History and Haunting

Book of the Day: Possessions: The History and Uses of Haunting in the Hudson Valley, by Judith Richardson. Publisher: Harvard University Press.

Haunting is a relatively common phenomenon in America, but especially in New York’s Hudson River Valley. This region is practically teeming with ghosts: Indians, Revolutionary war soldiers, Dutch traders, and more. What is so special about this area that it would be so haunted? Why are ghosts attracted to it - or, perhaps more accurately, why are the people here attracted to ghosts?

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