| BOOK REVIEW
BY CHRISTOPHER BALZANO OUR RESIDENT MEDIA
REVIEWER
HAUNTED AMERICA
TOURS
Monthly Book
Review
Welcome to hauntedamericatours.com
Book Review! Each month we will feature a
book review of the latest and best paranormal,
spiritual and metaphysical books around. By
none other then the Best Resident Paranormal
Book Reviewer around The Great Christopher
Balzano.
Buy it here now!
Haunted No More
by Rob Conover
Haunted No More by Rob Conover
Hardcover, 207 pages
ISBN 978-0-9818055-0-4
Paraman Publishing at www.robconover.net
It may get lost today, but the paranormal is often a journey, and finding one’s way in that world tells more about the person than the ghosts they encounter. With so many books about newcomers to the paranormal and the quick cases they come by in their neighborhoods, readers can sometimes forget what a profound experience discovering a supernatural gift can be. It is rare to find a book that explores that intersection of investigation and discovery and takes the reader on a passage through one person’s falling into their fate.
Haunted No More by Rob Conover begins as a typical local haunt book. Told in the first person, Conover explains his background as a private investigator and marine and tells the story of one of his early paranormal inquires. When the reader settles into Conover’s personality, the book twists as he discovers another side to his personality. An accident awakened a new psychic ability in him, and the rest of the book becomes the story of his dealing with his new abilities while coming face to face with opportunities to help others with them.
While the journey is worth the trip, the book ultimately suffers from a slow and awkward beginning. Conover is not quite sure what details the reader needs to know and spends too much time in the mundane explaining moments that may have been interesting on a personal level but which the reader has little emotional investment in. Conover is a likeable character, more gumshoe that ghost hunter, but the audience has to wait for more than half the book before they start to really get to know the man. Like many of the self published and regional ghost books out there, Haunted No More suffers from a lack of close editing and organization, but the mistakes can be glossed over by the quick flow of the language.
Haunted No More may slip through the cracks among the avalanche of new ghost books coming out. It is much like its unassuming author and does not stand out on the shelf. What separates the title is what lies inside and the path the author takes. As the story develops, so does the tempo of the paranormal stories, and as Conover starts to discover his place in the field, we see the journey has no end but rather turns we cannot see until they are upon us. Haunted No More may not be the best book about ghosts on the market, but it is well worth the experience.
About Christopher Balzano
Christopher Balzano is now Haunted America Tours resident Book and Media Reviewer. Balzano is the founder and director of Massachusetts Paranormal Crossroads, an online collection of legends and ghost stories from Massachusetts and the surrounding states. He has been investigating the paranormal for more than ten years and has been writing about those experiences for the past five. He has been a contributor to Jeff Belanger's Encyclopedia of Haunted Places and Weird Massachusetts and was one of the writers behind Weird Hauntings. His writing has been featured in Haunted Times and Mystery Magazine and has been covered by the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, the Standard Times, and Worcester Magazine.
Balzano is the author of several books about regional hauntings, including Dark Woods: Cults, Crime, and Paranormal in the Freetown State Forest and Ghosts of the Bridgewater Triangle, as well as the collection of true ghosts stories Ghostly Adventures and the new how-to paranormal book Picture Yourself Ghost Hunting. He has appeared on radio stations in Massachusetts and throughout the Internet, as well as being called upon by television shows to comment on ghosts and urban legends. He now runs the paranormal news from Ghostvillage, one of the oldest and largest web sites dedicated to the paranormal.
Please Also see: 20 Questions with Christopher Balzano
BOOKS BY CHRISTOPHER BALZANO
Picture Yourself Ghost Hunting by Christopher Balzano
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| "Picture Yourself Ghost Hunting: Step-by-Step Instruction for Exploring Haunts and Finding Spirits, Spooks, and Specters" introduces novice paranormal explorers to the history, techniques, and equipment used in the search for proof of life after death, or simply, ghosts. Written like a field guide to ghost hunting, the book begins by examining what a ghost is, and isn't, and presents a brief history of ghosts and the pioneers of the ghost hunting field. You'll review what has already been discovered and the tried and true methods and tricks that have been successfully used by seasoned ghost hunters and their outcomes. You'll also take a look at the different types of equipment used to both search for and communicate with ghosts, as well as how to approach the hunt depending on the location. Finally, you'll learn how to assess the evidence that you've gathered and what it all means, and how to avoid the pitfalls that are the stuff of popular ghost legends. Written by an avid and experienced paranormal researcher, "Picture Yourself Ghost Hunting" is filled with firsthand tips and advice, including a 90-minute interactive DVD featuring tutorials and interviews, and is both a reference and a source of helpful inspiration for any aspiring ghost hunter.
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There are certain towns that we all associate with ghost stories and sightings. But creepy encounters happen everyday all throughout this country-in towns that you may never have heard of, to normal people, just like you!
With Ghostly Adventures, you can travel to these terrifying towns and share in the scare. Let ghost guru, Christopher Balzano, be your guide through the jaw-dropping true tales that happen all around the U.S., in places like:
In the Boston hotel where old Mr. Parker returns to check on his guests
the lost village of Dudleytown, Connecticut, where all residents vanished without a trace
the Summerwind Mansion in northeast Wisconsin, whose secret compartment housed a man's corpse for years.
Terrifying true tales and frightening facts come together to create hours of eerie entertainment that you can read on your own or out loud with friends. With Ghostly Adventures, you can stop just wondering about ghosts and get to know them yourself!
Christopher Balzano: is a teacher and folklorist. He has been investigating the unknown for twelve years and is currently running the Massachusetts Paranormal Crossroads website. His writing has appeared in The Haunted Times, Mystery Magazine, as well as Unexplained Paranormal Magazine. His investigations have been covered by The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Standard Times, and Worchester Magazine. Balzano lives in Boston, MA.
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Throughout its long history, Freetown, Massachusetts, has been a hotbed of criminal and supernatural occurrences in the town's State Forest. This is the first account of how its darker side connects hauntings with violent crime and local cults. Native American ghosts roam here and evil lurks, making the forest a haven for nasty creatures (the Pukwudgies). A witch looks for favors from young men, satan cults thrive, and killers kill. Read first-hand accounts from police officials and criminals about the forest. Learn why hauntings continue today. Many come here to enjoy the beauty of Freetown State Forest; these are the stories of those who cannot leave.
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