Book Review for Life with the Afterlife

Title: Life with the Afterlife: 13 Truths I Learned About Ghosts

Author: Amy Bruni, with Julie Tremaine

Published: 2020 by Grand Central Publishing

Amazon Purchase Information

Life with the Afterlife was published last October, but as usual I'm late to the party, having only picked up and read this book in June of 2021. It is a memoir of sorts, chronicling the paranormal experiences and ghost hunting career of Amy Bruni. Amy Bruni, co-star of the show Kindred Spirits, got her television ghost hunting start on the original Ghost Hunters, joining the TAPS team as they investigate a multitude of haunted and historic properties, businesses, and even private residences. 

Over the course of thirteen chapters, we learn about how Amy got interested in the paranormal, how she became involved with the TAPS family, what led her to becoming a reality TV ghost hunter, and ultimately, what she has learned from the whole experience. 

I really like reading books written by other investigators. It's enlightening to see how others in this field got their start, and interesting to see how their philosophies and methods compare to my own. As long as I've been an investigator, I still realize that I can always keep learning and keep growing. One way to do so obviously is to learn from the experiences and expertise of well respected figures in the field of paranormal investigation. Amy Bruni has a lot of experience on her own, but throughout the book quotes plenty of other well-known researchers in the field, pulling in their expertise as well.

Unfortunately, I can't say that I actually learned much from this book. That's not to say that there isn't good information in the book---there is---but I think for me it's a combination of things. I've been in this field a LONG time, so most of the '13 truths' just seem kind of common sense to me. Secondly, I hadn't realized it before since I'm not a huge watcher of television shows, but Amy and I have quite similar ideas and beliefs when it comes to paranormal investigation. I especially appreciate her thoughts on the idea of offering assistance and a voice to those left behind here without necessarily 'crossing them over.' I've always been leery of those in this field whose sole mission is to cross spirits over to the other side. We don't know what awaits them over there---how do we know we're not sending them to a fate worse than death? 

Anyway, if you're a fan of the shows Ghost Hunters or Kindred Spirits, or otherwise follow Amy's work, you'll definitely want to read Life With the Afterlife. It is an interesting glimpse into the life of an interesting person, and there's definitely plenty of practical information included for those interested in the field of paranormal investigation. At 257 pages, written in a large font, it's a quick and easy read, perfect for getting in a little chill during those summer days by the pool!

If you've read Life With the Afterlife, let me know what YOU thought about it!  Feel free to comment below, or join me over on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State's Facebook page. Stay spooky, ya'll. 

Amy Bruni's Ghost Photo

She may no longer be a member of The Atlantic Paranormal Society, but Amy Bruni is still in the paranormal news.  On November 18, 2014 she posted a photo to her Facebook fan page with the following information:

"28 years ago I took this photo. It has been lost for probably the last decade or so, but we finally just found it in an old album stashed away in my mothers house, (it has clearly been damaged over time.)  The girl in the photo is my little sister...I was just playing with the camera and making her pose.  But, there's someone on the porch...and that person wasn't there when I took the picture...and they aren't casting any shadow.  My mother to this to our photographer neighbor at the time, who was completely dumbfounded by the photo - because before we moved into this house, the old woman who had lived there passed away in it. Every day, when her husband went to work or ran errands, she would diligently wait for him on the porch, right where this figure is standing. In all my years looking at photos, maybe half a dozen have impressed me...this is one of them.  I'm so glad we finally found it."

It certainly looks as if there is some interesting anomaly in the photograph, and certainly Amy Bruni, with her investigation skills and background, would be reasonably well-educated enough to make an assessment. However, I have to play Devil's Advocate a minute, and use this photo as a great example of one of the many frustrations myself, as well as other paranormal researchers, face when it comes to assessing another person's photograph.

A major piece of information that is needed when analyzing a photo is the owner's information on it.  Why was it taken?  When?  Where? What was going on at the time and who was present?  A visual assessment based on a knowledge of photographic principals, as well as using certain tools such as EXIF data and error level analysis software, certainly help fill in the missing pieces, but they can only give us so much.  Some mysteries, in order to solve, require that human element...and the whole thing relies on an honest and accurate description.

Unfortunately, humans are notoriously bad witnesses.  Let's use this photo for an example.  The photograph was taken 28 years ago when Amy was a child. No one even saw it for the last ten years.  There is a very good chance that certain details could have been forgotten over time...or even changed over time through each re-telling of the story of the spooky photograph.

Even if the photograph was just taken yesterday, many people simply aren't consciously aware of certain details around them. She was probably having fun with her sister, concentrating on 'making her pose.' Was she really paying attention to what was going on outside during that fleeting moment the photograph was taken?  I see this over and over again with photos submitted as paranormal proof---the anomaly turns out to be a real person who just happened to wander into the shot, un-noticed by the subject and the photographer.

Obviously, I cannot claim that this is what happened with Amy's photo, and a more thorough analysis would have to be done in order to make a more accurate assessment.  Without doing such an in-depth study, it does appear that there is something possibly paranormal in this photo!

But, please keep this in mind when you're submitting a photo for analysis or if you are assessing one and the person claims that there was no one else around....especially if they are outside or in a public place.  These people might not necessarily be giving you false information or lying to you; they might simply be telling you what they honestly perceive was the circumstance.