Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Brilliant book and showing concepts of the haunted…… it delves deep into the phenomenon and looks at the history of spirits.

This book is not for the faint hearted but I thoroughly enjoyed it and my hats off to the author! It will certainly be a book that I will re-read.

This book wasn't what I expected from reading the description. I was expecting a look at actual ghost stories and tales of haunting, and how the spectral influences the corporeal. Instead, I found myself introduced to a fascinating philosophy that I was wholly unfamiliar with. This notion of how the past 'haunts' the present resonated with me. Concepts such nostalgia, retromania, cyclical history and more gave me much to ponder, leading to it taking much longer to finish reading than it might otherwise have.

This seemed eerily prescient given current goings on both world-wide, and within my birth country. The past is certainly haunting us right now as history has cycled around, bringing situations we should have been prepared for/ could have avoided. A global pandemic and the rise of the Tangerine Tyrant are events repeating themselves, echoing into the present, yet no-one seemed prepared at all. I wonder- will we ever learn from the dead past or will it always haunt us?

****Many thanks to Netgalley and Oldcastle Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Having read, and been rather frustrated by the limitations of, Coverley's previous book on Psychogeography, I found this a definite improvement. Although considerably in debt to the theorists he discusses, particularly Mark Fisher whose presence and theories could be said to haunt the book (if that isn't tasteless), this is an efficient and entertaining overview of the rise and scope of hauntology - from Dickens and MR James to Nigel Kneale and Sebald. I'm not sure he quite gets hold of why the 1970s has such a hold on the likes of Fisher and Simon Reynolds, but there's lots to enjoy here. I would have liked more on the idea of J.B. Priestley as lynchpin and much more on the music of Ghost Box, The Boards of Canada etc who were so important to Mark Fisher, but this is a good starting point for readers not afraid of a little cultural theory and much less obscure than some of the other reviewers suggest.

The word that comes to my mind when thinking about this book is muddled. And arduous. It was so very difficult to get through the book even though the subject was interesting. Definitely not for me.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked this up. Something to do with the paranormal perhaps. Unfortunately this fell down in the opening pages, an analysis of Dickens - A Christmas Carol, really wasn't it though.
I didn't make it much further, as it would result in being tantamount to pulling nails (not the metal variety).

#netgalley, #hauntology

This was a little more academic a tome than I expected but that isn’t a criticism as there is definitely room in the Hauntology market for such a book.
It includes theoretical and philosophical explanations for the phenomenon and is thought provoking in that it encourages the reader to look at their own hauntology experiences and draw comparisons.
I would recommend this book to anyone wishing to add to their library on the subject. It isn’t ‘Hauntology 101’ but greatly adds to other works on the subject. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review it.

The author examines the continuing fascination with the supernatural in modern culture and our societal inability to let go of certain aspects of the past so that they haunt the present. They cover the theories of Jacques Derrida, and the argument that the cycle of interest in the occult and ghosts seems to correspond to certain events in society which may prompt this renewal of interest.

This started well. I was intrigued by the introduction and the first part which dealt with the Victorian fondness for the strange including the first ghost hunting society and the rise of mediumship and seances, and how these leaked through into the surrounding culture. I thought that the examples used in this section were interesting and worked well and I felt I understood what the author was trying to say. After that, things became a little muddled for me. The next sections had fewer examples and more discussion of the different theories and proponents of Hauntology which became a little dry to read at times. Overall it turned out to be a rather different book to the one I was expecting, but that may very well have been a misunderstanding on my part. Others who are interested in this subject may enjoy reading this, but in the end, it was not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Oldcastle Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.