A
few months ago, I received a book from McFarland & Company, Inc. for
review, courtesy of the book’s author and my good friend, Theresa Bane. Theresa
and I have been corresponding for a few years now, and she is an absolute
delight to speak to and interact with. In addition, Theresa is a renowned
vampirologist and an expert on the Undead. She has written two books about
vampires and a number of others about demons, giants, faeries, monsters,
haunted places, folklore, and ghosts. It is the last one that the book in
question covers, and it is entitled Encyclopedia
of Ghosts and Spirits in World Mythology (McFarland & Company,
2016).
Like
most of Theresa’s books, the encyclopedia is an academic work, and every type of ghost and spirit gets an
entry of its own in an A-Z format. Theresa’s research is painstakingly
thorough, and the bibliography is one of the longest and the most extensive
that I’ve ever seen. Some of the book’s entries are long and very detailed,
while others consist of only a single sentence and only give a brief
description. However, most of the entries fall somewhere in between the two.
And after each entry, Theresa gives her sources. And for a book of only 169
pages, that’s a lot of information!
As
for the book’s entries, they contain information on every conceivable type of ghost and spirit, including appearance,
habits, powers, what part of the world they’re found in, how to protect oneself
and, in some instances, how to destroy them. This book contains a number of
different spirit types, including spirits of the dead (ghosts), nature spirits,
faeries, yōkai, demonic spirits,
household spirits, elementals, ancestral spirits, vampiric spirits, genii loci (spirits attached to a
place), guardian spirits, monsters, different types of djinn, and a great deal
more. The entries feature all kinds of entities, from the Banshee (and all
variations thereof) to the Ghoul, from the Acheri to the Grey Lady, and a host
of others in alphabetical order, from the Aatxe to the Zuzeca. And since this
book deals with ghosts and spirits that are found in cultures all over the
world, you won’t find any information pertaining to haunted places of any kind.
There are literally thousands of
books on that subject available for your perusal.
Overall,
Theresa’s book is well-written, neatly organized, free of flaws, and a
veritable treasure trove of information. Her research is incredibly thorough
and detailed, with an index for quickly locating specific entries and an
extensive bibliography for further reading and research. Whether you’re a
serious researcher or just curious, this book is an incredible read. I am truly thankful that McFarland & Company
and Theresa have given me the opportunity to review this title, and I hope to
review more of their titles in the near future. I heartily recommend this title
to all of my friends.
What a great review!
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