Help with a Liverpool ghosts and hauntings book

[pablo42]

I'm a sceptic. Loadsa twaddle...

[Kid_Amigo]

A legless monk??. Are you sure he wasn't on a skateboard ?

Legless? He was obviously sloshed. Been and had a few in the Royal Navy Club next to the Rocket

[lindac8941]

One of the biggest problems with Tom Slemen and his books is that it has never once been established 100% (either by the Bluecoat Press or by Tom himself) whether all/some/none of these stories are real or not.

If they are all 100% 'made up' then the public needs to know so they don't bother wasting their time doing their own research.

If some of them are real and some made up, then tell us which so we don't have to go down the false advertising route.

If they are all 100% real then there is at least one story which is totally untrue of which I have personal information on. However - there is at least one story I know to be utterly true because I spoke to the person myself who had nothing to hide, didn't believe in ghosts up until that point and had nothing to gain from the story.

My personal view is that he has come up with some real stories, some 'passed on to him' and some made up stories, but I find it sad that he cannot simply tell us which ones are from which category.

I tend to agree with you there.

[pablo42]

Ha, thats funny...

[Ged]

A legless monk??. Are you sure he wasn't on a skateboard ?

More to the point Zaps, how could he be legless if he was only ON THE WAY towards the Fiveways pub???

[ItsaZappathing]

More to the point Zaps, how could he be legless if he was only ON THE WAY towards the Fiveways pub???

That's why I reckon he was on a skateboard.

[lindylou]

I have to say this thread seems to have taken a bit of a nasty turn.

Whether you believe in people's stories or not (and some are certainly more unbelievable than others) I don't think there's really any reason to "laugh at people who are so gullible", call them mad, etc. All seems a bit out of order to me to be honest. You wouldn't attack people's religious beliefs (for example) just because they might not be your own. I'm not sure why, if people are genuinely not bothered or interested in the supernatural (or "unexplained" or however you want to put it), they'd bother having a go at others who are.

I should point out that I am not someone who has ever seen a ghost or had a profound supernatural experience but neither do I just dismiss anything that whiffs of the paranormal as nonsense. I'm very interested in folklore and history and the supernatural is very often a big feature of both - stories (true or not) of ghosts and apparitions often provide a fascinating and engaging link to the history of a place.

That's not to say that every story is important (or credible or even interesting) but just because some aren't that doesn't automatically make the entire field a load of rubbish. If you want to just take the p**s and have a laugh I think there are plenty of other threads for that.

I'm not defending anyone's stories here but I think just spending post after post giving people stick and not actually adding anything to the topic seems a bit sad. Gang of bored kids talking loudly at the back of the bus so everyone else has to listen whether they like it or not. Know what I mean?

Sorry researchwriter, us disbelievers didn't intend to upset you.

[fortinian]

I feel I must explain myself and perhaps take some responsibility for altering the course of this thread.

I am not a skeptic. I am a Fortean (look it up). I did not say that Bernadette was mental. It was merely one of four options I gave - there could indeed be many others - but my post was not meant as a comprehensive list of possibilities.

Slemen has been known to 'troll' before, he has been known to establish accounts on many social networking sites, messageboards and even review sites under many different names. I am immediately on guard for any newbie poster who acts 'suspiciously' in their posting habits regarding information that is Slemenish.


For example, Bernadette posted her timeslip story in this thread and here http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/sho...ht=#post234663. It is as if she is angling for something to bite.

It may be my paranoia, granted, but as I explained in my orignal post, one of Tom Slemen's most common themes is 'Bold Street Time Slips' and you would have to be pretty ignorant not to know about it, especially if it has happened to you and you have the internet.

The first thing I would do if it happened to be would be to google it. Not waste 10 minutes of my time to sign up to a general message board in the vain hope that someone might have something.

My 'obsession' with Tom Slemen (and if you're going to stick your oar in you might as well do it by name and not mere suggestion) is not so much about him but rather with his shabby treatment of Liverpools history. I am along the lines of Brother Cad - I don't mind him making up ghost stories as long as he signifies that they ARE MADE UP.

When you have a respected historian like Ken Pye on Radio Merseyside talking about 'William Mackenzie the pyramid tomb gambler' (as he did on the Sean Styles show) then I begin to get worried. I have proved consistantly that he is not buried in the pyramid at all and rather than being a 'keen gambler who sold his soul to the devil' he was a church going, God fearing man and one of the most influential people in the 19th Century and he was proud to call Liverpool his home.

It not not Slemen I am obsessed with but rather the disrespect he has shown to our citys fine history.

There are many mysteries in this world that we cannot explain and that science does not and will not acknowledge. Science is as much a fable as religion, science consistantly ignores incovenient data or explains it as an 'error' or 'glitch'. There are far too many real mysteries (historical, physical, natural) to be answered to waste on popular spook stories with no substance outside the storytellers mind.

[Kid_Amigo]

Fortean Times, I am aware of the magazine. Not that I read it.

You never called Bernadette (or Tom Slemen as you 'suspect') mental, just listed it as a possibility? Doesn't disguise the insult very well.

Point is you can differences of opinion on any subject, I am not doubting you know your stuff. But you have not put your side of your findings in a professional manner, just seems you are going out your way to discredit the work of Tom Slemen. You go as far as I already pointed out jumped at a poster because it turns out they have made a request regarding a topic he has written about. Now you say Tom Slemen trolls forums under different names. As I have stuck my Oar in as you put it, you come across as obsessed with him.

I am not a historian, so I can't take say whether you or he is right, but when you admit a apparent respected Historian (not heard of said man you mentioned) talks about Toms work then it puts another tick for Tom Slemen. I'm sure a respect Historian would shoot Tom Slemens 'disrespecting' historical accounts in flames.

[lindylou]

... but at the end of the day - these 'paranormal' fairytales are nonsense ! They are not real. Ghosties and ghoulies do not exist. This is not an insult to anyone - it is just a fact that there is no such thing as ghosts and things that go bump in the night

I don't have a problem with Tom Slemen's books - - they are interesting little tales if you like that kind of thing, and there is a market for them.

My teenage son is enthrawled by such fantastical tales and has bought most of the Slemen books.
There is no harm in story telling as long as you don't believe it as truth.

[pablo42]

... but at the end of the day - these 'paranormal' fairytales are nonsense ! They are not real. Ghosties and ghoulies do not exist.

I don't have a problem with Tom Slemen's books - - they are interesting little tales if you like that kind of thing, and there is a market for them.

My teenage son is enthrawled by such fantastical tales and has bought most of the Slemen books.
There is no harm in story telling as long as you don't believe it as truth.

bet you wouldn't say that in a dark forest...

[lindylou]

I'd be spooked in a dark forest - but not because I'd think some hob goblins and witches were in wait !! ha!
I'd be scared of a prowler or a nutter might be at large.

[pablo42]

I'd be spooked in a dark forest - but not because I'd think some hob goblins and witches were in wait !! ha!
I'd be scared of a prowler or a nutter might be at large.

Heehee, you would be expecting me then...

[Kid_Amigo]

... but at the end of the day - these 'paranormal' fairytales are nonsense ! They are not real. Ghosties and ghoulies do not exist. This is not an insult to anyone - it is just a fact that there is no such thing as ghosts and things that go bump in the night

I don't have a problem with Tom Slemen's books - - they are interesting little tales if you like that kind of thing, and there is a market for them.

My teenage son is enthrawled by such fantastical tales and has bought most of the Slemen books.
There is no harm in story telling as long as you don't believe it as truth.

If you don't believe in such things, then of course it would be nonsense to you. Just I know more than one person, including members of my own family who claimed to have seen Ghosts. To them they obviously do exist. Because you say its not true does not make it any more gospel than Tom Slemen or Fortinian who claim otherwise. I just witness on this forum hostility towards a poster because they asked a question regarding a Time Travel story (far fetched admittedly) and being called mental or being Tom Slemen trolling.

[ItsaZappathing]

Do you believe in the Invisible Army ?