Ghostbusters UK (1991)

1991. The first Ghostbusters film had come out and it turned out that here in the UK we had our own team of phantom-tacklers, run by parapsychologist Robin Furman.

Calling themsleves "the Grimsby Ghostbusters" Robin and his small team of scientific psychic investigators armed with electronic monitoring devices would race off to solve other-worldly mysteries in a big black limo which had been the Mayor's car in a former life.

I interviewed Robin for a national magazine feature. he was what is known in the media as "a good talker."

He had limitless stories and anecdotes, a host of theories about "supernatural" happenings and reams of interesting information about topics which went beyond ghosts and poltergeists - such as zombies, witchcraft, out-of-body experiences and exorcism. All compelling stuff.

With all the material I had gained from interviewing Robin, writing only 2,000 words seemed woefully inadequate. After the piece had appeared, I asked Robin how he felt about doing a book together, then found a publisher - Robert Hale, of London.

We took it in turns to travel - me up to his place in the North East, and he down to visit me in Worcestershire (he said my house had a ghost in it, which was indeed supposed to be the case, although I had never experienced it). And then we spent more hours than I care to remember with a tape-recorder, Robin talking about his wealth of experiences and knowledge .... and me trying to keep him on-topic.

Robin knew Uri Geller, who kindly agreed to write a Foreword for the book, and then, lo and behold, in 1991 our book got published in hardback and I was, so to speak, a ghost-writer.

These days it's out of print, so if you have a rare copy, hang onto it...