A review by franalibi
The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story by Kate Summerscale

5.0

Right from the first page, Kate Summerscale pulls you in to this whirlwind of a haunting with story telling that you question: how can this be real? And that’s the thrill of it!

Mainly following the ghost hunter Nandor Fodor, who worked for the International Institute for Psychical Research, as he investigates a curious haunting of a housewife, Alma Fielding, in 1938 in South London.

As he gets to the bottom of this haunting (Where cutlery flies, objects mysteriously disappear and appear somewhere else and the strange scratches Alma experiences on her body. Among countless other things...), he discovers how Alma has experienced a much darker past that may be cause for the haunting.

Summerscale is able to paint a scene with not only focus on Fodor and Alma, but also on other mediums, researchers and their investigations, how the country viewed hauntings and the pressing worry of the Second World War.

I came to this book expecting one thing and was left with something entirely different to what I anticipated. And even though my expectations weren’t fulfilled, it’s still a really intriguing tale of how such a haunting came to Alma and her home. And the conclusion of how such hauntings influenced great horror and psychological thriller books of the time.

If you love non fiction and a good spooky story, read this!