Hmmmm, recently I've been reading more about hauntings and supernatural occurrences so when I came across this on NetGalley and was approved for a copy I was very excited, I want to know more about this sort of thing and the experiences that people have and when I read that it's going to be a creepy read with hair-raising experiences, I believe that I'm gonna get just that. Sadly it was not to be.

It just wasn't for me, I found it too slow and boring in parts and was happy when I'd finished reading it.

Sorry.

*Huge thanks to Logan Corelli, Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

If there's one thing any reader wants from a ghost story book it's well, ghost stories. I.e., stories about encounters with spirit manifestations of some sort. Unfortunately, in this book for every manifestation report there are "25" mentions of travels, breakfasts, town and room descriptions and reports of failure to locate spirits. I want to tell you that this does not make for an interesting book. Then there are statements that baffle this reader, such as mentions of paranormal and scary activity (finally), only to be followed immediately by "so I turned over and went to sleep". Seriously. The writing style is also bland, not captivating. I think it needs serious editing and a rewrite, but before that, some additional sightings need to be had and documented.

First, let me say that I really wanted to like this book. On the spectrum of belief and disbelief in the paranormal, I definitely trend toward the former. Second, there are some great mentions for travel destinations for those brave enough to do so in the hopes of experiencing something eerie and beyond reasonable explanation. 

However, what the book desperately cried out for was more detail and explanation for the writer and his peers' experiences. A loud noise is heard in another room, every asks 'What was that?'.....then nothing. The author jumps off an elevator prematurely, and does describe the sensations he was experiencing prior to the leap, but afterward, when his pals are asking him 'Why did you do that?'......nothing. Footsteps in the other room? No-one is there? No biggie. In the end, it leaves you feeling not at all satisfied that anything earth shattering and in most cases, even interesting, happened. 

The book still works if you look at it solely as a field guide to haunted locations in American, but lacks emotional reaction entirely.

The author did a good job in presenting his cases of haunted houses, etc. I like the way the book was written, where he presented his facts, you make up your mind if you believe. Some of the places that were written about seemed a bit far-fetched of the paranormal happenings. Some send chills down my spine. Good read. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of the book in return for my honest review.

This was a quick read of several "haunted" places. I did like the fact that the author did not believe all the places were haunted. I believe that adds to his credence and makes me appreciate his opinion. I wish some of the stories had more details. I would have loved to see some of the pictures that were discussed in the book.

Fun comtempary ghost tales for fans of paranormal investigation television programs. Would have liked more photographic evidence talked about in the book.

That cover though...

I was perusing NetGalley and once I saw this cover, I had to have it. I was also drawn to it because of the subtitle referring to Villisca. I've been to that house and can confirm 100% it is haunted. I am always interested in reading about the experiences of others who have ventured there. I visited during the day and it was creepy AF. I can't imagine what it would be like to spend the night.

The problem with this book though...is almost everything else. The subtitle itself is a bit misleading. Many of the investigations are not in-depth, and I feel like the Myrtles Plantation was placed on the cover to catch peoples' attention because it is so well-known. There was hardly more than few paragraphs about it, and not much evidence collected. That was the issue with a lot of the places the author discussed. There were some investigations he could have left out of the book entirely. I understand he likely included some of those places to show that not every investigation will yield evidence, but there were so many that it was repetitive and unnecessary.

I found it incredibly cruel during the Villisca investigation that the author would bring in an ax from the barn to try to "spark activity". Regardless of the fact that this place is now a paranormal investigator's dream, eight people were brutally murdered there, six of them children under the age of 13. I can't think of anything more terrifying than to have been murdered so brutally, stuck in the place where I'd been murdered, and then some guy comes in with an ax to get my attention. This incident bothered me quite a bit. From my own personal experience, I do believe at least a couple of the children are still there. Wouldn't that be re-traumatizing? The author also pointed out that he did not know if any of the items in the home belonged to the Moore family. When I visited in 2007 (incidentally, the same year the author did a few visits), Darwin Linn, the owner of the property, took us on the tour. Someone in the group asked this very question and Darwin said that it was always possible that something belonged to the family, but so many people lived in the home between 1912 and 1994 when he and his wife purchased it that most likely very few, if any, items had been in the family's possessions. The pieces there now had been purchased to replicate what a family home would have looked like in 1912. I would like to quickly recount my own experience, to support some of what the author mentioned. The tour consisted of spending time at the house, Darwin's museum downtown, and then the cemetery where the Moore and Stillinger families are buried. It felt very strange to be standing in the home and for a moment I considered going back outside. But curiosity got the better of me and my friend Shelly and I began exploring. We explored the first floor but it was not until we started climbing the small staircase that I began to 'feel' the house. I started to get dizzy and headachey, but continued taking pictures, hoping to catch something, anything. At the top of the stairs is the landing where Josiah and Sarah Moore slept. There are still ax marks in the ceiling and that was unnerving. To the left in the short hallway was the attic, and straight ahead, the hall opened up into the room where the Moore children slept. The attic is the only place that I experienced camera trouble. Every time I used the camera before or after the attic, I took pictures with no problem. But standing in the door to the attic, I attempted to take photos multiple times. My camera would lose focus, and then simply not take the picture. I spent nearly ten minutes trying, and ended up with only two or three before finally moving on. I do believe the murderer hid in the attic, based on the evidence of cigarette butts being found there after the murders. I also believe the trouble with my camera was perhaps the murderer's way of continuing to keep his identity hidden. At first I did not put any stock in the idea of the murderer being there too, but it does make some sense to me after my experience.

Another issue I had with this one was what seemed like a lot of unprofessionalism. The field of paranormal research is not taken very seriously a lot of the time. Skeptics look at shows like Ghost Adventures, where apparently every entity they encounter is an evil spirit who cusses at them and wants to kill them, and dismiss the field as a whole. There were several investigations where random people joined, whether it was other hotel guests, employees from the restaurant, etc. This seems like a terrible idea, especially when avoiding outside contamination is crucial to determining if something is paranormal or not. I also found it strange that he allowed it when considered in regards to a specific incident at the previously mentioned restaurant. On one investigation the author was struck by a small object and writes, "There were three other people in the basement with me, and one of them could easily be trying to make me think something was being thrown." How does that even make sense? Given the fact that we are not told who most of the people are with him most of the time, we must assume they are members of his team. And if he could make a statement like that about members of his team, why on earth was he allowing people he does not know to randomly join? We are also never given much information about team members or their qualifications. He just lists the people who are with him at certain locations and I guess we are expected to know who they are. In addition, he makes a really weird comment very early on when describing one of the females who investigated at Waverly Hills around 14%. He makes a point to mention the "...the talented Michelle (who was the most beautiful investigator I had met at the time)." Okay? How is that relevant? During another investigation, around 31%, he describes another as "...Betty (a supposed psychic)..." So, is she or isn't she? Does he know the people he is investigating with? Or is he questioning her ability after an unsuccessful investigation? It doesn't really make sense. I also found it really strange that when he and a team were investigating private homes, the residents stayed in the home, sometimes even taking part with the team. This also seems like a potential source of contamination.

A lot of the time here, not a lot of explanation was given for why the author felt or thought something. In one encounter the author says he was convinced that a shadow entity he saw was the same entity referred to by others as "Mr. Death". Yet this is the only time this Mr. Death name is mentioned. We are never told why the author thinks as such. This kind of ties into another issue I have here, in regards to the history of the places he visits. One of the things I love about many paranormal books is that the team delves deep into the history of the location, not just about the history of the hauntings. I think that part is crucial, to give the readers a good sense of the place that they are reading about. When investigators do so, it says to me that they are trying to learn everything they can that might aid them in their search. This book simply does not have much of that.

In the end, I am afraid I can not recommend this book in its current state. Those interested in the paranormal will find the same flaws I did. Skeptics would jump on those same issues and shout about how fake it is. I think this has the chance to be a good book, but there are some changes that need to be made. I would gladly read a later edition that has fixed some of these issues.

Logan Corelli’s The Haunted Heart of America: In-Depth Investigations of the Villisca Ax Murder House, Myrtles Plantation & Other Frightful Sites is a good and quick read about the author’s paranormal investigations in both familiar and little-known haunted locations across America. If you’re a fan of the paranormal, you probably will enjoy this book because it gives some new and exciting experiences. However, if you don’t have prior knowledge of the paranormal, the book can be confusing because the author uses specific lingo which he rarely explains. Although I like the book, I wish the writing was more cohesive because the style bogs down the book.


I like that each chapter is subdivided into investigations and ends with a summary of Corelli’s final thoughts on the location. I also really like that he focuses on well-known locations like the Waverly Hills Sanatorium as well as lesser known places like the Arapaho Cemetery in Oklahoma. I also appreciate that he includes when paranormal incidents do not happen, and this makes his sometimes spine-chilling experiences more plausible.


However, Corelli’s writing style needs work. It is sometimes so choppy that it can detract from the reading experience. Additionally, he provides insufficient history on many of these haunted locations. I don’t need excessive descriptions, but more background information would have made his experiences more interesting. Additionally, some of the chapters seem incomplete and it’s like reading an outline instead of an actual chapter. Furthermore, I really would have liked Corelli to spend some time introducing and reminding readers about the members of his paranormal team. Many times, he simply lists the people with him on his investigations and I often have no idea who these people are.


If you like reading about paranormal investigations, this is a decent book. However, if you are just getting into the paranormal, I don’t think this is the book for you. Because of the lack of historical background on the haunted locations as well as the minimal explanation about paranormal lingo and equipment, this book seems more for seasoned readers. If Corelli improves his writing style and provides more detailed description and historical information, I will definitely read more of his work because his experiences are interesting and sometimes spooky.


Thank you to Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. and NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting read about paranormal investigations. I enjoyed reading about the different places they went and the experiences they had encountered.

I generally read paranormal type books to learn a little about the history of whatever particular country or area the account is concerned with. So I like it when a well researched history of the particular haunt is included before the account of the investigation. To me it adds credence to the author. They’ve spent their time learning about their intended paranormal investigation site and know the recorded history of the site and any tales which are associated with it. It also gives the reader a baseline to start from. There’s none of that in this book. The writing is clunky and random names are dropped into the narrative as if the reader should already know who the members of the paranormal team are already. A little background on each would be nice. Also not much seems to happen in these investigations, nine times out of ten the author relates that a question was asked or an experiment was carried out with no result. The book reads like a raw outline of what should be a more detailed, scientifically based book. Disappointing.

*thank you to Netgalley and Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

3 stars.
While I found I do not believe almost off of what is said in this book, there are some parts that I could half believe. I'm one of those that usually needs to see it for myself to believe in it. Though, having said that, this was still a fun read. The writing was a bit choppy, like paragraphs were point form type style though that didn't bother me too much and I got more use to it. I liked that I did know of some of the places mentioned, they were interesting to read. But I also find it interesting that the places that there seemed to be more going on, were the places that the author could not tell us readers the exact location of. This easily could be just a coincidence but still. It makes me wonder about how genuine it all is. If you take the story lightly and not be all so serious about it, it's, as I mentioned, a fun and interesting read. It's enjoyable but I'd only recommend it if your in the mood for a silly, bit of fun, type of a story. Unless of course you are a firm believer in Paranormal then I reckon you will really enjoy this.

Skeptics will not find this book compelling, but any one who enjoys ghost hunting shows probably will. The spooky tone remains throughout the whole book, and while I wouldn't want to replicate the experiences, simply writing down an account of what happened isn't compelling evidence. I still enjoyed this book, as it does point out historical haunted sites, and gives practical ghost hunting advice that novice ghost hunters should respect, like getting permission and visiting during the day to scope out dangerous areas. If you want a spooky read of strange occurrences in supposedly haunted areas, or have a ghost hunting interest, then you will probably enjoy this book.

Argh, this was an awkward one for me! As soon as I saw it on Netgalley, I couldn't click request now fast enough (thank you so much for quickly agreeing to me reading this book, it was much appreciated Netgalley/the Publisher) however, once I got into it I had a few issues.

The first is the clunky writing. I did this. Then we did this. This happened. It's not really BAD writing per se, it was just hard to read. I'm kind of odd in my choice of writing; overly flowery and I'm turned off, simple and I'm itching for a thesaurus just to break it up. Essentially the point of the stories got through, but the execution could do with some work.

Also for a book about ghosts and hauntings that leaned towards there is definitely something out there, I felt like there were a few too many 'we did this but nothing happened' moments. I guess it makes the stories more real, but it wasn't very exciting most of the time. There were definitely a few really good accounts there, and I got shivery through some of them, but not all of them were as good.

All in all I felt like this was a good subject for a book and I learned about many mysterious places in America. Generally I like these kinds of books, and mostly I read Australian haunting stories, so the difference and newness was refreshing. I think perhaps it could do with some tweaking; maybe in later editions after this is published next year. Three stars

Follow Corelli to some of the most famous haunted spots in the country, from the Myrtles Plantation where the ghost of a slave plots revenge, to Waverly Hills Sanatorium where the insane still wander the halls long after their deaths. From the best known haunted locations to some of the lesser known places, Corelli provides a little history along with the chills