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Great book great price excellent condition
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Geoff Holder has documented the paranormal, supernatural, macabre, mysterious and plain odd in Scotland (and beyond) in a series of well over 20 books. Unlike some in this field, they don’t just copy a selection of stories from earlier authors. Holder extensively researches the subject in libraries and archives to find the original and most complete reports; he tries to visit and photograph the actual locations; and he doesn’t hesitate to debunk tales if they prove to be untrue or have an obvious explanation. (For example, the International Space Station is found to be behind many reported ‘UFO’ sightings.) Some accounts are taken from newspaper reports, and appear for the first time in book form. Whether you credulously swallow every tale or dismiss the whole lot as bunkum (and most readers are probably somewhere in between), Holder’s books will serve as a valuable reference for local historians and folklorists for many years to come. ‘Paranormal’ in the case of this book could be defined as ‘beyond normal’. The stories do not, by & large, concern the supernatural – anyone interested in ghosts and hauntings should get the companion volume ‘Haunted Dundee’. The subjects stray beyond the city boundary into Angus and even north Fife. Not everything is shown to have a rational explanation – UFOs and big cat sightings both have a chapter – but witches, superstitions, remarkable natural phenomena (including the famous Tay whale), archaeological sites and gothic horror all find a place. A thoroughly entertaining read for anyone who likes that sort of thing. The only minor niggle is the front cover – I nearly didn’t buy the book, because I thought I already had it. It turned out that I had another in the series. At least four of Holder’s ‘Paranormal’ books share an identical cover image (as do at least three of his ‘Haunted’ books). Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult for the publishers to come up with a distinctive look for each title?Read full review
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