ROC Metaphysical Book Review

** Editor's Note:  I was so interested in doing this interview since I just returned from my Haunted Castles trip in Ireland. Now that we're in the 21st century ghosting hunting is so techie and normalized. We used technology in the castles to hear and see if there were any spirits lurking about. 

Learning about the history of these ghostly happenings was so interesting.  One would wonder if it was because there was nothing much to do that it contributed to people wanting to gather up, get their favorite liquor and see for themselves. 

He explained that during the 19th and early 20th centuries, ghost hoaxes (dressing in a white sheet or a more elaborate costume) were somewhat common. These hoaxes frequently led to impromptu ghost hunts by large groups of people and often they would be drunk. Many of these ghost scares occurred during the Christmas and New Year periods. Some of the stories were fun but some were dark and tragic with entertaining elements of horror and the bizarre. The ghost stories combine spooky local legends, mischievous hoaxes, and comical ghost hunts. At the same time, psychic investigators and spiritualists were investigating and competing for the best answer to the ghostly occurences.   

About Paul Weatherhead:  Paul Weatherhead is a native of the Calder Valley and was brought up in Hebden Bridge. After several years teaching in Greece, Moscow and  Northern Siberia, he returned to the Valley in the late 1990s. He has a longstanding obsession with the weird history of the area leading to the first edition of Weird Calderdale in 2003 which went on to become a local best-seller. His research into Alan Godfrey’s alien encounter led to a deeper investigation into the phenomenon, which formed his Master of Arts dissertation about the philosophy of alien abduction. 

Paul's website: https://paulweatherhead.com/

Find his book on his website: https://paulweatherhead.com/phantoms-of-christmas-past/

Want to hear more about monsters and weirdness, list to his podcast: https://weirdcalderdale.podbean.com/