Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Hilarious!
Review: Absolutely hilarious.
For example, from "Appendix B: Sample Questionnaire for Ghosts"
Are you frequently tired, weak or cold?
Have you ever walked through a wall by accident or felt invisible? Does this seem strange to you?
What do you like least about being a ghost?
. . . and for those spirits unaware of their state of existence . . .
I believe that you are a ghost. How does that make you feel?
Can you prove that you are alive?
Priceless.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Hilarious!
Review: Absolutely hilarious.
For example, from "Appendix B: Sample Questionnaire for Ghosts"
Are you frequently tired, weak or cold?
Have you ever walked through a wall by accident or felt invisible? Does this seem strange to you?
What do you like least about being a ghost?
. . . and for those spirits unaware of their state of existence . . .
I believe that you are a ghost. How does that make you feel?
Can you prove that you are alive?
Priceless.
Rating: 
Summary: The Field Guide to North American Hauntings :
Review: An entertaining book but one that struck me as absurd at times. Blackman tended to rate a large number of spirits as dangerous and kept warning that headless ghosts might well take the head of a mortal to replace their own missing head. The most off the wall section of the book is a survey form which one is to use to question any ghost he might meet. I don't know about anyone else but should I meet a ghost I don't suspect I will take the time to ask it to fill out a short survey for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Ever Get the Feelling You've Been Cheated?
Review: I actually threw this book away,something I almost never do. This author drags together every half-baked story anyone has ever written down and presents it,with no evidence or eyewitness statements, as it is.Do you believe that a pack of evil ghost-dogs prowl highway 666 in New Mexico? Neither do I-but they're here in this "collection." Anyone reading this review could have written a book that would be at least as good as this one. Don't spend any money on this book! Try to find a good book instead
Rating: 
Summary: Great reading, but a little exagerated and not all realistic
Review: I enjoyed the book very much, great information on locations of alleged hauntings around the US, lists the more well know locations. Also tips on ghost hunting. The book was great, but the authors opinions seemed unrealistic and exagerated on his ideas about ghosts and hauntings. A good book to read overall!! Recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: very intersting , but some parts were a little weird.
Review: i have read many books on this subject. i found this book to be very interesting. There were some things i found that were a little strange. For instance, the part were he said that a headless ghost might try to take your own head "come on!" Overall, it's a good book, but for those true ghost hunters who are serious about these things, this book might be a little dissapointing.
Rating:
Summary: Hoped for more
Review: I'm always on the lookout for good books about hauntings, and this book was decent, but its faults overshadowed its credits. The historical info (albeit unsourced) seems credible and well written, the "hunting" and "living with ghosts" tips seemed absurd -- example: when living with a ghost, set a place for them at dinner. Disapointing.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a joke
Review: Not only does the author claim that the Amityville Horror is absolutely true (both George Lutz and the AH author, Jay Anston, claimed it was a hoax to raise money to save George's failing business interests), he also goes on to give false "facts" about the legend of the Bell Witch of Tennessee. I only read those two stories in this book and that was enough for me.Do yourself a favor and look for haunted facts elsewhere. If it were an option, I would rate this book NO stars
Rating:
Summary: Good Reading for an Average Ten Year Old
Review: Remember that episode from the old Dick Van Dyke show where the comedy team gets together to persuade Rob to do ridiculous things over the phone? They finally push Rob too far when they tell him to scream like a chicken. The jig is up, as they say when Rob finally "gets it" and says, "Hey, you guys....wait a minute!" The laugh track roars. Everyone confesses and Rob has egg on his face because he was suckered right along for most of the episode. That's the feeling one gets after reading the first ten pages of this book and encountering such classic bits as: "As with the Hull House, you can search for ghosts at the Lalaurie site from outside: simply stand in the shadow of the building and listen intently for screams of any kind." "Do not chase the Palatine Light or follow it out to sea, as many oceanic ghost lights have a tendency to lead the curious to their deaths." "Any phantom missing any part of its anatomy is potentially dangerous, largely because these ghosts are extremely preoccupied with regaining whatever it is that they have lost." If you think you have a ghost in your house, the author suggests: "Give the ghost a room. Set aside a portion of the house specifically for use as the ghost's private quarters..." "Set Limits. Let the ghost know what you will or will not tolerate...." "Include the ghost during family functions... On holidays...have a little gift for the spirit..." And don't forget to scream like a chicken! Yes, these comprise just a sampling of Blackman's avuncular dolings out for anyone dense enough to take them seriously. Moreover, if you encounter a ghost, the author suggests some things you might want to ask it, like: " What do you enjoy most about being a ghost?" "Have you ever attacked anyone using your ghostly powers?" "Do you enjoy frightening people?" "Do you know what a 'ghost' is?" And on and on. (One question that the author forgets to add to the list is "Do ghosts go to the bathroom in the other world?" It would not be out of place.) Now this kind of cuteness would be tolerable in a child's book, but this book bills itself as a "Field Guide"--as in an exhaustive, serious, even scientific guide to this or that biologic, botanic, or geologic manifestation. Given that those more rigorous parameters remain unfilled, what we miss most is the sudden eruption of a laugh track at the appropriate moments while reading this book. (But of course, ever-resourceful ghost hunters could always make their own.) The stories themselves are simple rehashings of the same material that other writers have done to death. In other words, expect no new primary information on the hauntings the author discusses. Blackman does have the courtesy to include a bibliography at the end of the book, but all of the books he lists are rehashes themselves. So, ok. What's good about this book? The cover art by Kamil Vojnar is really impressive. (For that I've given this book 3 stars.) What's the scariest thing about this book? Random House publishes it as a book for adults. Remember that Random House began as a publisher for William Faulkner, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce and other great writers of the twentieth century. This fact alone is enough to give anyone the creeps when thumbing through these "haunted" pages.
Rating:
Summary: Good Reading for an Average Ten Year Old
Review: Remember that episode from the old Dick Van Dyke show where the comedy team gets together to persuade Rob to do ridiculous things over the phone? They finally push Rob too far when they tell him to scream like a chicken. The jig is up, as they say when Rob finally "gets it" and says, "Hey, you guys....wait a minute!" The laugh track roars. Everyone confesses and Rob has egg on his face because he was suckered right along for most of the episode. That's the feeling one gets after reading the first ten pages of this book and encountering such classic bits as: "As with the Hull House, you can search for ghosts at the Lalaurie site from outside: simply stand in the shadow of the building and listen intently for screams of any kind." "Do not chase the Palatine Light or follow it out to sea, as many oceanic ghost lights have a tendency to lead the curious to their deaths." "Any phantom missing any part of its anatomy is potentially dangerous, largely because these ghosts are extremely preoccupied with regaining whatever it is that they have lost." If you think you have a ghost in your house, the author suggests: "Give the ghost a room. Set aside a portion of the house specifically for use as the ghost's private quarters..." "Set Limits. Let the ghost know what you will or will not tolerate...." "Include the ghost during family functions... On holidays...have a little gift for the spirit..." And don't forget to scream like a chicken! Yes, these comprise just a sampling of Blackman's avuncular dolings out for anyone dense enough to take them seriously. Moreover, if you encounter a ghost, the author suggests some things you might want to ask it, like: " What do you enjoy most about being a ghost?" "Have you ever attacked anyone using your ghostly powers?" "Do you enjoy frightening people?" "Do you know what a 'ghost' is?" And on and on. (One question that the author forgets to add to the list is "Do ghosts go to the bathroom in the other world?" It would not be out of place.) Now this kind of cuteness would be tolerable in a child's book, but this book bills itself as a "Field Guide"--as in an exhaustive, serious, even scientific guide to this or that biologic, botanic, or geologic manifestation. Given that those more rigorous parameters remain unfilled, what we miss most is the sudden eruption of a laugh track at the appropriate moments while reading this book. (But of course, ever-resourceful ghost hunters could always make their own.) The stories themselves are simple rehashings of the same material that other writers have done to death. In other words, expect no new primary information on the hauntings the author discusses. Blackman does have the courtesy to include a bibliography at the end of the book, but all of the books he lists are rehashes themselves. So, ok. What's good about this book? The cover art by Kamil Vojnar is really impressive. (For that I've given this book 3 stars.) What's the scariest thing about this book? Random House publishes it as a book for adults. Remember that Random House began as a publisher for William Faulkner, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce and other great writers of the twentieth century. This fact alone is enough to give anyone the creeps when thumbing through these "haunted" pages.
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