For many people, October includes activities around spirits, ghosts, and supernatural beings. On a related theme, although not to take away from the fantasy and fun of autumn, this month’s recommended book is Spirit Sleuths, How Magicians and Detectives Exposed the Ghost Hoaxes. Author Gail Jarrow invites readers to investigate the history behind particular supernatural activities.

This account begins in 1848 with two sisters in upstate New York who claimed that mysterious tappings in their house were communications from ghosts. As this story grew and traveled to nearby communities, the girls gained popularity, as did the séances they held. The author provides narrative detail that describes the experiences of their family. Jarrow continues her account to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when other people such as Ira and William Davenport, Henry Keller, and William Mumler claimed supernatural powers. The stories of their mystic experiences are documented in narrative form and include particular seemingly magical events, such as spirit cabinets, spirit photographs, planchette which led to the Ouija Boards, mind reading and fortune-telling. Each chapter ends with a section entitled “How Did They Do It?”

These fraudulent spiritualists traveled nationally and internationally, holding meetings and giving false hope to grieving individuals that they could communicate with their dead loved ones. Eventually, suspicion of these experiences led to exposure of spiritual mediums and the fraudulent opportunities they provided emotional people. Continue reading →