13 Books That Will Make You Believe In Ghosts

Don't read these true-life ghost stories in the dark. You've been warned.

1. Ghosts: A Natural History: 500 Years of Searching for Proof, by Roger Clarke

Amazon

In this book, Roger Clarke explores many of the world's most famous hauntings, believers, and skeptics, including everything from Harry Houdini to ghost hunting technology to haunted WWI submarines. Clarke's comprehensive account of the modern history of ghosts is as informative as it is fascinating.

2. The Amityville Horror, by Jay Anson

Pocket Star

In December 1975, the Lutz family moved into a doomed household — the place where just a year earlier, a man had murdered his entire family. The Lutzes lasted 28 days in the house before fleeing in terror. Anson's book relays the gripping true story of one of America's most infamous haunted houses.

3. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, by Mary Roach

W. W. Norton & Company

Mary Roach, now famous for her irreverent and smart explorations of human bodies and behavior, examines the afterlife (and the possible paranormal) with humor and hope. A satisfying read for skeptics and believers alike.

4. Deliver Us from Evil: A New York City Cop Investigates the Supernatural, by Ralph Sarchie with Lisa Collier Cool

St. Martin's Griffin

Now a movie starring Eric Bana, this book is the strange and fascinating story of an NYPD vet who claims to have spent considerable time on the force assisting in cases of demonic possession (among other supernatural incidents).

5. Ghosts Among Us: True Stories of Spirit Encounters, by Leslie Rule

Andrews McMeel Publishing

In this book, Leslie Rule (daughter of the late, great true crime writer Ann Rule) — herself raised in what she calls a haunted house — investigates true-life accounts of paranormal experiences, consulting historians, news reports, and psychics in an attempt to explain the (seemingly) inexplicable.

6. The Myrtles Plantation: The True Story of America's Most Haunted House, by Frances Kermeen

Warner Books

The Myrtles Plantation is regarded as one of the United States' most famous haunted homes, and in this book, Frances Kermeen relays her own experiences with the house's strange events — she owned the plantation for eight years — and explores the site's spooky history.

7. A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters, by Peter H. Aykroyd

Reaktion Books

Father of actor (and ghost/alien enthusiast) Dan Aykroyd, Peter H. Aykroyd here examines the 19th century spiritualist craze and its most famous mediums, along the way describing his own relationship with the supernatural.

8. In A Dark Place, by Ed & Lorraine Warren

Graymalkin Media

Perhaps the only married couple known by the moniker "world-renowned married demonologists," Lorraine and Ed Warren have written a number of books on their work investigating cases of alleged demon possession around the world. This book describes a particularly terrifying case, which later inspired the movie The Haunting in Connecticut.

9. American Ghost: A Family's Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest, by Hannah Nordhaus

Harper

In this captivating book, award-winning journalist Hannah Nordhaus examines the story of her great-great-grandmother Julia, who is said to haunt a hotel in Santa Fe as a dark-eyed ghost in a long black gown.

10. True Ghost Stories: Jim Harold's Campfire 1, by Jim Harold

Jim Harold Media LLC

Jim Harold, host of popular paranormal podcast "The Paranormal Podcast," has collected a number of real-life stories of strange and spooky experiences, making this book a digestible and fun (YMMV) read for an actual campfire, or anywhere else.

11. Ghosts Caught On Film: Photographs of the Paranormal, by Dr. Melvyn Willin

David & Charles Publishers

An ideal coffee table book for any good ghost enthusiast, this book includes an array of strange and spooky photographs alongside brief descriptions of their origins.

12. America's Most Haunted: The Secrets of Famous Paranormal Places, by Theresa Argie and Eric Olsen

Berkley Publishing Group

In this book, paranormal investigators Theresa Argie and Eric Olsen take the reader on a kind of virtual tour of some of the United States' most popular and infamous haunted sites, interviewing witnesses and examining evidence.

13. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings, by Tom Ogden

Alpha

As with any Idiot book, this is a good primer for novices/newbies, if not for seasoned readers of all things ghostly. Still, it serves as a good introduction to those who wish to try their hand at ghost hunting — the book also includes a guide to haunted houses open to the public.