Let me begin by saying that I am a huge Gothic mystery fan and have always loved Barbara Michael's ghostly stories. But I was slightly disappointed in this offereing. I'm not saying that it's terrible, just not her usual.

The premise was promising. A fictional club that included Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and other notables. The synopsis promised a good old fashioned ghost story

However, the stories were not new. The first story was the infamous Bell Witch haunting. After telling the story again, the members of the group each give a theory as to what they think really took place. All these opinions have been rehashed many times over the years. In fact, this story was very similar to the movie "An American Haunting" which was made from the legend.

In the second section of the novel, which deals with the Stratford haunting, a new guest joins the men's table to tell the tale, and in many ways "Other Worlds" becomes more thrilling as this one - a story of family madness and human experimentation from a previous century begins.

The ending of the second story seemed rushed, thrown together; less time is spent discussing possible explanations than was the case with the first story. Finishing it, I felt as if an entertaining speaker had been forced to hurry away in the middle of an intriguing conversation.

Both stories are based on supposedly true events in 19th century America. They are well-written and intriguing. While I was reading it, I enjoyed myself enormously, yet when I was done, I felt cheated, a little starved. I wanted at least another story; I wanted the discussion at the end of the Phelps story to unfold in a less hurried, “I’m late for an appointment” fashion. ( )

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. The concept of a club to explore paranormal cases was good. However, the two cases were too similar and weren't that interesting to me.

I think if you enjoy ghost stories or paranormal history, you might like this book. I think many fans of Barbara Michaels will not find what they are looking for. ( )

One foggy evening, the members of the illustrious Society For Psychical Research meet in the smoking room of an exclusive London men's club. Amid the glowing cigars, decanters of brandy, and the charming air of camaraderie, sit men who are the acknowledged geniuses within their various specialties. They are considered some of the most famous crime specialists in the world, and are gathered together with mystery on their minds. On the agenda for tonight's program are two tantalizing, unsolved cases of ghostly terror.

Some of the greatest minds are represented in this group, and all those present eagerly turn their considerable powers of deductive reasoning to the cases at hand. Those present for tonight's performance include, Harry Houdini; the king of illusion; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, father of the modern detective novel; and Dr. Nandor Fodor, a psychoanalyst of international acclaim. Tonight's special guest is an elegant writer herself, who can rival them all with her sleuthing talent.

These eminent masters of mystery will set their minds to unraveling the intricacies in a pair of gripping stories - stories of two families beset by poltergeists' pranks and bewitched by inexplicable otherworldly horrors. Gripping puzzles, to be sure, but these families terror is all too vicious and all too real. In the hollows of Tennessee, a family is threatened by a spirit's dire predictions of despair and death that come true with a frightening reality. In a small Connecticut town, a recently remarried widow and her young children move into her second husband's home and soon find their lives possessed by some unimaginable demonic entity.

For those in attendance at the club this evening, a brilliant battle of wits has begun. Were these villainous evil doers actually phantoms from beyond the grave or miscreants who were grounded more solidly in the world of flesh and blood reality? Each expert has an opportunity to voice their own theories. Which of them is correct?

In my opinion, this was a great book to read. I found the story to be thoroughly interesting and remarkably well-grounded in a Gothic atmosphere. I give Other Worlds by Barbara Michaels an A+!

To be perfectly honest, neither one of these cases was resolved to my full satisfaction, yet the book still captured my interest and held it all the way through to the end. Actually, of each of the stories presented, I found the second one, 'The Stratford Haunting', perhaps the most interesting one. I must say that I have read and enjoyed several books by Ms. Michaels in the past - a name which is one of the two pseudonyms used by renowned author and Egyptologist, Barbara Mertz. Dr. Mertz also wrote historical mysteries under the pseudonym Elizabeth Peters, as well as several non-fiction books on the study of Egyptology under her own name. ( )

Other Worlds is one of Barbara Michaels later releases. Although I am a huge Gothic mystery/romance fan and I have a nearly complete collection of Barbara Micheals work, I still haven't read all of them. This was one I kept trying to get around to.
The premise was promising. A fictional club that included Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and other notables. The synopsis promised a good old fashioned ghost story.
However, the stories were not new. The first story was the infamous Bell Witch haunting. After telling the story again, the members of the group each give a theory as to what they think really took place. All these opinions have been rehashed many times over the years. In fact, this story was very similar to the movie "An American Haunting". So, been there, done that.
The other story was new to me, but so similar to the first one in that there was family being haunted, and there were investigators of all sorts trying to get to the bottom of it.
The members of the club offer up the same sort of opinions at the end of the second story, but it's really rushed through.
Overall a very disappointing read. I give it a D ( )

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed Ms. Michaels trying to analyze what the responses will be from the different people. This book is an excellent book if you dont want one that has a beginning and an end. It is just a group of people sitting down and telling ghost stories and then talking about their reasons why the ghosts appearred or didn't appear.... ( )