Ghost hunting manuals – a technical author’s review

Ghost, poltergeist, apparitions and, according to Peter Underwood’s The Ghost Hunter’s Guide, another eight different ghost categories have eluded and captivated human attention since the beginning of time.

Now, although the topic of ghosts, haunted houses, and paranormal activities is fascinating and great for horror films, as technical authors, we want to make a simple and fun analysis that could prove useful in comparing previous writing techniques for procedures and guides. So firstly, let’s answer the question:

What is a ghost hunting manual?

During the Victorian era (1837 to 1901), there was a sudden surge in popularity for spiritualism. People were fascinated with ghosts, spirits, death, and the afterlife. While looking for an explanation for sightings, many of which are described in various publications and widely reported, people were involved in séances, mediumship, and ghost photography.

Three groups stood out in the study of psychical research studies, in other words, phenomena that seem inexplicable to normal rules of science. These were The Ghost Club (1862 to present), The Society for Psychical Research (1882 to present), and the College of Psychic Studies (1884 to present).

These groups published many books on psychic studies, their explanations, case studies, and our personal favourite, guides on how to find a ghost. We focused on reading The Ghost Hunter’s Guide, the SPR’s numerous volumes, and Phantasm of the Living.

Ghost hunting procedures – an analysis

A ghost hunting manual can explain the different types of ghosts and possible encounters, list all the instruments or tools that a ghost hunter would need, the process needed to see or capture any psychic phenomena, or even previous methods that have been recorded by other people.

The SPR and The Ghost Club were known for writing scientific publications, trying to document cases and leave an open interpretation to the events they witnessed. The authors of these publications often remarked on the scepticism behind psychic phenomena and wrote in their procedures to first consider all possibilities before concluding that an event is paranormal.

As technical authors we can appreciate the neat and organized written books. Because of their journal-like nature, we understand there are many long passages of text; however, since there are also procedures in between, a mix of technical authoring techniques are used. Cue the technical analysis.

Although these manuals aren’t selling ghost vacuum cleaners, they’re still trying to explain a proper scientific procedure and promote their texts, so they reach larger audiences. As we’ve previously mentioned in our article on how to ensure quality product documentation, the best way to do this is by having the content be:

• clear, concise and unambiguous
• accurate and comprehensive
• easily findable and accessible

Looking at some samples from the books available online, we’ve analysed the good and what could be improved with better practices. Some of the good things we noticed when reading were:

1. The authors give an explanation, a high-level introduction, or the purpose of a procedure before talking about the steps.
2. Steps and instructions are clear and easy to follow when inside lists.
3. There are numbered and bulleted lists, although maybe not as frequently as possible.
4. Content is separated by topics, such as the introduction, purpose, methodology, among others.

Depending on the book and the section in that book, the number of headers, and therefore one could argue that the number of topics, varies. This is important to note because in many cases, the text feels plain, long, and sometimes hard to follow when one idea ends and another one begins.

This makes the text inconsistent and at times unclear. A great example of a text that has not made its relevant remarks clear is the excessive use of parentheses to explain what something means or why it is happening.

Many of these books often use parenthesis excessively, and it is very likely that this was done because the text was not clear enough from the start.

The old and the new

We must remember that many of these manuals were written in the 1900s, and writing practices were different, as documented in our article on why the skill of writing well matters. As an author, you must ensure that “… readers can extract and understand the information they need”.

Some of these best practices were only recently (50 years or so) developed, and therefore, we do not see these in ghost-hunting manuals. Texts should be written in small, easily comprehensible chunks of information and can be aided by images that can relay your message, especially if you expect precise results.

Using the future tense in procedures, such as “Initially the investigator will have learned what he can about …” can be better explained as a first step or as part of the introduction before the ghost hunting steps.

As authors, we also refer to the reader as a user, reader or a similar title. We do not assume a gender, which allows the manual to be widely read by any individual.

By embedding these preventative measures into your workflow, you reduce the likelihood of accumulating documentation debt and position your content as a reliable, integral asset for which your customers will thank you.

These and other best practices are applicable to any text, from scientific journals to hardware manuals, to cooking instructions. At the end of the day, as readers, we prefer information to be short, correct, and helpful.

So, how would a ghost manual look like using today’s best practices?

We’ve done enough talking and not enough demonstrating. Let’s take an extract from the PSR and change it into steps for a user manual but using the original wording. First, let’s see the extract:

In the privacy of your own home, on a blank sheet of ordinary letter paper, you write down three or four questions to as many deceased friends, or to one or two, just as you desire, addressing them by name and signing your own name to the questions. Enclosing this in an envelope with three or four blank sheets for the “spirit” messages or replies, you seal your envelope, and, if you wish, place some secret mark on it, to render identification easier and surer, and at the same time to guard against fraud by the simple trick of substitution. Seated at an ordinary square table, which you are free to examine thoroughly, in the presence and indeed at the request of the medium, you place your letter between two slates, which the medium then binds about longitudinally and transversely with heavy, broad and powerful rubber bands, or strong twine. (See cut No. 1.) These slates never leave your sight ; indeed, you may keep your fingers resting upon them during the entire time of the seance, so that touch reinforces sight in proving that the slates never leave the top of the table where you place them. . . . You and she, seated on opposite sides of the table, then hold the slates between you, above the table, of course, in full sight, until the ” current,” as she calls it, sets in, which you feel as a slight vibration or tremor in the slates and in your arms. The slates are again placed on the table. You are then requested by the medium to write another short message, such as, ” Please communicate,” to any dead friend, on a small piece of paper, sign your name to it and fold it up when written.

Now, let’s change it to a more modern style:

1. In the privacy of your home, on a blank sheet of paper, write three or four questions to as many deceased friends as you desire. Address the deceased by name and sign each question with your name. Here, we remove redundant and unnecessary wording and add clarity with step details.
2. Place the same number of blank sheets of paper as questions, and the sheet of paper with the questions in an envelope and close it. You can place a secret mark on the envelope to easily identify it. We don’t skip what the writer could think are “obvious steps” and add optional steps under the necessary step.
3. Sit at a square table with a medium at the opposite side of the table. A long step is changed to small, easily achievable steps.
4. When the medium indicates, place the envelope between two slates. The medium binds the slates longitudinally and transversely with rubber bands or twine.
5. The medium and yourself hold the slates until the current begins. You might feel a slight vibration or tremor in the slates and your arms. Here we use the terminology used, without quotations marks. The fact that you should be sitting opposite each other should be part of the step when you sit at the table.
6. Place the slates on the table.
7. On a small piece of paper, write a short message for a deceased friend, sign your name, and fold it. The order in the instruction matters. Why -> where -> what to do. This helps the reader understand what they need before starting the task.

Hopefully, you can see how a long paragraph full of steps and explanations mixed together can be more fully and easily understood when it is broken into tasks. In the most likely scenario where a reader is following the instructions while reading, it’s easier to remember what step you’re at instead of where in a paragraph.

Bibliography

Underwood, P. (1986). The ghost hunter’s guide (2nd ed.). London: Granada Publishing. (A sample is available online at https://books.google.com.mx/books?hl=es&lr=&id=E2cKEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA6&dq=Ghost+Hunting:+A+Practical+Guide&ots=dHRXDWkvsm&sig=4BXyTYiWbeXVVLv1kwP29GtmNjg#v=onepage&q=Ghost%20Hunting%3A%20A%20Practical%20Guide&f=false)

Gurney, E., Myers, F. W. H., & Podmore, F. (1886). Phantasms of the living (Vols. 1–2). London: Trübner & Co. (Available online at https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/phantasmsoflivin00gurn/phantasmsoflivin00gurn.pdf)

Krebs, S. L. (1901). A description of some trick methods used by Miss Bangs, of Chicago. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 10, 308–317. (With introductory note by R. Hodgson) (Available online at https://archive.org/details/journalofsociety10sociuoft/page/6/mode/2up)