Tag Archives: paranormal cumbria

In which the author gets a cracking review by Tom Ruffles of the Society for Psychical Research…

 

The estimable Tom Ruffles of the Society for Psychical Research has just given Paranormal Cumbria a very positive review. The full review can be found here but I’ve extracted a few highlights:

 

“The contents, conveyed in his usual humorously perceptive style, are arranged thematically … He supplies references for all his stories, the result of which is a three-page bibliography of books, journals and newspapers that allows readers to double-check for themselves. This rigorous analytical approach is rare in the field, and all the more welcome for it.”

“The Croglin Grange vampire… Holder delves into the various accounts as they evolved from the first reference in print by Augustus Hare, showing what a complex narrative it actually is.”

 

[Comparing the book with another, similar publication] “To sum up, the resident of Cumbria may well want both (plus Holder’s The Guide to the Mysterious Lake District book) in order to ensure that they have maximum coverage of the county. But the visitor who does not want to purchase both will be better off with Holder’s book. And it’s three quid cheaper. I therefore declare Paranormal Cumbria the winner.”

 

The review can be found on Tom Ruffles’ blog,  http://tomruffles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/supernatural-cumbria-by-h-c-ivison-and.html

 
 

In which the author picks up two spiffing reviews on www.paranormaldatabase.com…

 

The extensive website www.paranormaldatabase.com has just given very positive reviews to both Haunted Dundee and Paranormal Cumbria.

I was particularly pleased that the reviewer singled out the quality of the bibliographies:

 

“One of my old college lecturers once joked that if he had his way, the grade of any publication would be based on the size of the bibliography. Using this method alone would guarantee Haunted Dundee came top of the class, and fortunately Geoff Holder’s writing style ensures he deserves to be there.”

 

As I tend to bang on about the deficiencies of many paranormal books when it comes to their ‘critical apparatus’ – bibliographies, references, indexes and so on – it’s pleasing to find that someone else shares my opinion that proper books deserve proper documentation within their pages. In many cases, the phrase “no bibliography or index” sends a chill down my spine, as all-too-often it carries the unstated implication: “the book under review is a pile of poo…”

 

As for Paranormal Cumbria, www.paranormaldatabase.com states:

 

“Each paranormal field is written about in an honest, no nonsense style that applies an Occam’s razor approach – many paranormal writers could learn from this.”

 

I use Occam’s razor every morning. It makes for a nice, clean shave. (Hey, I can do endorsements if I so wish.)

 

You can see the reviews at and they are also here and here. My thanks to Darren Mann for permission to reproduce the reviews.

 

In which the author adds another ‘Fortean Freak Out’ podcast and does a book signing in Carlisle…

 

 

Carlisle, I see you. On Saturday 21st April I’m doing a book signing for Paranormal Cumbria at the Waterstones bookshop, 66-68 Scotch Street, Carlisle. I’ll be there from 11am to 3pm, so come along for a chat – but if you can’t make it on the day, call 0843 290 8217 to reserve a copy of the book and I’ll sign it for you to pick up later.

 

Paranormal Cumbria covers subjects such as the Cursing Stone of Carlisle – which brought beliefs from the Middle Ages into the Millennium – plus witchcraft and folk magic, twentieth-century sightings of fairies, examples of psychic powers, the phantom airships of World War One (which seem to be cultural precursors of the phantom UFOs of later decades), and the enduring mystery of the ‘Cumberland Spaceman’. The book has been covered recently on both BBC Radio Cumbria and Lakeland Radio.

 

And talking of matters Cumbrian and strange, the next edition of the Fortean Freak Out podcast is up and running, and its subject is taken from Paranormal Cumbria – the infamous Vampire of Croglin Grange. Which was probably not a vampire. Listen to my conclusions here.

 
 

In which the author heads to the far south – Manchester…

 

What has Manchester ever given us? Well, let’s see, there’s Joy Division, and New Order, and the Happy Mondays, and the Chameleons, and the Durutti Column, and John Cooper Clarke, and Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, and Magazine, and Doves, and the Smiths, and Frank Sidebottom, and the Passage, and the mighty Fall, and the mightier Van der Graaf Generator…

 

But apart from some of the greatest musical artists of our epoch, what else has Manchester given us?

 

Well, how about the Manchester Monster Convention? Two days of talks, films and discussions, featuring, inter alia, Doctor Who, zombies, cryptozoology, horror fiction, graphic novelists, an H. P. Lovecraft movie, serial killers – and yours truly.

 

The MancMonCon is the brainchild of an organisation called Hic Dragones, which is Latin for that most famous of descriptions on ancient maps, ‘Here Be Dragons’. Good name, good name.

 

The Convention is at the Sachas Hotel, near the Arndale Centre in central Manchester, on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th April. Tickets are a measly £10, and on the Saturday I’ll be ranting on about ‘Tales from the Crypt – Two “Real-Life” Vampire Cases’, with a book signing for Paranormal Cumbria to follow. I’m still trying to work out a way of smuggling a Fall/Mark E. Smith joke into the talk….#

 

Full event information can be found on the event information page!

 
 

In which the author guests on Lakeland Radio…

 

On Tuesday 10th April I’m the guest on the Dan Beale show on Lakeland Radio, the commercial radio station for South Lakeland. I’ll be wittering on about Paranormal Cumbria, Bownessie, and the Victorian mystery of how Lady Mabel Howard located some stolen jewellery using the divination technique known as automatic writing. And there’s a competition to win free copies of Paranormal Cumbria.

 

Lakeland Radio is at 101.1 and 101.8FM. The interview goes out at 11.10am and can be listened to again for a week or so via http://lakelandradio.co.uk/presenter/dan-beale/.