Book Review for True Ghosts 3

Title: True Ghosts 3–Even MORE Chilling Tales from the Vaults of FATE Magazine
Edited by: David Godwin
Published by Llewellyn Publications, 2011

I have always been a huge fan of FATE and one of my favorite features of the magazine has always been the large section devoted to reader submissions.  In each edition since its inception in 1948, FATE  has published the real life experiences of everyday people on a variety of paranormal topics.  True Ghosts 3 is another installment in a larger collection showcasing the best of those submissions.

The stories are organized into various chapters, each with a different theme:

Ghostly Apparitions
Messages from the Dead
Dream Visitations
Near-Death and Out of Body Experiences
Haunted Places
Spirits Helping the Living
Animal Spirits
Ghost Encounters of Children and Child Ghosts
Phantom Vehicles and Buildings
Vortexes, Time Slips, and Portals
Spirit Guides and Angels
Poltergeist Activity

Each story is unique in voice and depth, and at 323 pages, the book is packed with them.  I even found one tale from Huntington, WV that I’ll be doing more research on!  Obviously some tales are better written and some are more believable than others, but all are interesting as a glimpse into the experiences of people from a variety of walks of life dealing with the same thing.  Where applicable, longer and more scholarly articles from professional researchers/writers supplement the personal stories, adding an extra element to the work.  It’s a wonderful and easy to read book, perfect for those who want ghost stories written in a narrative style, but who don’t mind a teeny bit of journalistic perspective as well. The format also makes this the perfect traveling book—many stories are less than a page in length.  Read one or read a few while you have a few extra minutes, and you can easily pick it back up or skip around to suit your interests.  Definitely recommended!