Many people in the modern age believe in spirits, which is one reason the title of Wanda Pratnicka's book is intriguing. Possessed by Ghosts: Exorcisms in the 21st Century draws to mind movies like The Exorcist: dramatic stories of the triumph of spirituality over the occult.

However, the version of possession put forward by Wanda Pratnicka is not the pea soup gushing kind. Instead, she attributes just about every possible bad thing to interference by the spirit world.

Any sort of self-destructive behavior is attributed to a ghost taking possession. She includes homosexuality, which she claims is caused by heterosexual ghosts who want to pursue their interests after death and take possession of people of the opposite gender.

According to Pratnicka, people make themselves vulnerable to these spirits by engaging in such behaviors as alcoholism or by simply inviting them in.

The most problematic part of her theory is that the only way she suggests that someone can get rid of said spirits is through her direct intervention. In story after story, she talks about how she rode to the rescue of people whose lives were being ruined by spirits. And yet, she doesn't suggest any other way to get rid of them.

This makes one highly suspicious that this is simply a charlatan promoting her business, attempting to attract more customers. Perhaps this isn't the case, but it's hard to come to any other conclusion when the whole substance of this book is talking about how every single bad thing that happens to people is caused by spirits which only she can remove.

So despite the intriguing title, those interested in the paranormal should stay away from Possessed by Ghosts.

Centrum, 2002: ISBN 83-918022-3-X