Living with Ghosts: Eleven Extraordinary Tales

The ghosts of Europe's haunted castles and palaces tell their strange and tragic stories in this elegantly written narrative. Do you believe in ghosts? Perhaps you were once in an empty house, you were alone in that room, yet your intuition told you that someone or something else was there with you. A creak on the stairway, the rustle of a curtain, a barely perceptible change in the air . . . if you had stopped and listened, what else would you have found or seen? From the gothic elegance of Powderham Castle in Devon, to the ruins of the Chateau de Lagnes in Provence, to the moated austerity of Schloss Schwarzenraben in Westphalia, Prince Michael of Greece has sought out eleven of the most celebrated haunted palaces and castles of Europe and describes them on the basis of his personal research and contact with their ghostly inhabitants. Who are the ghosts of these places? A serving woman, an Incan princess, a baronness whose lover was killed by her husband in a duel--Prince Michael gives voice to some of the many spirits who have waited so long to speak. Through wonderfully evocative prose and duotone photographs, the settings and histories of these houses come to life, and the houses' owners bring forth their descriptions and documents as well. But the centerpiece of each tale is the ghost's own dramatic testimony, narrated in the first person by Prince Michael--each graceful tale full of passion and tragedy. "If we were all prepared simply to acknowledge the existence of the inexplicable, many more of us would include ghosts among our acquaintances."--Prince Michael of Greece 50 duotones

Amazon.com Review

I'm an avid reader of ghost stories, and I'm usually happy with any collection of true experiences, but Living with Ghosts is delightfully different from other tales I've read. The locations Prince Michael explores are some of the most lavish and beautiful homes and palaces of Europe, and the characters are always of noble lineage, giving his stories a fairy-tale quality. I was hooked by Michael's method of allowing the ghosts to tell the stories in their own voice. Make no mistake, this is not a folio of seance transcripts, rather it is a fantastic collection of tales of murder, lost loves, and intrigue told by the dead themselves!

From Library Journal

Prince Michael of Greece, author of a multitude of magazine articles and books about royalty and their treasures, fills his latest opus with 11 infamous places in Europe and the specters who haunt them. Whether at a palace in the Italian province of Parma; a castle in County Clare, Ireland; or a fortress in rural Austria, he recounts his visits to these spooky sites and their current (living and dead) residents. Including the history and mood of the elegant settings as a backdrop, he writes of the tragic tales of the female ghosts haunting each locale and with whom he claims to have communicated. He recounts each one's life and death in a passionate first-person narrative. The prince explains his inherited propensity for such phenomena. "Ghosts run in my family's veins," he writes, and seems relatively nonplussed by his extrasensory skills with the spirits of baronesses, servant girls, and even that of an Inca princess. The entertaining text, accompanied by the photographic work of Justin Creedy Smith, is recommended for the gothic seeker but has less value for those truly interested in parapsychology.-?David Nudo, "Library Journal"Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Prince Michael of Greece, writer and grandson of King George I of Greece, investigates the stories of hauntings at 11 palaces around Europe. Drawn to the various palaces by the eerie rumors in the surrounding villages, Prince Michael eventually visits each site to determine the true story. Apparently possessing some sort of psychic bond with the inhabitants of the netherworld, the author "talks" to each one as it reveals the sad story of its life, its horrifying death, and how it came to exist in the present state. Although each tale is interesting in its own right and will appeal to fans of the classic ghost story, more interesting are the vivid descriptions of the lovely, forlorn castles and the tormented lives of the families that once dwelled within. Kathleen Hughes

About the Author

Prince Michael of Greece, grandson of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga of Russia, is a frequent contributor to magazines and has published several books in French and English. He lives in Paris, London, and New York.

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