Book excerpt: The eerie quiet and disorientating darkness of the night have long been associated with the terror of the unknown. In the cold light of day it is all too easy for sceptics to dismiss apparently inexplicable events but in the dead of night, when faced with the evidence of their senses and those of other perfectly rational people, it is far more difficult to ignore the facts - however disturbing they may be. Peter Underwood is Britain's leading ghost hunter. For over thirty years, in his position as President and Chief Investigator of the Ghost Club of Great Britain, he was actively involved in undertaking night vigils and carrying out research into ghosts and paranormal activity in controlled, scientific conditions. In this unique volume of largely unpublished accounts of nocturnal investigations, he guides son a chilling tour of the most haunted houses in Great Britain. Among others, we encounter the headless Blue Lady and disturbing inexplicable odour of lavender of Bovey House in Devon; the happy spirits monk of Bromfield Manor, Shropshire, who chuckles with delight when noticed; and the strange disembodied voices, footsteps and unnatural coldness of Newark Park, Gloucestershire. In Nights in Haunted Houses Peter Underwood vividly records terrifying accounts of ghostly encounters in locations as diverse as a farmhouse, a church, a castle and a council house, and builds a convincing catalogue of evidence for the existence of ghosts.