Books on TV – Harry Price Ghost Hunters

I’ve recently watched an adaptation of a book on television – Harry Price Ghost Hunter  –  and would love to know what other people thought of it. How did the book in your head appear on the screen and what about the casting? Was the story the same for example?

Harry Price – Ghost Hunter

I have to say first of all that this is a cracking story but it’s  not the one in the book. It’s about Harry Price and his attempts at debunking the myths peddled by those who claim to see ghosts and speak to spirits (Psychics for example) is a great real life character and I love the thrill of ‘living’ history in some way by reading and watching stories about someone who really existed.

The book

The haunting of the Borley Rectory in Essex is said to have started after a local nun and monk fell in love and attempted to run away and get married. However, they were caught and sentenced to death.  Years later there were rumours that the couple were still in the house as spirits and that they were angry as to what had happened to them.

I am a bit of a scaredy cat at times and this was a chilling read and then some! I really should not read these books in the dark. What I loved about it though was the interesting true story – the fact that the creator of Sherlock Holmes became so involved with spiritualism that he was buried standing up in accordance with his spiritualism beliefs. That Harry Price really did what is described in the novel. That Borley Rectory really was once the most haunted house in the UK before it was destroyed by fire.

The television version

I admit that I didn’t read the blurb of the TV version as I expected it to be the same as the book – the real life haunting of Borley Rectory in Essex and this is not it. The same characters are involved however and Harry Price was just as I imagined him so that was a nice surprise. In this case, he’s been called to a house of an upcoming politician as his wife is having delusions and will be placed in an asylum if  her problems can’t be solved. She’s found naked one day in the town square, wandering and hallucinating. She claims to hear things, see things and when she goes to play hide and seek at a party – blimey I remember that scene!

The cast and story were very good and it was nicely paced. I really wanted to know what the deal was. Was there a ghost and why was the politician’s wife being targeted in this way? The house is old and spooky, and has a rather interesting history in itself.

Harry was fascinating in the novel and so I really hoped to find out more about him which we did. His character and background were explored as was his relationship with his assistant. His ways of debunking the claims of those who claim to see ghosts (his attendance at a psychic show is classic Harry) is interestingly done and it was fascinating to see ‘behind the scenes’ of the man and what he stood for.

I wish they would make this into a series with Harry investigating more cases as this would be very interesting.

Susan booktrailer