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ericgaryanderson's review against another edition
4.0
A solid but extremely compact overview of ghosts in cultures, literatures, films, etc. Even though the space constraints usually limit Morton to very quick (and often unsurprising) comments on her examples, she nevertheless stretches the meaning of "ghost" to include various other kinds of supernatural entities. I was glad that she saw more than one kind of ghost in Native and Indigenous spooky stories. But, in the end, I wanted at least a little deeper diving into some of the more complicated stories she touches on. This book is kind of like ghost wikipedia only better written. 3.5 stars.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
This is a pretty good introduction to the history of ghosts. Morton looks far more than Western culture as well, so that was nice.
Though in some parts it feels very general. And it was strange that she didn't mention Poltergeist the Legacy the tv series.
Yet the book is an good read.
Though in some parts it feels very general. And it was strange that she didn't mention Poltergeist the Legacy the tv series.
Yet the book is an good read.
siobhanward's review
dark
slow-paced
3.0
This book was good, but I found it to be a little surface-level. It was an interesting topic and I love that Morton delved deeper than just western ghosts. My only problem was that this book was just too short! It would have been really nice for the book to have been a big longer so that there was more space for detail, rather than just scratching the surface of ghosts and ghost lore.
I loved that Morton talked about ghosts and ghost stories from around the world, including ghosts' inclusion in modern media. I would have loved to learn even more about the evolution of ghost stories around the world throughout time, particularly more about how the stories influenced each other. All of these things were included to some degree, but at ~200 pages, there just wasn't enough detail! A great read, but too short!
I loved that Morton talked about ghosts and ghost stories from around the world, including ghosts' inclusion in modern media. I would have loved to learn even more about the evolution of ghost stories around the world throughout time, particularly more about how the stories influenced each other. All of these things were included to some degree, but at ~200 pages, there just wasn't enough detail! A great read, but too short!
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