Superstition

Parapsychologist Sam Towne believes that ghosts come from the human mind, not from "beyond". To prove his theory, he invites eight volunteers, including skeptical reporter Joanna Cross, to take part in an experiment. In a series of seances they invent "Adam Wyatt," a tragic Revolutionary War hero, and are thrilled when he starts rapping on tables and spelling out messages. But when members of the group begin dying in horrifying ways, it becomes clear that Adam has taken on a strange and dangerous life of his own -- one feeding on their very thoughts and emotions. Now Sam and Joanna must destroy Adam before he destroys everything in their world -- and even the love they have found for each other turns into an endless, terrifying, inescapable nightmare...From cult classic author David Ambrose comes a story based on the true case of an experiment into the paranormal, a story that will change forever the way you feel about...

Amazon.com Review

Fans of the X-Files will find this novel of the paranormal a very worthy diversion. With its consistent and intelligent narrative voice, Superstition heightens the terror with its careful balance of the real, the scientifically plausible, and the fantastic. When university psychologist Sam Towne assembles a group of eight people to test his hypothesis that group telepathy can call into being a ghost who exists only in their imagination, he gets much more than he bargained for. And Joanna Cross, the cynical reporter who sniffs another headline-making story about fraudulent spiritualists, is glad to play along. But when Adam Wyatt, the Revolutionary War hero created in a group exercise, breaks through from another dimension and reveals himself to be a darker shade than anyone could have guessed, those who thought him into existence are stymied in their efforts to send him back where he came from. As members of the group who would deny him reality begin to die, Sam and Joanna realize the strength of the force they've unleashed, but it may be too late to recapture it. Reason, logic, and faith fail them, and even the power of the love that flourishes between the two attractive protagonists may not be enough to put the genie back in the bottle. Superstition is a riveting supernatural thriller that will keep readers turning pages--each more horrifying than the next--until the shocking denouement. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

For a scientific experiment in psychokinesis, university psychologist Sam Towne assembles a group of eight individuals who, using the power of their collective consciousness, create a "ghost" with whom they hope to communicate. With ace investigative journalist (and love interest) Joanna Cross on hand to bear witness, the scientific seances at Manhattan University succeed all too well: the entity the group conjures up not only communicates with them but also becomes integral to their lives?and deaths. British author Ambrose (The Man Who Turned into Himself) takes a poor paranormal premise and eventually overcomes it with a ripping good ending. Despite the publisher's play-up of the novel as supernatural suspense and horror, the book is almost science fictional as Ambrose ultimately speculates on a time-travel theory postulating that the past comes out of the present instead of the present emerging from the past. According to Ambrose's acknowledgments, the story is based on "an experiment that actually took place" in the early 1970s. Unfortunately, the author brings neither his almost comically dated fake psychic schemers nor parapsychology into the '90s. But his well-toned technique and winning characterizations carry patient readers along to the core of the story. The plot falters slightly as it falls into a "Don't-open-that-door!" groove and a lot of people suddenly and mysteriously drop dead. Once over the low hurdles, however, Ambrose plays an unflinching mastergame of reality manipulation right through to a chilling checkmate of an ending that is genuinely frightening. Film rights sold to Interscope for $1 million; foreign rights sold in Germany and Holland. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-Based on an actual experiment from the 1970s, this novel takes an unusual turn. Former physicist turned parapsychologist Sam Towne believes that ghosts can actually be created. Called a "tulpas," or "thought form," a "ghost" is energy created from thought. In an effort to prove this theory, he gathers eight people who agree to participate in a bizarre experiment. Together they will create a fictitious character, give him a history, and conjure the presence of this ghost solely from the energy of their collective minds. Unfortunately, the experiment works only too well. Their ghost, Adam Wyatt, is given a past as an assistant to Lafayette in the Revolutionary War. After a move to Paris, he marries and becomes a contemporary of the Marquis de Sade and the infamous alchemist, Cagliostro, according to their script. He makes his presence frighteningly apparent at their gatherings and then, suddenly, history seems to have changed. There is evidence of an Adam Wyatt having lived. Worse, the members of the group begin to die off accidentally. Sam and his lover, Joanna, struggle to resolve this deadly enigma. Just scary enough, this novel grabs readers and keeps them turning pages. Most young adults will enjoy the Stephen King-like aspects of the story and wonder about the original experiment, possibly enough to research it. A short history lesson about the French Revolution is relatively painless, as well. A fascinating romp through parapsychology and ghostly lore.Carol DeAngelo, American Chemical Society Library, Washington, DCCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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