Gary Jansen grew up in Rockville Centre, Long Island, never believing in ghosts. His mother always claimed their family home was haunted but Jansen never found reason to believe her. Years later, in 2001, he moved back to his family home with his wife and toddler son. It wasn’t until 2007 that he had his first supernatural experience:
“I experienced something quite out of the ordinary–sort of like an electric hand rubbing the length of my back…the sensation then changed and I felt like I was being pressed like a grape, that something was coursing through my body like blood in my veins.” (pg. 10)
Jansen didn’t think much of it and moved on with what he was doing. The house was old and just left it at that. Ironically, his fascination with Scooby Doo as a child gave him a skeptical outlook on the supernatural and he felt if you looked hard enough you could always find a logical explanation for those things that go bump in the night.
During a lunch meeting with a publishing friend, Peggy, Jansen mentioned some of the things that were happening at the house. He really hadn’t talked about it with his wife, but for some reason, felt the need to confide in his friend. Peggy responds by telling him that he has a ghost in the house. Peggy tells him about Mary Ann Winkowski, the inspiration for the television show Ghost Whisperer. Winkowski’s book WHEN GHOSTS SPEAK was publishing that fall and Peggy recommends that Jansen contact her.
Jansen doesn’t contact her immediately, but when he does a whole host of information is unveiled and can’t help but rethink his feelings of the supernatural.
I read Holy Ghosts in one sitting, literally gripping the pages as I read. I’m not one that typically reads non-fiction, but Jansen’s honesty in his feelings, his faith, really engaged me. Jansen is currently an editor at the Crown Publishing Group, specializing in books on religion and spirituality, so he brings a wealth of knowledge on the subject as well. Winkowski’s involvement in this saga definitely intrigued me, a long-time fan of her writing.
Holy Ghosts is a outstanding real-life ghost story that I recommend to everyone, believers in the supernatural or not. While it is full of scenes that will send shivers down your spine, it also follows the path of one man seeking answers to the many questions he has about his faith. Although faith is a key element in this memoir, it is not overwhelming but instead flows quite fluidly throughout. So, despite your religious beliefs or your beliefs in the supernatural, HOLY GHOSTS is a book I highly recommend.
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Check out this interview with Jansen himself, detailing the scene of the activity & more!
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