Spirits

The classic inaugural work by the well-known British ‘ghost hunter’ Peter Underwood (1923-2014), which can now be read in conjunction with a specially created ‘Gazetteer of British Ghosts’ GoogleMap, as well as ‘The Ghostly Gazetteer’, a WordPress blog dedicated to hunting down illustrations to all 236 sites contained in the book.

First published in 1971, and republished under the title ‘The A-Z of British Ghosts’ in the 1990s, this work represents the first attempt to offer a systematic survey of uncanny accounts of ghostly happenings throughout Britain, ranging from legendary to real-life experiences.

This newly revised ‘pure digital’ edition has been updated with information about the current status of each site, and each account has been further revised for greater clarity and ease of reading, following in Underwood’s footsteps in terms of his style, as well as in his aim of making each account as interesting and readable to the reader as possible.

You can read about famous haunted houses such as Borley Rectory, Hampton Court and Glamis Castle, as well as lesser known hauntings such as those associated with Woburn, Bury St Edmunds, and the Gargoyle Theatre in London’s Soho.

This new edition also includes a foreword by Underwood’s son Christopher, as well as an afterword by author Alan Williams, followed an interview Williams conducted with Underwood in 1997.

‘Every single entry has been reconsidered for today’s readership – to bring Underwood’s original accounts into the present – to enliven them and carry on his original endeavour to present them to the reader in the most accessible and readable way’ – Adam Underwood – Editor of the ‘Revised Edition’.

‘I read Peter Underwood, book after book, year after year and I hope that I am able to make my own readers feel that way about my own.’ – Alan Williams, author of The Seance Parlour (2013)