Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances Paperback – December 8, 2022

Lisa Morton has done it again. I previously read (and previously praised) her history of Halloween (entitled Trick or Treat). When I read that I found that, even as something of a low-grade expert on the subject, she managed to teach me a lot that I didn't already know. I picked up Calling the Spirits hoping for the same. I was a little nervous, however, because as well-versed as I was on Halloween history, I VERY much consider myself an expert on seances. As a horror writer, well-versed skeptic, and magician who has actually performed my own seances in a theatrical setting, I wasn't sure how much Morton could tell me I didn't already know.I needn't have worried, however. Indeed, though I certainly was familiar with the vast majority of this book's cast of characters, there were still some who were entirely new to me, along with some facts that had somehow escaped me. Couple this exposure to some new information with a straight forward yet entertaining style of presentation and we're left with a thoroughly enjoyable history.Part of the book's value is that it doesn't limit itself to the stereotypical Victorian seance (though that subject certainly takes the lion's share of the pages), but situations that form of the seance within a broader historical context reaching back to antiquity (the book covers communication with spirits as depicted in the myths, legends, and histories of such cultures as the Greeks, Romans, Norse, Egyptians, and Celts, among others) and forward to modernity (the book also covers such recent phenomena as television shows about ghost hunters). This allows the author not only to recite facts about events, believers, and skeptics, but to go a long way toward explaining the origins of those belief structures and practices.Often, books on this subject (or related subjects) fall into one of two categories. They either unabashedly advocate for belief in the supernatural phenomena under consideration or set out deliberately to debunk those phenomena. While I certainly find myself rather firmly in one of those two camps in my own philosophy, it was refreshing to discover that this book walks a delicate middle ground. Though it's certainly thorough in documenting the various debunkings of seances scientists, magicians, and other skeptics have performed over the years (sometimes even resulting in criminal charges), the reader is never left with the sense that the author is specifically TRYING to debunk the supernatural. Rather, the author's formal position on her subject remains rigorously agnostic. The history you read will give you the facts and will make you fully aware of how some have historically interpreted those facts, but will never specifically take a side.I'm also quite pleased to report that the book is quite thoroughly documented, and I highly recommend the interested reader should spend some time digging through the references or the author's select bibliography because these additional works will certainly enrich the already surprisingly deep understanding the reader can gain from this book. Of course, given that I have already read extensively on the topic, I could easily nitpick certain omissions. For instance, it's my personal view that the 1907 book Behind the Scenes with the Mediums by Omaha magician David P. Abbott is the greatest expose of the tricks employed by fraudulent mediums ever written and it's not mentioned. That having been said, these minor points of personal preference don't detract from what remains a triumphant work.If you're interested in ghosts, spirits, seances, or spiritualism, you owe it to yourself to read this book, because I can almost guarantee that no matter how well-educated you are on the subject, you'll find here both entertainment and enlightenment. Even if you don't share my passion for the weirder side of history, I still highly recommend the book for a peek behind the curtain at the kind of history that often gets omitted from the more "mainstream" history books yet nevertheless had a profound impact on the public consciousness.

I'm still in the process of reading this book but I am over half way. It is very well researched as far as I can see. She does a good job at retelling the stories and information without adding her own opinion. Full of history and information! It's just what I was looking for and expecting. She doesn't linger too long on any one time period and keeps things mostly in order by date. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject.

An interesting read about an interesting subject personally for me, arrived on time and just as described.

Lisa Morton has done her research and presents it in an entertaining way. Great reading for Halloween or getting ready for your next séance.

My review of this book originally appeared on The Folklore Podcast website. You can still find it there, along with my interview with the author.In Reaktion Books’ recent release, Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances, Lisa Morton has done the unthinkable. Tracing humankind’s history of contacting the dead from Homer to Ghost Hunters in under 400 pages, this slim volume contains within it a comprehensive view of Spiritualism up to the modern day -- complete with biographies of all its central figures.Morton doesn't shy away from the occasionally controversial nature of the subject. She presides over intense debates over the years about the nature of Spiritualism, offering perspectives from all sides. Are Seances demonic? Are Ouija Boards dangerous? Are mediums actually calling up the dead, or simply reading the minds of the living? All of these questions and more are thoroughly considered.More interesting than these debates, however, is the simple question of how a religious movement, founded by a set of siblings who later admitted to being frauds, still has followers to this day. What was it about Spiritualism, or simple spirit communication in general, that enraptured us so deeply? Why were Spiritualists so determined to prove that there was life after death?While the book is primarily historical, the latter chapters do address modern day belief in spirit communication. Morton devotes pages to modern mediums, as well as their effect upon both entertainment and law enforcement agencies. The secrets of the trade, both past and present, are revealed to the reader. Yet, Morton thoughtfully explains why mediums - or psychics as they are now primarily called - still thrive.“Is it also possible that some mediums suffered from nothing worse than a desire to provide comfort to others?” Lisa Morton asks. I believe that that is a question worthy of much more consideration. More than 170 years after the Fox sisters first took to table-rapping, we are still taken with the desire to talk to the dead and see ghosts. It’s about time that we turn from questioning the reality of this phenomena, and instead consider what our desire to believe in it says about ourselves.