How to See Ghosts in the Comfort of Your Own Home

By now you’ve surely binged Tiger King and watched countless other Netflix series. It’s time for something else to do as we wait for the world to return to normal. How about seeing a few ghosts?

Back in the latter half of the nineteenth century it was all the rage. One could attend a séance and witness spirits tipping tables, writing messages on slates, and even playing instruments. Or if séances weren’t your thing you could look through a stereoviewer and stare through ghosts in 3D. 

For some it was entertainment, for others it was a religion and a reason to believe life continued after death.

The 1864 book, Spectropia, or, Surprising Spectral Illusions, offered another simple way to see apparitions. But unlike Spiritualism, it was based on actual science. 

As it describes in a nutshell, the effect that produces the ghosts you’ll see are due to “the persistency of impressions, and the production of complementary colours on the retina.” It’s also known as afterimage.

Spectropia offers an in-depth explanation if you’d like to know more. With it, author J. H. Brown hoped to put to rest the growing beliefs in actual ghosts:

“It is a curious fact that, in this age of scientific research, the absurd follies of spiritualism should find an increase of supporters; but mental epidemics seem at certain seasons to affect our minds, and one of the oldest of these moral afflictions —witchcraft—is once more prevalent in this nineteenth century, under the contemptible forms of spirit-rapping and table-turning.”

The frauds who propagated the movement were “bent only on raising the contents of the pockets of the most gullible portion of humanity, and not the spirits of the departed, over which, as he well knows, notwithstanding his profane assumption, he can have no power.”

With Spectropia, one can experience how the eye can be deceived.

To see the ghosts for yourself, look for the small black dot or asterisk in each image, then stare at it for 15-20 seconds. Immediately afterward look at a blank wall or ceiling and the spectre will take shape in your newly haunted house. Only for a short time though, then it will vanish beyond the veil. 

Want your own copy of Spectropia? Curious Publications is releasing a reprint with a foreword written by your Weird Historian, Marc Hartzman. Order now from Amazon – just $13.99!