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The Ghosts of the British Isles: A Collection of Ghost Stories and Other Supernatural Tales from Britain and Ireland
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins
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The Ghosts of the British Isles: A Collection of Ghost Stories and Other Supernatural Tales from Britain and Ireland
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Summary
The United Kingdom is an ancient land steeped in history and tradition, filled with prehistoric ruins, majestic castles, and a countryside sculpted from millennia of human habitation. Its rolling countryside is dotted with prehistoric burial mounds and stone circles. Brooding castles hold tales of bloodshed and honor. Medieval churches have elaborate stained glass windows and gruesome carvings, reflecting a mixture of hope and darkness. Every hamlet and village has tales that go back centuries, and folk festivals with roots in pagan times. Thus, it is not surprising that many believe the area is filled with ghosts. For centuries, people have told tales of ghosts stalking its historic buildings, strange creatures lurking in its primeval forests, and unexplained paths linking its ancient sites.
Scotland is a fascinating and ancient land filled with history. It has produced explorers, warriors, inventors, writers, and more than a few murderers. For many centuries, it fought bitter wars against England to maintain its independence, and even when those wars were finally lost, Scotland retained its distinct culture and identity. Though a part of the United Kingdom, it would be a mistake to lump it in with England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as Scotland has its own tales to tell and traditions to maintain. Not everything in Scotland is as it appears, however. Some Scots say this is a land haunted by spirits, a place of strange disappearances and unexplained phenomena. Some of those tales are downright grisly. Scotland has always been a rival to its southern neighbor, and the rivalry extends to the number of hauntings in its medieval castles, stately homes, and old cobblestone streets. While many Englishmen claim that their country is the most haunted, the Scots can point to their own stories of ghosts as evidence they may beat the English in this dubious distinction.
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What listeners say about The Ghosts of the British Isles: A Collection of Ghost Stories and Other Supernatural Tales from Britain and Ireland
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Rose
- 23-12-18
was this done by a real reader or not?
Not bad really in itself. The book is divided up in to sections and sub-headings and it deals with barely any of the real hauntings of Britain and Ireland but what it does is it takes the mmost haunted of things in particular categories such as the most haunted house or road or pub but only in a few places though it does talk about the ‘most haunted house in England’ so that kind of covers that but it is short so it barely has time to really get in to the real meat of the subject. That’s fine but ohh dear the reading. Now, it this a real person or is the editing too refined? the book sounds as if it is being rushed and some of the pronunciations of towns and so forth is absolutely shocking which leads me to think that although the narator has been given a name it is actually a synthesized voice trying not to be. If you want hauuntings and true tales of sightings and you want them in depth thenn this book is definitely one to avoid. If however you just want a brief guide to ghhosts and so forth then you could try it but I warn you if you’re Scottish or welsh or even Irish don’t bother. No research has beenn done in to the proper way to pronounce the names of any of the districts in your part of the world at all. It’s a real cringe to listen to I can tell you.
14 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Charlie
- 21-01-20
TERRIBLE NARRATION
I can’t even listen to this, the “narration” (sounds like a computerised voice)is so appalling.
Don’t waste your credit / money!
4 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- DARBY FOSTER BOOTH
- 23-11-19
Terrible narration
The story teller has a terrible voice. It’s all statements rather than story telling. Avoid
3 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- clara
- 14-11-22
Torture
I can’t believe a real person read this- sounds totally computer generated with absolutely now emotion. Might as well have been reading the weather report. Really sad as the stories were great!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Soraya Pascoe
- 23-08-22
Not the best
I got distracted by the poorly pronounced place names. Ber-Wick is pronounced Berick here in the UK. The delivery was also flat.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ghost Girl
- 06-07-22
Dreadful narrator! Couldn’t pronounce place names correctly!!
I love ghost stories but this narrator could not pronounce Scottish or Irish place names correctly at all. I don’t know about the Welsh ones but I’m guessing they were probably butchered too. It was embarrassing to listen to. You would think some research would have been carried out beforehand to ensure the correct pronunciations of place names. The fact that he narrated it robotically and with no gaps in between stories was bad enough but to mispronounce nearly all the place names had me shouting the correct pronunciations out loud! It also made it sound like he didn’t know what he was talking about.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- matthew cox
- 22-06-22
narration is awful
narration is awful sounds computer generated had to give up with book stories are ok not great
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mark Ashby
- 02-05-22
Horrendous Narration!!
This book was ruined by horrendous narration.
Read in a robotic manner, some words mispronounced. It ruined what could have been an enjoyable book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- KevinOK
- 16-04-22
Superb llisten enthralling
Brilliantly voiced well worth a listen.Kept my attention till the very end
Sad it ended
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 24-03-22
Good listen.
Really enjoyed it. Lots of old fashioned ghost stories. Since I live in Northern Ireland I already know these regional hauntings but always fun to hear them again!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mary
- 17-01-19
Better read than listened to
This is a collection of short ghost stories of the British Isles. The book content was great, it jumped all over giving some great renditions of ghost stories and beliefs of the British Isles.
I am not a fan of the softer, slower, talk radio style narrator. For me, it would have been better to read the book.
This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Gabrielle
- 13-01-19
The Ghosts of the British Isles
This is an interesting collection of ghost stories and hauntings. It covers a lot of places and people. Listeners are treated to quick and short blurbs of information on numerous subjects. There are a lot of historical hauntings in this volume. I enjoyed all the information and did not realize that there were so many ghosts and such in Britain and Ireland. This book gives you a quick look at many of them. It is a nice introduction to the hauntings in that part of the world. Narrator Colin Fluxman speaks clearly and at a good pace that keeps the listener interested in the stories.
I received this audiobook at my request and I voluntarily wrote a review.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Laura
- 11-01-19
Not what I expected could not listen but 10 min and that was too long would like to return it
Could not
Listen more than 10 min. Would like to return it
Did not
Like reader or theme
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Norma Miles
- 11-12-18
It starts with Purgatory.
An interesting book which really focuses more on historical events surrounding places said to be haunted or which carry some strange myth. The early section on English ghosts is often informative but tends to become overly littered with listings of Scottish legend later.
Narrated by Colin Flaxman in a calm newscaster voice, without histrionics or attempts to cause shivers spines, which gives it all a sense of normality. It would have been more interesting if only the places of forcefully believed ghost appearances occurred, however. It seems that there are too few to fill this book and suppositions and wishful thinking has to fill many of the pages. This reader struggled sometimes to continue.
A handy way to take a painless history lesson, though.
My thanks to the rights holder of The Ghosts of the British Isles, who, at my request freely gifted me a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. It did feel in need of editing to increase it's interest generally and to eliminate repetition, as in telling, more than once, the difference between a ghost and a poltergeist. But it was very interesting in parts. Worth reading if wanting to look up specific ghost areas such as Hampton Court.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Neona
- 15-11-18
The Narrator is Hard to Listen to
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I really wanted to like this book. I enjoy ghost stories and true tales of historical places full of spooky stories is right up my alley.
The narrator of this book is very off putting, he reads like someone reading a stock market report. It's all very monotone and businesslike. I think with a different narrator this would be so much better. As it is though, I would rather read the book than listen to the audio version of it.