Phony Ghost Stories

Book excerpt: Dare if you will to accompany the Ghost Righter, Desmond St. John, his rational collaborator, Duff Cooper, and Ella Nostrova, their Belorussian trance medium, as they free the drear departed trapped in the Forever Purgatory of the Bardo realm. In five shocking encounters, The Ghost Righter rescues— ~ The groping ghost in the Lincroft Inn ~ Atheist ghosts who left this world while unblessing a road in Deland ~ A chain-smoking ghost who haunts the children of Dumberton ~ A narcissist ghost who, out of loyalty to the boss, topples a Mafia family ~ Moldy Girl, a vengeful ghost intent on slaying the men of Downer’s Grove Readers, be warned—“God’s other door” opens in both directions. The Cosmic Veil that separates this world from the otherworld is crossable. The afterlife is not Summerland. There is no joy in being dead. If the dead remain in the earth’s plane for too long, they become malevolent has-beings. Even the righteous dead turn into hateful things. Say your prayers. Confess your sins. Carry cloves of garlic. Clutch jars of Holy Water. Clutch the jars tightly. Keep the lights on when you encounter these ghosts. All the lights. All the time.