It doesn’t have to be the spooky season to enjoy this book about ghosts, but it does as certainly fun to read it just before Halloween. The National Trust published this lavishly illustrated volume about Britain’s most famous ghosts and it’s an absolute must for both history buffs and lovers of the supernatural

I received a free copy of, Britain's Ghosts, by Anna Groves; National Trust Books, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the perfect time of year for ghost stories, its getting colder, the leaves are changing, and their is something in the air. This book had some pretty good ghost stories from all over Britain. I did not have a favorite, some were creepier then others.

This book of British ghost stories, published by the National Trust, is written with a cosy, fireside tone which is easy to read, and which softens the more bloodthirsty tales. My favourite story was about the ghosts of Roman soldiers in a basement in York spotted by a teenage plumber in 1953.

The illustrations by Augusta Akerman, which look like they may be woodcuts or linocuts, are beautiful, and often more frightening/haunting than the stories themselves (for example the stunning artwork on pages 67, 77, 120 and 149.) Given the emphasis on place, I would have found it useful for some maps to be included too, perhaps for each region, to show the locations of the sites.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

A fantastic collection of ghostly tales gathered by the National Trust, which take readers all across the British Isles - including Northern Ireland, which is so often left out of these kinds of anthologies.

Each tale is retold in a clear and engaging way, spanning no more than a few pages each, making it perfect for dipping in and out of. It’s also organised clearly by location, so becomes a handy guidebook for the more macabre tourist. I loved the illustrations - eerie and evocative, they matched the tone and content of each story well. It’s a perfect little read now the nights are drawing in, and would make a lovely gift for ghost and/or history enthusiasts.

A book that seeks – and finds – a suitably intelligent, 'just the facts' way to discuss Britain's ghosts. Just because it's a National Trust book doesn't mean that they only feature in National Trust properties, and it's only when we leave Dartmoor, Glastonbury et al behind and cross to the SE and London that the Trust is actually mentioned as owning anything here. What we don't get is an explanation for everything, we either believe in ghosts or we don't, and we read these pages for the almost dry way they just report the hauntings (and the fascinating cursed sword from Glencoe). Nothing is heightened to detail every instance of poltergeist activity, nothing is ramped up to chill the reader.

In some ways the book can be too staid – one entry was too concerned with connections to the Gunpowder plot rather than the actual spooks, and when the author does try to shake some levity into things to counter the dryness it is too noticeable, and too noticeably not working. But it's still a very good achievement, and in documenting things that are related to the National Trust and probably haven't been mentioned in too many of the copious similar books, then it remains of interest to even the oldest of hands at this subject. Not quite as old as the singular hand creeping about the four-poster, or the one lopped off a stalwart Royalist at Edgehill, but old hands all the same...

My thanks to Collins Books and.NetGalley for a copy of “Britain’s Ghosts” for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Most Haunted and Uncanny , so this book was right up my street !
This was interesting and informative, and I really enjoyed reading the stories behind the places that have “ supernatural “ goings on..
Well worth a read !

I tend to think of stories about the supernatural experiences of the past more a feature of history and beliefs rather than anything weird or supernatural. Ghostly events never just occur randomly. So when a non-fiction book comes up about ghosts I am very excited to take a look.

This is another wonderful guide from the National Trust so I know that it will be detailed and researched well. As happens with most of their guides, the book is organised in regional sections so visits can be planned, with a useful index at the back. It is very well laid out with a spooky colour scheme that includes creative gothic artwork and colour coordinated headers and emphasis paragraphs.

This is quite a comprehensive guide that includes castles and stately homes of course, but also ordinary homes, pubs hotels and outdoor free spirits that dwell in lakes, forests, moorlands and marshes. Not forgetting the famous battlefields of our history. As Groves says, 'Whether you're a believer in ghosts or not, you can't deny the existence of ghost stories, and there is not a part of the UK that doesn't have its stories to tell.'

The author starts by explaining briefly the psychology of telling scary ghost stories and mentions how we deal with them in modern times, featuring documentaries on television and even ghostly reality tv. However, the strength of this book is the collective history these ghost stories give us, showing that there is more than just an ending to a person when they die. The first ghostly site is 'The Bucket of Blood' pub in Cornwall. You just know you want to read on...

​This guide is full of history and folklore and is written well without mocking anything paranormal but not being gratuitously horrific. The tone is right for a book of this type, which deals with murder and deaths of real people in short sections in each region. Interesting to note that there is portal to another world in Cannock Chase, in Staffordshire -not too far from me, so if I disappear for a while you know where I am. Perhaps not.

Excellent book: interesting, informative, accessible and slightly chilling. Recommended for those who love folk history and grand days out.

A really interesting look at Britain's haunted places around the country. from pubs to castles, forests to lakes. I was particularly intrigued by the The Ancient Ram Inn in Gloucestershire - reputedly the 'most haunted building in England'. This is a great introduction to local history as the author kindly fills in the historic details, but it all felt rather surface detail. This is more a gazetteer of haunted places than a discussion about the supernatural. Enjoyable read.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Collins Reference/National Trust Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This was such a creepy read with great information about some very haunted and spooky places complete with beautiful illustrations.

This book is exactly what the title
Describes - short yet interesting couple of pages per ghost with enough info to creep you out but no waffle. Easy read could recommend.

‘’All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.’’
Haunted Houses, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Buckland Abbey, Dartmoor. The crimes of the wreckers, preying upon the North Devon coast, resulting in tragedies too terrible for words and manors that seem to move. In Glastonbury Abbey where Christianity meets legend in St Joseph of Arimathea and King Arthur, monks and women drift down the corridors, echoing a past that still fascinates us After all, the Tor hidden in the mists is one of the most beautiful sights you will ever experience. The Ancient Ram Inn, the Tower of London, Canterbury, Preston Manor, Hampton Court Palace with its Anne Boleyn spectre. Houses so cursed that had to be torn down, battlefields echoing the souls that met their end in blood.

Religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants that produced some of the blackest pages in European History. Cannock Chase where portals open, lost in the millennia, and a Black-Eyed child terrorise visitors since the 70s. After all, who said ghosts are meant to stay in the past? High Peak District hides the scene of a tragic love and Newstead Abbey is forever sealed by the fate of its famous inhabitant, Lord Byron himself. Beware of the Lantern Man and the terrifying Black Shuck in Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire and see if you can meet the unjustly perished family of the Boleyns in Blickling. Sutton Hoo and Pendle Hill stand witnesses to a glorious and dark past, from the Anglo-Saxon era to the terrible witch-hunting and the cries of the innocent. In Cumbria you may listen to the cries of the Crier of Claife. In North Yorkshire, in Treasurer’s House, spectres appear by the dozen, from ladies to Roman soldiers stuck in the loop of the centuries that go by. The Thackray Museum of Medicine, Bamburgh Castle and Chillingham Castle in Northumberland (with the coolest Torture Chamber ever and the story of a devil in human form that once ‘’worked’’ there as a professional torturer.

From Ceredigion and Caerphilly in Wales to Ballygally Castle in County Antrim and the mythical Mourne Mountains in County Down in Northern Ireland, from Glencoe and the Scottish Highlands to haunting Edinburgh, Britain is there to remind us that life beyond the grave DOES exist in various forms. The nay-sayers can go and read a book or something, their opinion is irrelevant anyway.

I have dozens of books on Britain and its hauntings, its spectres and legends. This volume is going to become THE guide to a troubled, violent, yet enchanting past. And Anna Groves is a brilliant writer!

Thank God for the National Trust.

Many thanks to National Trust Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A slim book that tells the ghostly histories of some of the locations in the UK (NI included).
It is curious, informative and engaging, and has a nice colour palette that matches the topic.
This is a quick read and a great book for inspiration.

One hot tip - do not open this book after a certain hour of the night. For fans of the supernatural and unexplainable, this book will chill your bones.