Ghosts and Spirits by Rebecca Stefoff

Secrets of the supernatural is a series of books of supernatural origin.  This book focuses on the history of ghosts and poltergeists.  The author takes a look at the history of ghosts through the ages.  From ancient Greek and Roman history through to the present Ms. Stefoff looks at how stories have evolved about the look of ghosts. 

The stories include an old tale written by Roman writer Pliny the younger about a learned man named Athenodorus who rented a haunted house in a Greek city.  Rather than run away when the ghost appeared, he followed it until it disappeared.   The next day he dug up the area and found a skeleton buried in chains.  Once the skeleton was buried properly, the ghost never came back.  This is just one of the stories in the book. 

This book might be a bit intense for some tweens but for those who are interested in learning about spirits, their history, beliefs surrounding them and so on it is a good beginner fact book.   There are a lot of pictures although many are engineered (and labeled that way).  

Age range: 8 to adult

Stefoff, R. (2008). Ghosts and spirits . New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.