PARANORMAL TEXAS
Your Travel Guide
to Haunted Places
Near Dallas & Fort Worth
2ND EDITION
More Haunted Places and True Ghost Stories!
With Halloween just around the corner, Paranormal Texas was a very timely read. In a strange and spooky coincidence, the last book I reviewed was about angel statues in cemeteries, and this book features the creepy image of one on its cover! While we’re on the subject of the cover, let me just say that I like the layout – it looks like a guidebook – but I found the font difficult to read (especially since it’s in white). I also appreciate that it informs you of the updates from the first edition: photos, evidence, ghost hunting, and experiences!
The thing I love most about this guidebook is Snider’s voice. I could tell immediately that I would enjoy her storytelling and hope to hear it in person one day. The introduction gives us the lowdown on what is in this second edition and how it came to fruition. I felt a little giddy hearing how an author actually listened to her readers and gave them what they wanted! I am also extremely pleased that she shares her Paranormal Texas Evidence Database with us. She could have easily kept that jewel to herself to be used for future editions, but she is so generous to share these experiences with fellow paranormal fans.
There were a few formatting issues and typos in the book, but nothing too distracting from the interesting subject matter. And while I appreciate that she gives us a key to ghost hunting jargon, it would have been good to have it from the very beginning before she actually used any of them. But for the most part, Snider does a fantastic job of explaining things in a way that even a non-ghost hunter like myself can be kept entertained and intrigued. Some might be put off by the black and white photos, but I thought that the lack of color contributed to the eeriness of the images.
I have read a fair amount of guidebooks and I think it is so cool how Snider can maintain the guidebook tone while covering quirky/spooky locales and experiences. Although I found a few of the backstory/history sections to be a bit on the long side, I found the majority of them to be interesting enough that I plan to research some of them in my spare time. But don’t count on me actually visiting these places – I’m a huge chicken. Strange, considering that I’ve never had a paranormal experience to traumatize me or anything.
For future editions, I would like to see Snider include symbols that indicate how “hot” a spot is (like 4/5 ghosts) and maybe how expensive ($$) a tour or stay at a hotel is. Speaking of hotels, why are there so many haunted hotels and libraries? I would like to hear the author’s thoughts on that question as well. Also, I would like to hear about a hostile ghost encounter since she only talks about friendly ghosts in this book.
I will close this review out with my favorite quote, “… where there’s history, there will be hauntings!” So if you’re into either, definitely pick up a copy of Paranormal Texas.
Tui Snider is an award-winning writer, speaker, photographer, and musician specializing in offbeat sites, overlooked history, cemetery symbolism, and haunted lore. As she puts it, “I used to write fiction, but then I moved to Texas!”
Tui lectures frequently at universities, libraries, conferences, and bookstores.This fall, she will speak about the Great Airship Mystery of 1897 at this year’s UFO Congress and teach a course on Understanding Cemetery Symbols at Texas Christian University. She also shares weekly info-videos based on her research at her YouTube channel.
Snider’s writing and photography have been featured in a variety of media outlets, including WFAA TV, Coast to Coast AM, LifeHack, Langdon Review, the City of Plano, Wild Woman Waking, Shades of Angels and many more. She has several more books in progress.
Signed Paperback + Handmade Cemetery Angel Pendant
+$10 Amazon Gift Card
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Good ideas about including the prices for the haunted hotels as well as trying to quantify the spook-factor for each location! Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my book. And I’m so glad that it took you on a fun armchair travel adventure! 🙂
Those are some great suggestions for PT, 3rd edition! Thanks for the review & post!