Author: Dewey Edwards
Copyright: 2017
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It's not often that I find a book of paranormal nonfiction that I'm just absolutely blown away by, but I'm willing to give that honor to Something Wicked! by Dewey Edwards! This is such a well-written, well-researched, and most importantly, interesting and READABLE book that I seriously cannot praise it enough.
I first became acquainted with Mr. Edwards and his work through our mutual interests in the paranormal community, often tuning into Wild and Weird Radio's Thursday live streams on YouTube. Dewey has been a guest several times on the podcast himself, breaking records with the number of listeners, interactions, and program length (Beyond the Bell Witch and Return of the Bell Witch). And, it was all well deserved. He's one of those researchers that is so knowledgeable and can talk so easily on a subject, but can do so in a manner that is never dry or boring or preachy. It's simply entertaining.
That ability to tell a story shines through his writing as well.
Something Wicked! begins with the Bell Family's trip from North Carolina to their new home in Tennessee. As we follow along with the family's struggles to build a new and prosperous life for themselves in this wilderness, we really get a glimpse into who the Bells were. We also get a really good picture of what the world as a whole was going through during this time period. I find it fascinating that this is the first time I've ever really seen 'outside' events being mentioned as part of the Bell Witch story. Shortly after arriving in Tennessee, the area where the Bells settled was rocked by a series of earthquakes and aftershocks that had people convinced that the End Times were upon them. Then in 1815, the Tambour volcano in Indonesia erupted, which would result in the following summer being as cold as winter and many crops failing. The world was in turmoil...but soon that turmoil would turn very personal for John Bell and his family, especially his daughter, Betsy.
Because I'm somewhat of a paranormal nerd, I probably know a little more about the Bell Witch 'haunting' than your average person, but this book was packed with details about the activities of the witch and other little family anecdotes of note that I have never come across in casual reading. However, it's important to point out that these facts weren't just shoved into the text---the story was really well laid out and flowed smoothly in a sensible fashion. There was enough detail to get the full picture AND to explain historical concepts that most readers wouldn't be familiar with without over-doing it. Source citations were available to give the text more of an academic feel, but it was so interesting, it really read like a fascinating novel...complete with photographs!
I don't want to give too much away, because I really want to encourage you to pick up a copy of this book for your own library! Even if you think you know everything there is to know on this strange case of weird US history, I guarantee you'll learn SOMETHING new. At the very least, you'll be in for a fun, easy read on a really cool topic. And who knows, maybe you'll even solve the mystery as to WHO or WHAT the Bell Witch actually WAS: ghost? spirit? witch? poltergeist? demon? Or something completely different???
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