This book does question the existence of ghosts, as I had expected, but deals with much more than the mere idea of apparitions. While I’m sure there are some obscure areas that may have been missed, Roach explores a wide gamut of subjects related to the afterlife, some I did not expect. At times I found this to be a little forced, but as I got further along I most often found it funny. She frequently injects humour to help keep the material entertaining as well. She’s a good stand-in for the fellow skeptic reader, while at the same time possessed of a clear voice and strong personality that makes for an engaging narrator. This helped to make the amount of incoming information digestible, as it reads less like a researcher expounding their work. She just takes it a step further by investigating the evidence herself and reporting her findings and conclusions. What helped make this book so compelling was that Roach approaches everything from the same standpoint as the reader. This is where Spook by Mary Roach comes in, a book that works to scientifically consider various studies of the afterlife to see what, if any, proof has ever truly been found. It’s easy enough to be broadly skeptical and give the subject no time of day, but when I hear stories of ectoplasm spilling from a medium’s mouth, communicating with the other side, or children remembering past lives I want a more thorough examination of these incidents that lays all details bare.

But lately I’ve taken a greater interest in considering accounts of the paranormal more closely. I can’t help but find videos or written accounts of the strange, otherworldly, or unknown alluring.

This has felt somewhat contradictory to my secular upbringing, but it’s something that I simply haven’t been able to help. “What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that’s that-the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness, persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my laptop?” In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and history soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die.Īlong with my love for horror I’ve always had a (sometimes terrified) fascination with the paranormal.