The Everything Ghost Hunting Book, by Melissa Martin Ellis.
Plagiarism* annoys me.
I was prepared to give this book a 3-star review. It’s good but not great; you can find most of this information online. The convenience of having it all in one reference was the biggest reason to own this book. The author seemed to have added some extra, useful information, as well.
I have to say “seemed” because… I can’t tell. The author lifted at least one entire section from one of my websites, without credit.
Worse, she wrote it with my words in quotation marks, as if she’d interviewed “the student” herself, and she didn’t mention my website (or me) in the book’s bibliography.
(Yes, I didn’t explain that I was the student in the original story. It’s one way I catch plagiarists who use my stories without permission. They make stupid mistakes like Ms. Ellis did.)
Check it for yourself: The section she “borrowed” is on page 148 in the book. My story — the one she copied — is at Colby-Sawyer College ghosts, New London, NH
(Ellis’ book was published in August 2009. You can use the Wayback Machine to find my article from as early as 2001.)
In my opinion, copying text from one of the largest and oldest ghost-related websites is beyond stupid.
Even worse, the book’s author lives just a couple of hours from me. What… she thought I wouldn’t run into her at some local event? (You can count on an unattractive conversation when that happens.)
It also makes me wonder what else the author copied. Frankly, after I found one part of my website in her book, I was so annoyed, I put the book down.
There may be more from my website, and possibly material from others’, as well. (It’s like eating potato chips: People who do this kind of copying usually can’t stop with just one stolen passage.)
So, I’m really disgusted with this book, the integrity of the author, and the publisher’s editorial staff.
I’m still too irked to leave a review at Amazon.com. Feel free to do so, yourself: Everything Ghost Hunting Book (at Amazon.com)
This could have been a good book. The author could have asked to use my story, with just a reference in the bibliography, and I probably would have agreed to it.
Instead, it gets a half-star rating while I decide what to do about this.
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*I’m disappointed when people use stories from HollowHill.com without crediting me or the website. However, if they fully rephrase the story, add their own experiences, and so on… well, you can’t copyright an idea.
Most researchers start with existing stories and check out those same locations, themselves. There’s nothing wrong with doing that.
However, I’m one of the few ghost investigators who also looks for unreported and under-reported hauntings. My research is often original and unique, which is why I’m respected by other serious paranormal investigators.
The sad thing is, I’m usually happy to give my permission to people who ask if they can reprint my stories or quote them. I just want credit for my research. That’s professional courtesy.
To copy my work and put it into a book... that’s as blatant and unacceptable as it gets.
When people ask why I don’t report as many haunted locations as I once did, plagiarism is one of the leading reasons. When someone else takes credit — or even worse, earns a paycheck — for work that I did, I’m less willing to share my recent research.
The Ghost Hunter’s Guidebook by Troy Taylor is a fine introduction to ghost hunting.
Haunted Hikes of New Hampshire is a true delight.
