During the 19th and early 20th centuries, ghost hunting & spiritualism was perhaps at its peak in popularity, & it will come as no surprise that some people, perhaps wishing to cash in on the popularity of ghost hunts meaning easy pickings for pickpockets, or even just the momentary attention, perpetuated hoax hauntings. This book looks at 12 hauntings where the evidence & witness statements are examined more closely & suggest that the ghostly figures were of a more earthly origin.

This was a quick & fascinating read looking at local UK legends & ghost sightings. I really enjoyed the one about Sir Geoffrey Mandeville who met his demise in the struggle for the throne between Stephen & Matilda in the 12th century. The author has a wry turn of phrase & the light-hearted aspect is very much to the fore, although one can't help but feel sorry for the poor man who was beaten by a mob when suspected of being a prankster but turned out to be an innocent man hurrying between jobs. I will say that although many of these seemed to occur during the Christmas period, none of them were particularly festive, although celebratory libations may explain some of them. An interesting read but not everything can be neatly explained in all cases.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Collective Ink Limited/6th Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Mass Hysteria, Holiday Edition: Now with More Bedsheets and Ghost Flash Mobs

Let me be clear, this is not a book of ghost stories. These are true stories of fake ghosts. Like, actual events where people dressed up in terrifying costumes, scared the bejeezus out of their neighbors, and accidentally triggered full-blown manhunts, moral panics, and spiritual turf wars. Picture Victorian townsfolk whispering about phantoms by candlelight while their kids pelt a guy in a sheet with turnips. It’s both absurd and deeply fascinating.

Paul Weatherhead comes in with that chaotic historian energy I love. He’s not here to spook you with jump scares. He’s here to dig up forgotten Christmas chaos and serve it with the slightly exasperated tone of a man who cannot believe this actually happened. Which, same. One minute you’re reading about a harmless prank. The next, there’s a stampede, a courtroom, and a psychic duel happening behind the pub. Every chapter has that delicious “you will NOT believe what they did next” energy, but all filtered through the meticulous, slightly sarcastic lens of someone who lives for folklore-fueled drama.

And yes, it does give "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" vibes if instead of childhood nightmares, it was tailor-made for adults who have a secret crush on footnotes and a love-hate relationship with 19th-century spiritualism. It’s got the creepy fog, the lurking figures, the escalating fear. But instead of monsters under the bed, it’s just regular humans being deeply weird in the name of tradition, pranks, or low-grade seasonal madness.

Weatherhead’s structure is delicious. Twelve chapters, like the twelve days of Christmas. Which makes this the most unhinged advent calendar I’ve ever read. You could read one a night leading up to the holidays or just binge it in one sitting while softly muttering “What the hell, England?” to your cat.

Is it spooky? Occasionally. Is it funny? Repeatedly. Is it weird? Constantly. And yet, there’s real substance behind the absurdity. Weatherhead connects the dots between mass hysteria, folklore, early media influence, and the desperate human need to assign meaning to every creak in the floorboards. The fact that some of these hoaxes ended badly isn’t just a plot twist, it’s a pointed reminder that fear is contagious, and sometimes the scariest part of the ghost story is the people who believe it.

Four stars, because it fully commits to its bizarre little niche and delivers on all fronts. If you’re the kind of person who reads historical plaques and immediately Googles “haunted Victorian court cases,” this one’s your jam. Bonus points if you’re into cozy horror, sociological chaos, and holiday stories that go hard on the mayhem and light on the cheer.

Merry Mayhem Prize: For Turning “Guy in a Bedsheet” Into the Main Villain of Christmas Past

Huge thanks to Collective Ink Limited and NetGalley for the ARC of "Phantoms of Christmas Past." I had an absolute blast spiraling into historical chaos and festive ghost drama.

This was so entertaining and at the same time I learned a lot. A perfect book to read out a loud from during the spooky season.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I had no idea that Victorians engaged in flash mobs. I learned a lot about ghosts and differing attitudes toward them.

A combination of ghostly hoaxes and local legends results in a rather interesting and bizarre collection of tales, with varying degrees of familiarity. The first thing that springs to mind is that Hammersmith was a hub of spooky activity!

There are twelve chapters, which tie in quite nicely to the twelve days of Christmas. Perfect for spreading out your reading during the festive period, unless you want to devour it all at once.

I particularly liked the Richard III chapter, which was a great example of how people can easily be misinformed.

Photos and illustrations add an extra element to this book and it would make the perfect gift for someone interested in the paranormal.

A great book to be read when your going into spooky season!

Really easy to read, as it’s really short stories with just enough detail to light up your imagination, and doesn’t bog you down.

Absolutely recommended!

True stories of seasonal ghost hoaxes and strange phantom panics from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Such an interesting book! I really enjoyed the stories and it is going to make a brilliant gift for my paranormal loving husband for Christmas! Would definitely recommend.