Paranormal Book Review – Echoes of a Haunting
Echoes of a Haunting recounts the true story of a real “haunted” house although the author prefers the word “disturbed”. Do not expect the “usual” tale filled with blood running down the walls, demons jumping out of closets, heads pivoting while spewing pea soup, or seances with levitating mediums. Instead, the horror that lived in the House in the Country began slowly and quietly. It gradually built in intensity until living there became unbearable.
The author’s family, normal by any criteria, began to earn an unfair reputation as “devil worshipers” and “kooks”. Despite efforts by various psychics and clergymen to ease the pressure, the house eventually won. When emotional and psychic shocks turned to physical threats, it became impossible to stay. The book attempts, in diary form, to trace the trajectory of the “haunting”.
Echoes of a Haunting Paranormal Book Review
I was surprised (not really) to find that there were two versions of the book now available – an older edition and an updated revision entitled Echoes of a Haunting: Revisited. Naturally, I went with the earlier edition being that, in my eyes, there was nothing to yet “revisit”. Of course, I also saw this as a marketing scheme to get more money out of this body of work. But, that’s just my opinion.
I was eager to dive into this book and hit a brick wall when a lot of the book’s introduction spent a lot (too much) time divulging the adventures and misadventures of the authors’ pets. There is even a quip about UFOs! I was only interested in this book because of the tales surrounding the paranormal, not creatures from space. Thankfully, there was only a brief mention of this.
I regret that it took more than a few chapters to get some of the story to be semi-interesting. Chapters 1 & 2 end on a rather boring note, for lack of a better word, with no mystery nor suspense that would entice you to turn the page to see what would happen next. Chapter 3 is, in my opinion, inappropriately titled, “Trouble Continues” which left me scratching my head as up to this point the only “problems” had been a bee infestation and some car trouble, which seems to be a major focus point of the book – I say again, car trouble.
Fortunately, this was all preliminary to give, what I think, is its readers a little more insight into what took place before the paranormal events to get a better foothold of what was to come. I would say that some of the more “interesting” things start to occur at around Chapter 5 when the book becomes entries in Clara M. Miller’s journal.
Some interesting things happen here that would make the hair on the back of your neck rise, but only a few things. There is a lot of talk about psychics which seems that nearly everyone in her life has psychic abilities as well as a constant barrage of ill-fated luck when it came to vehicles. Was the house/property to blame or just very poor vehicle maintenance?
To put it boldly, Echoes of a Haunting was a complete disappointment and I would be hard-pressed to give it a recommendation. I am not saying to avoid it at all costs, but keep it on your shelf in case of not having anything else to read at a given time. Also, when you do read, be sure to have a pen and paper ready to keep track of the numerous different “characters” that are mentioned in this book, including animals! There was a bombardment of siblings, family members, friends, media members, psychics, and pets that I gave up after a while trying to figure out who’s who!