Book excerpt: Untraceable whispering voices.Gnome-like spirits who walk through walls.A room that glows with an eerie, life-draining light.Disembodied footsteps that climb stairs but never descend.A house with doors that open by themselves-even when locked.After a period of strong skepticism among writers and intellects regarding the reality of ghosts, the Victorian era (1837-1901) revitalized interest in seriously exploring houses and other locations alleged to be haunted. The paranormal investigators, including Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle, chronicled their methods and discoveries. Equipped with little more than candles, patience, and perhaps a flask of brandy, these men and women laid a foundation for the ghost hunters of today.The Victorian Ghost Hunter's Casebook presents some of the most intriguing, most frightening, and most charming of the chronicles left behind. Ghostlore scholar Tim Prasil provides an Introduction about what motivated the Victorians to investigate spectral manifestations, along with the history of ghost hunters that preceded them. He also provides enlightening details on twelve ghostly cases located in Britain, and an Appendix with two more ghost hunts held in the United States during the Victorian era.