THERE seems to be two distinct types of spirits when it comes to the afterlife.
There are ghosts unwillingly trapped on earth, and then there are free spirits who retain their memory and return to earth at will to comfort the grieving or pass on messages.
Spirit Sisters: Australian women reveal true-life stories of the paranormal, by Karina Machado. Hachette, rrp $32.99
There are lots of spooky, eerie details like this in journalist Karina Machado's look at the things that haunt us, in Spirit Sisters.
This unusual book examines some academic theories on ghosts and spirits, and offers case studies that will either unnerve or comfort readers, or simply fuel their skepticism.
One of Machado's interviewees says that, like all the women in her family, she has inherited psychic "gifts".
There are premonitions, kindly spirits, spirits still clothed in the historic garments they wore during their long-ago lifetimes, and those mothers who remain in touch with a child who has died.
The author has gathered tales of interaction with, or observation of, spirits from an eclectic range of subjects, and the interviews make interesting reading.
