Helpful Score: 3
A truly frightening true ghost story, with and ending that rivals anything that fiction can come up with.
Helpful Score: 2
A very chilling ghost story about the Bell Witch in Tennessee. The book is actually a first-hand account of the supernatural events that happened to the Bell family in 1818. Anyone interested in ghost stories, especially those of the South, should read this one!
Helpful Score: 2
This is supposedly the true story of the Bell Witch of Tenn. which was the basis for the very bad movie "An American Haunting" which came out last year. The book is a bit more informative about the day to day events believed to substantiate the haunting and the final outcome.
Helpful Score: 2
Good book , But is verbadim The Movie An American Haunting. So you should read the book before watching the movie or it is kinda boring.
Helpful Score: 2
This is a detailed first-hand account of the Bell family's supernatural experiences. Although the author is listed as Monahan, the book is actually written by Richard Powell who witnessed the events. Powell was married to Elizabeth Bell, the young woman who bore the brunt of the ghost's violence. Determined to make sense of the haunting, Powell eventually learns the ugly truth from his own wife.
Helpful Score: 1
I have enjoyed reading about the Bell Witch before, so I thought I would like this book. I did not like it. It was a lot like the movie "An American Haunting," which was based on this book. If you watched the movie, you are wasting your time to read this book. I actually liked the movie better than the book, which is very rare for me.
Helpful Score: 1
Good, entertaining book. It reads like a diary and flows through in a quick, thorough narrative. My only complaint is that the ending makes a pretty nasty accusation towards someone. Since the book is a work of fiction presented like an authentic diary, it is a bit unsettling to know that someone could mistakenly take this book as FACT when it is not. John Bell was a man who actually lived and to sully his name without giving him a chance to defend himself smacks of a cheap blow.
Took 1 day for me to read. Engrossing & Scary!
The Bell Witch is a tale that allegedly happened in 1817/1818. The family Bell tormented by an evil spirit causing noises, pushing, slapping and cursing the family, especially John Bell, the father, and his daughter Betsy, eventually causing John Bell's death.
The way it is with tales over time things get messed up, a lot is added or worsened and so it seems exactly that happened with the Bell Witt Haunting.
There were several reasons why I couldn't finish the book:
First and foremost it couldn't keep up my interest. Although the author tried to stay factual it pretty much stayed too factual without creating the necessary atmosphere for the reader.
The things he writes about sound all too fictitious and it is hard to really be believed.
In the end the book feels like a tale - fairy that is.
The way it is with tales over time things get messed up, a lot is added or worsened and so it seems exactly that happened with the Bell Witt Haunting.
There were several reasons why I couldn't finish the book:
First and foremost it couldn't keep up my interest. Although the author tried to stay factual it pretty much stayed too factual without creating the necessary atmosphere for the reader.
The things he writes about sound all too fictitious and it is hard to really be believed.
In the end the book feels like a tale - fairy that is.
Never got into this fictitious tale of the Bell Witch. The writing really never engaged me. Read only 50 pages then quit.
Very good book.
