Review of ‘Supernatural Peak District’ (paperback), by David Clarke

This review is by Julie Bunting, and was published originally in The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper, on 1st October 2001, and is reproduced with Julie's kind permission.
NB: This book was reviewed originally in its Hardback Edition, 19th February 2001.

After years of making reference to supernatural legends of the Peak, I found this book totally refreshing and diligently researched. The author is after all a journalist with degrees in Archaeology and Medieval History and a PhD in British Folklore.

David Clarke takes a dispassionate look at his subject and by dispensing with rows of exclamation marks and personal judgments, gives the reader a strong thread of credibility to hang onto. For his part he has gone out on missions chasing phantom lights and ghost bombers, staked out spectral hitch-hikers and discussed 'weird pagan leftovers' with people who will never allow their identities to be revealed. One informant who can trace his Peakland roots back to the 14th century will strike a chord with many readers in saying: 'You go away and become more sophisticated and educated and all the rest but ... the stuff that I have inherited was old and it was just the sort of thing which makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It still does with me ....'

Supernatural Peak District investigates a high number of recent tales of the supernatural and therein lies its worth as a book with a difference. It uses evidence from numerous first-hand witnesses of sightings as recent as the late 1990s. This intriguing book also contains many timeless ghostly happenings which resurface still - and long may they continue to do so.

Supernatural Peak District, published (in 2001) by Robert Hale in paperback with 16 pages of colour photographs.

Review by Julie Bunting