Overall it’s worth a listen.

Extremely interesting!

I enjoyed this book very much! I almost listened to it in one sitting. If you have interest in the history of such things, this book is a wealth of knowledge! I was surprised at some of the names i recognized! And it is not a one sided view. The author writes on the investigations and proven frauds of the times, as well as things they could not explain away. It was fun to Google some of the names and seeing some of the photographs and art that were proclaimed paranormal.

Wonderful read that I could not put down.

I was not sure what to expect. Books like this can sound like a pushy evangelical or snake oils salesman. The history of ghosts was written with an open heart, with humor in places and the details, historical references and list of events that left me now wanting to further research more on my own. in the end it leaves the reader to their own devices but with images and information that with ponder in your mind for a lifetime.

Intersting history of the Seance movement

I didn't care that Dan didn't read the entire book, like some other reviewers did. I felt that Jeremy Gage did an adequate job. The Aykroyd family history with mediums was interesting. It was nice to know that the author was working from direct experience with the subject. Plus, the author did a good job of establishing his comfort with the material. The author goes into detail on the mediums and how the whole movement escalated.

This book is a good history of the medium movement from someone who was there. I think this book treats the material very objectively and it's worth a read.

My only complaint with it is that this book does get boring in some parts.

Great, With a Bummer Ending

The vast majority of this book is an almost academic look at the history of mediumship and spiritual investigations at the turn of the 20th century. Great stuff. But literally the last five minutes almost completely ruined this book for me because after all of the great historical writing, it ends with a bunch of nonsense about Jesus and the Christian afterlife being real. What a buzzkill.

OK book, not really what I expected.

Pretty much more of a book about seances and the history of the modern interest in the paranormal. Not much about ghosts and really, I think it only mentions 'ghostbusters' a scant few times. For those with an interest in the paranormal it isn't a bad listen, but be ready to learn more about what happened at seances rather than experiences with paranormal activity. Kind of boring in some parts.

odd and entertaining

This book has a number of negative reviews, but reading those, I get the feeling that many were expecting this book to be something that it isn't.
What it isn't:
About Ghostbusters. There's a bit in here about the movie, but don't expect an in-depth look at it.
Read by Dan Aykroyd. He wrote and reads an introduction. That is all.
A history of spiritualism from an academic standpoint.
What it is:
A brief history of the spiritualist movement and how it ties in to the Aykroyd family and, eventually, Ghostbusters. There was clearly a lot of academic research that went in to this book so we have a framework for spiritualism. There are much better books that offer a more extensive history on spiritualism, so look elsewhere if that's what you want. This book feels more personal because it comes from Aykroyd's real-life experiences, which I really enjoyed.
Listening to it can feel a little disjointed because it is riddled with info boxes and notes. It felt a little jarring at first, and certainly feels more natural in a paper book than an audio book. However, the reader clearly states when he will be reading one and it didn't take long to get used to it.
Many people seem to not like the narrator. I didn't have a problem with him, especially when I realized that he sounds a little like a less manic Edward Everett Horton.
All-in-all, not really a masterpiece, but certainly not bad. I enjoyed it a great deal.

lacking a little

Honestly I was hoping for a little more in the ghost story genre. The history was well and good but it lacked excitement.

Wonderful Fun History Well Told

Very informative, interesting, and fun. I especially enjoyed the narration. Thank you Peter for writing this little told history and sharing some of your family's interesting history.