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          Ghosthunters: On the Trail of Mediums,
          Dowsers, Spirit Seekers, and Other
          Investigators of America's Paranormal World
          by John Kachuba
          ISBN 1-56414-937-4 (2007)
          The Career Press, Inc.
           (www.careerpress.com)
          249 pages, paperback, photos/indexck

            Ghosthunters is John Kachuba’s third book. He wrote Ghosthunting Illnois and Ghosthunting Ohio, and it is quite obvious that he loves his work, chasing after ghosts. He even has a “Ghosthuntermobile,” a 1987 Buick Skyhawk that he inherited from his father-in-law, and fixed up with paintings of ghosts, demons and spooky images on the body, to advertise his books.
            It appears the interest in ghosts has escalated. More people are getting interested in checking out alleged haunted houses, and quick-thinking entrepreneurial types are cashing in on the interest. Nowadays there are ghosthunting clubs, ghost-hunting tours, and lots of ghosthunting paraphernalia being sold on the Internet. You can even get “certified” to be a ghost investigator.
            For the serious researcher, the index in the back of the book is helpful. Kachuba discusses several interesting cases and interviews many important people in the field of the paranormal, my favorite being Mary Ann Winkowski, the “real ghost whisperer.”
            His take on the subject is objective, from a reporter’s perspective. He neither admits to believing in ghosts, nor does he debunk them. What he does is present a diverse selection of places, persons and presences that are connected to ghostly happenings and histories. The chapters are often amusing and purely aim to entertain the reader, but some take on a more serious note.
            I got a lot out of the “Holy Ghosts” chapter, in which Kachuba talks about the Spiritualist Church and interviews Rev. Rose Vanden Eynden. There are also some pretty scary accounts that you won’t easily forget, such as the visit to The Ridges, a former asylum, in Athens, Ohio.
            There were several things I disagreed with in the book, particularly the chapters that touched on demonology. In fact, some parts of the book actually left a “yuck” taste in my mouth, so to speak. But at least Kachuba was quite fair in presenting so many different views. For that, he is to be commended. If you’re into ghosts, this book is worth having.