The Book of Dreams and Ghosts

The collection assembles accounts of dreams, apparitions, and ghost stories from ancient legend to recent report, arranged from the familiar to the startling and paired with critical commentary on sources and credibility. The author treats most spectres as perceptual phenomena occurring in otherwise sane people, surveys historical and modern explanations—spiritual, demoniacal, illusory, and telepathic—and traces how folklore and myth-making shape narratives. Case studies include purposeful hauntings where apparitions seek burial or justice as well as domestic and folkloric tales, and the discussion focuses on evidential difficulties and the merits of cautious inquiry rather than firm conclusions.