A Ghost in the Room

During her nearly 20 years of working in historic homes, Ann McDougall noticed that many visitors were fascinated by ghosts, sparking an interest in the how and why of communicating with the dead. Wanting to know more, she set out to write about the history (while including the present) of this phenomenon in Canada.

McDougall completed a ton of research. She explored such secondary sources as academic papers, took a how-to-become-a-medium workshop run by a spiritualist church and tried out the Bloody Mary ritual, among other first-hand experiences. She’s emerged the author of an intriguing, fun-to-read book that’s as much social history as it is ghostly history.

A Ghost in the Room is a compassionate and thoroughly investigated take on the people who practise communicating with the great beyond and those who believe it’s possible to do just that.