Yearly Archives: 2012

In which the author pleads for poltergeists in the Daily Record…

 

On Saturday 9 June Glasgow’s Daily Record had a two-page spread on my quest for poltergeist witnesses from two Glaswegian cases in 1961 (Partick) and 1978 (Mosspark). The stories had been covered in the city’s newspapers of the time, and I appealed for anyone involved to come forward with what they recalled of the events. The stories will feature in Poltergeist Over Scotland, which will be published in November. I’ve already collected over 120 documented cases for this history of Scottish poltergeists, so it’s shaping up to be a belter.

If anyone does wish to get in touch on the subject of poltergeist experiences or other topics, please use the email contact form here.

Feature length release of ‘An Evening with Geoff Holder: Haunted St. Andrews’

 

This week we officially release the feature length presentation by Geoff Holder on ‘Haunted St. Andrews’. Filmed on in February 2012, in front of a live audience, Geoff covers topics from the philosophy of belief to mummies and apparitions, to poltergeists and timeslips.

 

If you’d like to see Geoff in action, make sure and keep up to date with the events calendar on the site, and come along to a talk near you. Alternatively if you’d like to book Geoff for an event, or invite him to speak for a group of society in which you are involved, head over to our ‘Get in Touch’ page!

 
 

In which the author works on his library tan…

 

 

It’s hot, hot, hot, as Caribbean songsters Arrow once sang. And as Britain broils, bakes and burns, your humble author is spending his time… hidden away in libraries. (That’s right, I get to devote large amounts of time to doing things I love. Pity me.)

 

I’m delving deep into the research for Poltergeist over Scotland, and so librarians and archivists from Perth and Glasgow to Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Cambridge have learned to fear my hunger for request slips.

 

 

 

 

Amazing stuff is being dredged from the archives, including episodes and facts that haven’t seen the light of day for more than a hundred years, if at all. Who would have thought that the history of Scottish poltergeists could be so extensive?

So if you see a pale figure tottering from bookstack to bookstack, his pallid skin untouched by scorching sun, you might just have glimpsed the elusive f=entity known as Ye Poltergeist Hunter of Olde Scotlande…

 
 
 

In which the author is interviewed on bookreel.tv…

 

The nice people at bookreel.tv have just published an interview with the humble author, which can be found in all its rambling glory at

 

http://bookreel.tv/interview-geoff-holder/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=interview-geoff-holder

 

 

 
 

During the interview I manage to mention Dracula, dogs, dinosaurs, zombies, plague, J.G. Ballard, poltergeists, graphic novels, bodysnatching, music and H.P. Lovecraft. So all the usual suspects are present and correct, then.

 
 

In which the author wins the THRESHOLDS International Feature Writing Competition…

 

A few days ago I wrote that an essay I had written was selected for the shortlist of the prestigious THRESHOLDS International Feature Writing Competition, run by the University of Chichester, ‘home of the international short story forum’.

 

Today (Wednesday 25 April 2012) the winner was announced.

 

Me.

 

Crikey.

 

The winning essay, ‘We Recommend: H.P. Lovecraft’ can be found on the THRESHOLDS site, http://blogs.chi.ac.uk/shortstoryforum/?p=9723.

 

Comments from the judging panel: ‘an instantly engaging essay’; ‘sharp, rigorous but highly readable’; ‘exquisitely polished’; ‘rich in its use of language’; ‘wonderfully wry and stylish’; ‘expert, nuanced, energetic’; ‘I’ve never been particularly interested in Lovecraft but I certainly am now’.

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