Join the "internationally recognized expert in psychic phenomenon" John Macklin for thirty chapters of true terror, sure to leave your head spinning and your soul caught between this world and the next!
The very first chapter on "The Haunted Fish Tank" is a total drip (ha!), but the next story about "The Woman Who Was Haunted by Owls" is a nasty good time, too much fun for me to spoil even. Right away we get the idea: these "true tales" are all supposed case files from Macklin's psychic investigations which likely have no earthly basis, and instead function as that classic form of maybe-fiction, presenting melodramatic ghost stories with the framing of Dr. So-and-so and Mr. Credible-witness telling Macklin about this or that horrible specter or awful incident, and Macklin trying to deny to the last that these unbelievable accounts just might be true ...
Macklin sprinkles in some Fortean frequent fliers like the Joyita, Foo Fighters, and Ogopogo to break up the maybe-fiction meatloaf, but it's not really needed, as his writing is much higher quality than (for example) Brad Steiger's similar volume of "true (fake) tales" Possession.
Another classic case Macklin covers is the Filipino "fangs of the invisible monster," and going by Garth Haslam's research, Macklin borrowed his version wholesale from Frank Edwards' telling - Macklin copies Edwards' incorrect dating of 1951 (actually 1953) and the misspelling of victim Clarita Villanueva's name as "Villaneuva." Steiger liked this story too. Another repeater: moving coffins in Estonia, which Peter Robson also covered in his Dialogue With The Dead.
As noted previously, cryptozoologist Karl Shuker traced John Macklin as a pseudonym belonging to one working writer "Tony James" ... whoever he was, he was sure one mean ghostly writing machine, as the back page adverts attest! If you're looking for spooky ghost stories mixed with seasoned Forteana, you could do a lot worse than Macklin. Ace Books also did a nice job with the cheap but effective abstract cover art.
This title is available to read and download at archive dot org.
Ace Books, 1969
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