Setting out to write a book about ghosts is not so much a labor of love as it is a voyage of self discovery, for the subject can hardly be broached without asking some very difficult and important questions having to do with immortality, God, and what really happens to us when we die. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that it is frequently difficult to find a book on the subject that attempts to touch upon each of these areas in any depth, which was the reason I felt compelled to write The Case for Ghosts.

Unlike most books on the subject, I wanted to do more than merely pen another collection of anecdotal stories and case studies. I hoped, instead, to demonstrate that ghosts are not something to be afraid of, though they need to be respected and taken seriously, but that they are something quite natural, important, and integral to our world. I also hope to impress upon the reader that they are not figments of our imagination; ghosts are as real as the flesh-and-blood people we deal with everyday, and every bit as human. Which is why, in studying them, we can recognize that we are not dealing with something alien and “spooky,” but are simply interacting with people who no longer possess a physical nature, yet still require our understanding, our patience and our compassion if they are ever to find their way home. In other words, in dealing with ghosts we are simply dealing with people in another context, and that, I think, is the key to understanding these extra-worldly visitors.

The best way to get this point across, I believed, was to create a book for the layman that asks the kinds of questions most people usually ask about ghosts. That’s exactly what The Case for Ghosts does. For example, how does one become a ghost and, by extension, is it something everyone becomes when they die or only some people? Is there really such a thing as a demon? How does an EM-Meter work? Can we—or should we—attempt to communicate with a ghost, and might we be inviting something unexpected and unwelcome into our lives if we do? It asks the sorts of questions I used to ask and answers them in a way that leaves the reader to decide for themselves what to believe and, more importantly, what not to believe. Further, it provides the reader with a good, basic understanding of how ghost hunting works on a practical level, along with some theories about what ghosts may be, how they manifest and what they mean to our lives. Running the gamut from spirit photography and EVPs to the power of the mind and the possibility of malevolent entities and demon possession, it is my effort to provide the curious mind with a well-rounded, objective and hopefully thought-provoking look at the entire range of paranormal activity, all told in a straightforward, non-academic style. I even invite the reader to participate in this world by providing a safe and beneficial way of interacting and communicating with the realm of pure spirit through the use of a spirit guide—another topic that rarely makes it into the traditional ghost hunting books—where I explain what a guide is, how it operates, and how it benefits us in our quest towards greater spiritual growth. It is designed specifically for those individuals who have always longed for the wisdom and advice of a higher power, but found that power difficult to access through traditional religious avenues. It should prove beneficial to anyone truly interested in developing their spiritual nature and understanding themselves better.

Of course, this work is neither perfect nor the final word on the subject. It has its flaws and shortcomings, just as any book that tries to examine the unknown does. But it is an honest attempt to bring into the open a subject that has too long remained on the periphery of serious discussion, thereby benefiting anyone who refuses to believe the world of the five senses to be sufficient to answer every question. It is a book for seekers of truth, not purveyors of it, that might even be capable of giving the most hardened skeptic at least something to think about. Hopefully, that is its greatest strength, purpose and value, for it’s the underlying rationale in my writing it.