{"product_id":"holy-ghosts-or-how-a-not-so-good-catholic-boy-became-a-believer-in-things-that-go-bump-in-the-night-9781585428953","title":"Holy Ghosts: Or, How a (Not So) Good Catholic Boy Became a Believer in Things That Go Bump in the Night","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this remarkable true story, the haunting of a Long Island household forces a respected writer and editor to reevaluate the mysteries of life and death as he struggles with the frightening truths of his childhood home and his town's past. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGrowing up in Rockville Center, Long Island, Gary Jansen never believed in ghosts. His mother-a devoutly Catholic woman with a keen sense for the uncanny-claimed that their family house was haunted. But Jansen never found anything inexplicable in how their doorbell would sometimes ring of its own accord; or in the mysterious sounds of footsteps or breaking glass that occasionally would fill their home; or even in his mother's sometimes unsettlingly accurate visions of future events and tragedies. Though he once experienced a supernatural encounter in a Prague church as a young man, Jansen grew up into a rationalist, as well as a noted writer and editor. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDecades later, in 2001, Jansen moved back into the very same house where he had once grown up to raise a family with his wife. One day in 2007, he encountered a strange physical sensation in his toddler son's bedroom: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eAs I reached into his dresser drawer, I felt something very strange behind me. Startled, I quickly turned around, but there was nothing there. I shrugged it off, grabbed the socks and, as I was walking to the doorway, experienced an odd phenomenon-sort of like an electrical hand rubbing the length of my back. I stopped and stood transfixed. \"What the hell is that?\" I said to myself. The pressure then seemed to break apart and, for a brief moment, I felt like I had a million little bugs crawling all over my back. Within seconds, however, the sensation was gone. \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis became the first step in uncovering a frightening, fullblown haunting in his home-a phenomenon that lasted an entire year and eventually included unveiling the identities of the spirits who occupied his house; discovering the chilling story of a century-old murder in his hometown; encountering mind-boggling coincidences between local history and events in his own family; and finally engaging in a climactic exorcism with the help of Mary Ann Winkowski, the real-life inspiration for TV's \u003ci\u003eThe Ghost Whisperer\u003c\/i\u003e. The events of that year-in which Jansen's family was terrified of and terrorized by ghosts in their own home-forever changed how he viewed the mysteries of life and death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eHoly Ghosts\u003c\/i\u003e is not only a gripping true-life ghost story but a funny and touching memoir, as well as a meditation on the relationship between religion and the paranormal, which are often considered at odds with each other but which the author shows are intimately linked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGary Jansen \u003c\/b\u003eis the director of Image Books and a senior editor at Penguin Random House where he has edited and published books by \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling authors Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Deepak Chopra, Michael Singer, and Greg Kincaid. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe 15-Minute Prayer Solution\u003c\/i\u003e;\u003ci\u003e Station to Station\u003c\/i\u003e; and the forthcoming book \u003ci\u003eLife Everlasting\u003c\/i\u003e (Tarcher Penguin, 2018). Paulo Coehlo, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Alchemist\u003c\/i\u003e, has called Jansen's work \"Wonderful;\" while legendary \u003ci\u003eNewsweek \u003c\/i\u003eReligion Editor Kenneth L. Woodward has called him, \"A fine writer.\" A frequent lecturer, Jansen has been featured on NPR, The Huffington Post, CNN, Coast to Coast AM, A\u0026amp;E, the Sundance Channel, and has appeared numerous times on the Travel Channel's \u003ci\u003eMysteries at the Museum\u003c\/i\u003e. His website is www.garyjansen.com.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Penguin Adult Hc\/Tr","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50873617219858,"sku":"9781585428953","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b982a50f-5759-40d0-a6e0-1d67b3c4dda6.jpg?v=1737944275","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/holy-ghosts-or-how-a-not-so-good-catholic-boy-became-a-believer-in-things-that-go-bump-in-the-night-9781585428953","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}