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Review
D.Scott Rogo FATE - an excellent blow-by-blow description of what life with a poltergeist is like. I know of no other book that gives such a detailed account - A wonderfully human document. Brian Inglis WHAT'S ON - a mass of corroborative evidence - backed by months of observation, supplemented by tapes and film and a variety of sophisticated gadgets - Unquestionably it was a genuine haunting. Bob Rickard FORTEAN TIMES A thoroughly commendable effort, providing us with a unique record of a poltergeist which, I am sure, will stimulate analysis and debate for years to come. Richard Whittington-Egan CONTEMPORARY REVIEW The log of events is meticulous and provides the reader with an exceptionally full and satisfying account of what must regarded as an extremely important record of a contemporary outbreak of poltergeist activity. Isa Gray THE STAR, JOHANNESBURG Brilliantly written book of compelling interest throughout. Alan Gauld PSYCHOLOGY NEWS My sympathies lie with Mr Playfair and with his colleague Mr Grosse, whose perseverance and resourcefulness in the face of numerous problems impressed me more and more as I read on. Sam Syers HAMPSTEAD & HIGHGATE EXPRESS A classic of its kind.
Product Description
This is the Amazing Story of the Enfield Poltergeist On August 31st 1977, normal life ended for Mrs Harper and her four children in their modest council house in a hitherto quiet corner of the north London suburb of Enfield. Compared to what was to come, the initial phenomena were relatively minor - knockings on the walls, and pieces of furniture moving in ways that did not seem normal. The neighbours came in and searched the house, finding all in order, though they too heard the knocking. The police were called, and were able to witness a chair sliding along the floor. The disturbances went on, getting more intense and more frightening. They were eventually witnessed by at least thirty people. They included examples of everything a poltergeist can do - overturning chairs and tables, flinging things about, whipping off bedclothes, levitating one of the girls in full view of passers-by, making her speak with the voice of an old man and defying the laws of physics by passing matter through solid matter. Much of this bewildering and often terrifying activity was captured on tape and film by Maurice Grosse of the Society for Psychical Research and his colleague Guy Lyon Playfair, who were on the case within days of its outbreak stayed on it until it finally came to an end, with a twist as unexpected and surprising as in any detective story. No other case of its kind has been so well witnessed from start to finish or so thoroughly documented. Incidents are described as they happened, without embellishment, from some six hundred pages of transcripts of live tape recordings. The story of the Enfield poltergeist is already regarded as a classic in the annals of psychical research. It has been the subject of worldwide press coverage and several radio and television documentaries.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In a 1995 book titled Bizarre Beliefs, the authors emphatically stated that "there are no ghosts, no poltergeists, and no hauntings. They are all mistaken, imaginary or fakes." Much of mainstream science shares this view, but Guy Lyon Playfair, the author of this book, knows better, as he has been involved in investigating a number of poltergeists, including the Enfield Poltergeist, one of the most intriguing cases in the annals of psychical research and the subject of this book. He will agree with the "bizarre" part, but definitely not with the denial of such phenomena.
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The Enfield case took place during 1977 and '78 in the northern London suburb of Enfield. It involved a divorced mother, Peggy Harper, and her four children, Rose, 13, Janet, 11, Pete, 10, and Jimmy, 7. The phenomena included large pieces of furniture being overturned, objects flying through the air and floating through walls, dancing slippers, levitations, coins falling from the ceiling, strange voices that often responded to questions, people thrown from their beds and chairs, mysterious writing on the walls, electronic disturbances, a number of ghostly apparitions, stones seemingly falling from the sky, excreta appearing in the sink and on walls, inexplicable outbreaks of fire, and mysterious knocks and footsteps.
As a member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), Playfair, a Cambridge graduate who spent many years as a freelance journalist for The Economist, Time, and the Associated Press, was, along with fellow SPR member Maurice Grosse, asked to investigate the anomalous activity at the Harper home. Beginning in September 1977, the two researchers devoted some 14 months to investigating the case, often spending nights at the Harpers' home and observing first hand some of the bizarre phenomena, which gradually declined and ended in early 1979.
This book gives a near blow-by-blow account of the intriguing phenomena, which will no doubt exceed the boggle threshold of many readers. I must confess that although I am very much interested in paranormal phenomena, the subject of haunted houses has not been of particular interest to me. However, I found this book difficult to put down once I started it. There are a dozen or more photos in the book.
There were three alternative the researchers faced: Was it fraud? Was it a dissociated fragment of the personality of one of the girls? Or was it a mischievous spirit or a number of spirits? Playfair thoroughly examines the three alternatives and provides some updates to his original book, which was first published in 1980.
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The Enfield case took place during 1977 and '78 in the northern London suburb of Enfield. It involved a divorced mother, Peggy Harper, and her four children, Rose, 13, Janet, 11, Pete, 10, and Jimmy, 7. The phenomena included large pieces of furniture being overturned, objects flying through the air and floating through walls, dancing slippers, levitations, coins falling from the ceiling, strange voices that often responded to questions, people thrown from their beds and chairs, mysterious writing on the walls, electronic disturbances, a number of ghostly apparitions, stones seemingly falling from the sky, excreta appearing in the sink and on walls, inexplicable outbreaks of fire, and mysterious knocks and footsteps.
As a member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), Playfair, a Cambridge graduate who spent many years as a freelance journalist for The Economist, Time, and the Associated Press, was, along with fellow SPR member Maurice Grosse, asked to investigate the anomalous activity at the Harper home. Beginning in September 1977, the two researchers devoted some 14 months to investigating the case, often spending nights at the Harpers' home and observing first hand some of the bizarre phenomena, which gradually declined and ended in early 1979.
This book gives a near blow-by-blow account of the intriguing phenomena, which will no doubt exceed the boggle threshold of many readers. I must confess that although I am very much interested in paranormal phenomena, the subject of haunted houses has not been of particular interest to me. However, I found this book difficult to put down once I started it. There are a dozen or more photos in the book.
There were three alternative the researchers faced: Was it fraud? Was it a dissociated fragment of the personality of one of the girls? Or was it a mischievous spirit or a number of spirits? Playfair thoroughly examines the three alternatives and provides some updates to his original book, which was first published in 1980.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had wanted to read this book for a long time and was delighted when it was re-printed. Although Janet and her sister admitted faking a small percentage of the occurences they were usually caught out. On looking at some of the dubious web sites you would think that the whole haunting had been faked which would have been impossible. The case was well researched and documented and events were witnessed by reliable sources such as the police. This is not a book for someone who wants a scary read although it must have been terrifying for the family involved but it is a fascinating read for those genuinely interested in poltergeist activity and things that cannot be explained by science.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
First off; the bad points...
This paperback version of the book is in urgent need for proof-reading and editing. Considering it was first published in 1980, I was astonished at just how many syntax errors, punctuation and spelling mistakes there were in this edition. Quotation marks were missed out far more times than I care to mention, paragraphs ended in semicolons, margin indents all over the place and words which should have been edited out were left in, the result being some very odd sentences that made no sense at all. These and other 'school-boy' errors cropped up all over the place throughout this edition of the book. A real shame!
I'm sure that if Guy Lyon Playfair, (who obtained a degree in modern languages at Cambridge) actually read this edition, he would be horrified by the poor presentation of his fine work.
The good points...
Guy Lyon Playfair has an easy air about his writing, avoiding hamming up the story purely for sensationalism. Refreshingly, this book has not been produced for the sole purpose of massaging the author's ego, rather it is an honest, almost understated account of what could only be described as a terrifying experience for those involved.
Not withstanding the editing comments earlier, this is actually a pleasure of a book to read. Each chapter covers a specific about the case, allowing the reader to gain a better grasp of the situation as a whole.
This book is certainly on a par with the likes of
Poltergeist: A Classic Study in Destructive Hauntings
and
Book Of Trinity: True story - Poltergeist activity, possession and a failed exorcism in Slapton, Buckinghamshire UK
providing the reader with a wonderful insight into the mysteries of the spirit world.
This paperback version of the book is in urgent need for proof-reading and editing. Considering it was first published in 1980, I was astonished at just how many syntax errors, punctuation and spelling mistakes there were in this edition. Quotation marks were missed out far more times than I care to mention, paragraphs ended in semicolons, margin indents all over the place and words which should have been edited out were left in, the result being some very odd sentences that made no sense at all. These and other 'school-boy' errors cropped up all over the place throughout this edition of the book. A real shame!
I'm sure that if Guy Lyon Playfair, (who obtained a degree in modern languages at Cambridge) actually read this edition, he would be horrified by the poor presentation of his fine work.
The good points...
Guy Lyon Playfair has an easy air about his writing, avoiding hamming up the story purely for sensationalism. Refreshingly, this book has not been produced for the sole purpose of massaging the author's ego, rather it is an honest, almost understated account of what could only be described as a terrifying experience for those involved.
Not withstanding the editing comments earlier, this is actually a pleasure of a book to read. Each chapter covers a specific about the case, allowing the reader to gain a better grasp of the situation as a whole.
This book is certainly on a par with the likes of
Poltergeist: A Classic Study in Destructive Hauntings
and
Book Of Trinity: True story - Poltergeist activity, possession and a failed exorcism in Slapton, Buckinghamshire UK
providing the reader with a wonderful insight into the mysteries of the spirit world.
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