Ghosts Among Us: True Stories of Spirit Encounters

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Summary: Another great ghost book from Leslie Rule
Review: "Ghosts Among Us" is a great follow-up to "Coast to Coast Ghosts". Lots of stories of hauntings that are off the beaten path. Ms. Rule also includes enticing little tidbits, such as newspaper articles and letters from readers. As with "Coast to Coast Ghosts", this book includes artsy black-and-white photos taken by the author herself. And, likewise, this book has a nice layout with a somewhat conversational style that lends itself to drawing in the reader. I also couldn't help but notice a few similarities between this book and another great book I read a few months ago--"The Ghost Next Door" by Mark Alan Morris--especially concerning the last part of the introduction. But then I suppose all the great "ghost book" authors occasionally borrow from one another. All in all, this book is a great addition to any ghost lover's library.

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Summary: Ghosts Among Us: True Stories of Spirit Encounters
Review: I have read both Coast to Coast Ghosts and this latest book Ghosts Among Us. I found both books to be interesting and fascinating! What makes these stories so appealing is that the author, Leslie Rule, truly investigates each and every story and has a genuine ability to determine their authenticity. I thoroughly enjoyed Leslie's excellent photographs and the stories behind them, and reading about ghosts and spirit encounters from all over the country! So many different places, and so many different kinds of encounters! I have to admit that Ghosts Among Us is my favorite, as she wrote about encounters and hauntings from my area of the country and even included a spiritual encounter I personally experienced in my life! Thank you Leslie!
Nancy Fischer

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Summary: Ghosts Among Us
Review: I thought this book was extremely weak. It was full of short bursts of descriptions and never really grasped any depth, so that my interest was not caught. I would not recommend it to those of you who are looking for a fright!

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Summary: Rule Number Two
Review: I was well pleased with Leslie Rule's first collection of ghost stories and in this her second collection of paranormal stories she has again hit the mark. Once again she is aided by her very pleasing writing style and her convictions about her subject. Her stories are crisp, clear and very believable however some of her stories are still a little bit short on details. The little snippets about "Ghosts in the News" are entertaining but I would rather have done without them and had a few more details in her other stories. I also ran across a few typos but these are the editor's fault rather than the author's.

On the positive side, Ms. Rule again visited the places she wrote about and included some wonderful photographs she had made during her visit. There are also numerous recent eyewitness accounts to be found in this book which also helps to lend a great deal of credibility to the book. I was also very impressed with the range of stories in this book. All too often writers in this area tend to use only secondary sources and just basically re-tell the same old stories over and over again. One ghost book author I have run into tends to tell his stories almost word for word like previous authors and gets by with it by crediting the previous author in his bibliography. There is none of that with Leslie Rule and very few of her stories deal with the famous and well-worn haunts that tend to show up in book after book.

I was particularly impressed with the stories emanating from the Ted Bundy killings. These stories were a little skimpy on haunting details but extremely interesting nonetheless. Given that the author's mother was a friend of Ted Bundy, Leslie would seem to be the perfect instrument to research and maybe publish an entire book dealing with any hauntings left by Bundy's rampage.

No matter if it deals with Bundy or not, I am looking forward to future ghost books by Leslie Rule. She has the talent and zeal to become one of the foremost writers in this field.

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Summary: Prepare to get goosebumps!
Review: I'm afraid I have to admit to getting goosebumps from a few of the creepy stories in this book! Leslie is a talented writer and her thorough research is very impressive. Great photos too! Loved it!


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Summary: A Fascinating Topic Thoroughly Explored
Review: Leslie Rule is the daughter of bestselling true crime author Ann Rule. Her definitive research and crisply written prose revealed in "Ghosts Among Us" are characteristics of her mother's exhaustive efforts in comprehensively covering the true crime scene by communicating her information in a manner both folksy and readable.

"Ghosts Among Us" marks the author as an important pioneer in a fascinating and rapidly evolving field of parapsychology. The numbers of skeptics, some of whom sought to ridicule the topic of ghosts, have sharply diminished through the efforts of authors such as Leslie Rule, who have demonstrated that many credible people have had encounters with beings in situations that cannot be explained through traditional human analysis.

Having been born and raised in Seattle, it is fitting for Rule to launch her exploration at the colorful Pike Place Outdoor Market. Located in downtown Seattle, the market attracts not only scores of people from the Pacific Northwest and throughout the rest of the world; explorations reveal that ghosts have been known to visit as well. Numerous reports of such visits by scores of individuals from disparate walks of life have been related about such appearances.

Rule's extensive research effort took her to all parts of America from Washington to upstate New York and into Canada. As well as reporting on numerous cases, she provides photos of some of the more interesting hotels, restaurants, and mansions where apparitions were seen. An element of her effort that readers should greatly appreciate is that, in addition to researching the cases thoroughly, she invites interested individuals to follow up on their own. She provides address and website information, as well as mentioning names of individuals involved at the various locations discussed.

While conceding that she had never encountered an experience like the individuals she interviewed, who reported clear views of ghostly apparitions; she reports that at one site she received a tug on the shoulder. The two women who were accompanying Leslie were too far away to have touched her. The contact was and remains unexplained. In another instance she heard sounds of laughter while traversing stairs in the darkness of a hotel at a late hour. Leslie later learned that there was no apparent human activity at that time and that the laughter was a common occurrence during late hours.

A common thread of Rule's efforts revealed that the appearances of the beings observed frequently lived at the locations where the sightings occurred. The belief is that their spirits extend beyond their human lives. In one instance a short, jolly, white-haired woman, greeted a man at a bed and breakfast. When she offered to make him breakfast he declined, feeling somewhat eerie about the meeting. Shortly afterward he encountered the woman who ran the establishment, who told him calmly that the woman he met was her deceased mother, who made frequent appearances to guests.

My interest was seized by one particularly interesting account near the end of the book, the activities at the old Lemp Mansion in St. Louis. It was once the opulent family home of the famous Lemp family of local brewery fame and is now in operation as a bed and breakfast as well as a restaurant. A ghost haunts not only the establishment, but nearby neighbors, especially those living next door. The object of interest is called Monkey Boy, believed to be the spirit of a deformed child trapped in the building's attic. He is often seen through a window by next door neighbors.

One of the most fascinating revelations of Rule's book is the story of famous Philadelphia forensic sculptor Frank Bender. He has supplied the FBI and numerous American police agencies with sculptures of victims in instances where corpses found long after their death need to be identified. She recounts the incident when Bender, with very little to work with, provided uncannily accurate facial details of a woman who had been killed by her husband with assistance from the victim's sister. The man had taken out a large life insurance policy on his ultimate victim. The murderers believed they had succeeded until Bender provided the necessary information to determine that there had been a homicide and the body discovered was that of the victim. While Bender explains his uncanny detail work in the frequent face of at best scant supportive physical data as intuition, Rule wonders if something more is not involved, in that ghosts have been known to have worked from the great beyond to provide information as well as communicate verbally in certain situations.

Rule's book harkens back to the successful "Unsolved Mysteries" program narrated by Robert Stack. That show provided a slant that was both reportorial as well as folksy, attempting to take viewers into the world of the paranormal and the individuals reporting their experiences with rich and vivid details. The same applies to the journey Leslie Rule takes her readers on in "Ghosts Among Us."

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Summary: I HAD TO GO TO BED WITH THE LIGHTS ON!!
Review: Leslie Rule sets the gold standard for ghost writing! From the introduction of the book to the final page, I simply couldn't put the book down. Leslie Rule gives haunting accounts of ghost from years past and days present (The earthbound spirits of two children in 1920's clothes perpetually riding on a carousel, to Scott Peterson seeing his deceased wife standing behind him in their bedroom mirror, to the spirit of a cat fulfilling his master`s request). She has apparently put in a lot of research in each story to confirm it's authenticity. It's also an added bonus to experience her fine gift of photography. At one point in the book I simply had to sleep with the lights on because I had been so drawn into the stories that I was in fear of seeing something from the paranormal world. This is a must read book for any ghost enthusiast or skeptic. I'm looking forward to future books from this truly talented writer!

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Summary: I LOVE IT!
Review: Leslie,

Got your book in the mail a couple of days ago...I love it.

I usually work more in the crime related subject matters...but for my reading pleasuure...I LOVE a good ghost story.

MORE crime related ghost stories in your next book please...I'll be waiting to read more!

Keep it up!!

Todd Matthews
Media Director for
www.DoeNetwork.us &
www.OutpostForHope.Org


Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: My daughters and I have been fans of Leslie Rule for a number of years now.

This book is a keeper! My daughter and I are fighting over it, we need to order a second copy!

Great book to read in front of the fire on all hallows eve!!



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Summary: Leslie Has Out Done Herself!
Review: What a fascinating book about ghost and haunted locations! If you read Coast to Coast Ghosts, you have to have to get this one too...if you haven't then you'd better pick up both, because this writer really knows her stuff! I am a big fan of Leslie Rule and feel she is one of the most talented writers out there...and I look forward to many more of her writings! This book is filled with spine chilling stories ranging from a haunted clown doll (Vincent) to a heart touching story about a cat (Lil' Joe) who fulfilled it's owner's last wishes and gave them some comfort and closure!! I absolutely loved this book and recommend it and other writings by Leslie Rule to anyone wishing to buy a good ghost story book! Great job and hope to see more books by this writer in the future!!!