Review of ‘Within Sight of the Gibbit’, by Ian Morgan

This review is by Julie Bunting, and was published originally in The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper, and is reproduced with Julie's kind permission.

Two recent (September 2009) publications offer endless shivers between the covers for some haunting Halloween reading. Chilling Tales from Derbyshire describes dozens of present-day instances of the paranormal as told directly to the author, a psychic medium known as Netty, including ghost stories from in and around the Peak.

Chapter headings range from Poltergeist Activity to Loved Ones, Ouija and Shadow People.

One contributor recalls an experience on the evening of Halloween 1996, having returned home after an evening of trick-or-treating ... 'I sat down on the sofa and started to dig through my trick-or-treat bag, looking for some chocolate. Suddenly, from nowhere, I saw a female figure standing by the front door, and I could see that her hair was curly and dark brown and she was dressed in a white robe and looked exactly like my mother, except for the fact that she had a golden glow around her head. I stared at her but then I started to freak out and ran into my mother's bedroom ... ' Her mother seemed unperturbed and offered a reassuring if startling explanation for this Halloween experience, not to be given away here.

It may or may not have resolved just one of the dozens of paranormal sightings related first-hand to Netty, who has her own explanation of what a ghost is - though she herself still sleeps with the light on!

Review by Julie Bunting