The Truth is Out There

After 'The White Queen', I needed a bit of a break from the Plantagenets, so did a bit of a lucky dip and picked up 'Will Storr vs The Supernatural' by Will Storr (funny that!).

In 'Will Storr vs The Supernatural', the journalist tackles some big questions; Do ghosts exist?  Can people be possessed?  Is there life after death?  In 21 snappy chapters, Storr interviews demonologists, paranormal investigators, exorcists, psychologists and psychics looking for answers in some of the shadowiest corners of eccentricity.  Will he find some truth or just get lost in the dark?

Like a scary story, this book just made you keep reading.  Each chapter is punchy and takes you somewhere that most people will never go.  After all, even the most hardened sceptic probably doesn't fancy spending the night in the cold, dark and damp of a supposedly haunted house.

'Will Storr vs The Supernatural'
by Will Storr
(Ebury Press, 2006)

Throughout, our guide manages to tread a careful path between open minded and sceptical, letting his curiosity take control.  The subjects' stories are told with compassion and humanity, never losing sight of the likely driving forces behind their often frowned upon beliefs: loss, insecurity and the fear of death.

Despite its subject, this book is anything but heavy and serious.  It's not a scientific or psychological treatise on the supernatural, so don't expect a convincing argument one way or another.  It's one person's conclusions drawn from his own experiences and encounters.  It's also written for entertainment and while it's not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny, it is amusing without mocking the interviewees or their beliefs.

Overall, I found this book fascinating and loved Storr's style of writing and turn of phrase.  Far from frightening me off, I will be looking up other books by the author and hoping for more of the same.

Now, a bit of time travel.  Back to the Red Queen!