{"id":326062,"date":"2025-12-01T12:32:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/all-about-ghosts-is-a-non-fiction-book-that-gave-me-all-the-knowledge-to-spot-spectres\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T12:32:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:32:32","slug":"all-about-ghosts-is-a-non-fiction-book-that-gave-me-all-the-knowledge-to-spot-spectres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=326062","title":{"rendered":"All About Ghosts is a non-fiction book that gave me all the knowledge to spot spectres"},"content":{"rendered":"


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All About Ghosts by Christopher Maynard is a non-fiction book for children curious about spectral beings. First published in 1977, this book grabbed many children with the vice-like grip of a reanimated hand from a mouldering grave. <\/p>\n

The book is one of several 1970s spooky<\/a> releases that left many British children of the time with an abiding curiosity about all things unnerving<\/a>. They are known as the \u201chaunted generation\u201d<\/a>, a name coined by writer and broadcaster Bob Fischer. <\/p>\n

One member of this haunted generation who went on to craft their own creepy contributions is actor and writer Reece Shearsmith, famous for The League of Gentlemen<\/a> and Inside No.9<\/a>, who introduces the 2019 edition of All About Ghosts. I too am a member, with an attraction to the mysterious that I can chart back to the original book \u2013 and which led me to become a folklorist. <\/p>\n\n

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\n Scary stories for kids: these tales of terror made me a hit at sleepovers as a pre-teen<\/a>
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Despite the supernatural being an unusual topic for a factual book from an educational publisher such as Usborne, the writing addresses its younger readers with a straight face and without condescension. It presents its stories of eerie encounters succinctly and informatively, while indulging in just enough gruesome detail to have you sleeping with the light on.<\/p>\n

The book\u2019s whistlestop tour of the dark side opens by asking: \u201cWhat is a ghost?\u201d It provides definitions across the spectral spectrum before introducing the earliest recorded ghost sightings, beginning with the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh<\/a>, dating from 2000BC.<\/p>\n\n

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\n Pictorial Press Ltd<\/a><\/span>
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This article is part of a series of expert recommendations of spooky stories \u2013 on screen and in print \u2013 for brave young souls. From the surprisingly dark depths of Watership Down to Tim Burton\u2019s delightfully eerie kid-friendly films, there\u2019s a whole haunted world out there just waiting for kids to explore. Dare to dive in here<\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

All About Ghosts leads its young readers through a landscape of graveyards and battlefields. It takes them out to a sea of doomed vessels and pirate wraiths. It wends its way through a haunted house with a bricked-up skeleton, and to the English village of Pluckley, which counts 12 ghosts among its population. <\/p>\n

While its engaging style and clear prose indicate a younger readership, the information in the book\u2019s brief, spooky vignettes owes a lot to research. In writing this guide to ghosts, Maynard consulted the folklorist Eric Maple, as well as organisations and archives including the Harry Price Library of Magical Literature and the Society for Psychical Research. <\/p>\n

What resonates most are the evocative illustrations accompanying these yarns. The one-eyed phantom dog Black Shuck dripping drool is terrifying. The spectral submarine officer warning living comrades of incipient danger conveys a weird melancholy.<\/p>\n

But the one I find most scary is Tom Colley\u2019s ghost glowing by a gibbet \u2013 a cage in which the rotting remains of criminals were put on public display to warn against such crimes. Seeing this picture takes me back to being a child, sprawled on my bedroom carpet to read, pleasantly terrified and almost too nervous to turn the next page.<\/p>\n

The book also invites its readers to participate in the hunt, sharing details of the equipment needed to track down apparitions and catch out frauds: \u201cA thin layer of flour or powder \u2026 will show up any footprints or fingerprints made by fake \u2018ghosts\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

My younger self certainly took some of this advice on board. Even if I didn\u2019t actively hunt ghosts, this book taught me to look out for the tell-tale signs of their presence: a sudden drop in temperature, strange draughts, objects moved by unseen hands. I would know a ghost was about. <\/p>\n

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\n Usborne<\/span><\/span>
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These tips for ghost hunting in the style of other practical guides has the potential to encourage children to see themselves as daring researchers. And if the kit is a little outdated, today\u2019s ghost hunters can always switch up a notepad and graph paper for digital tools. <\/p>\n

The book\u2019s examples of clever fakes and its ambiguous language \u2013 \u201cghosts are supposed to haunt the scene of death\u201d \u2013 enable it to walk the line between belief and scepticism.<\/p>\n

Children can sometimes be perceived by adults as being too ready to believe, growing into rationality later. However, folklorists of childhood Iona and Peter Opie \u2013 who have surveyed schoolchildren around the country from the mid-20th century onward on their play and games, language, beliefs and customs \u2013 describe the more nuanced phenomenon of \u201chalf belief\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While children are drawn to the unexplained, their responses to tales of ghosts and summoning rituals, to good and bad luck, and to charms and omens, indicate they could also be taking part out of playful fun and exploration, curiosity and friendship. In subtly approaching its readers as critical thinkers as much as thrill-seekers, this book confirms its classic status for the spooky season and beyond. <\/p>\n

All About Ghosts<\/a> is suitable for children aged 10+.<\/em><\/p>\n

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

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Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All About Ghosts by Christopher Maynard is a non-fiction book for children curious about spectral beings. First published in 1977, this book grabbed many children with the vice-like grip of a reanimated hand from a mouldering grave. 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