Belief in Ghosts
This article relates to I'm Looking Through You
- A recent survey, cited by Boylan, reveals that 48% of people say they believe in ghosts, with women more
likely to say so (56%) than men (38%); overall, more than 1 in 5
Americans say they have seen or been in the presence of a ghost. Having said that, other
polls have put the general figures between 37%-65%, which does make one
think about statistics as well as ghosts!
- In 1991, in the case of Stambovsky v. Ackley, the Supreme Court
of New York ruled that a seller must disclose that a house has a reputation
for being haunted because such a reputation impairs the value of the house.
The Ackleys, and much of the community in Nyack, NY, believed the house to
be haunted, and had reported as much to papers and walking tours of the area
over the years they lived there. The buyer, Jeffrey Stambovsky, was from New
York City, and was not informed of the folklore, and filed for rescission of
the contract and damages soon after buying the house.
Often cited in law
schools because of its unusual findings and as an example of contract law,
the most well-known passage of the conclusion suggests that the house was
legally declared haunted: "having reported [the ghosts'] presence in both a
national publication ... and the local press ... defendant is estopped
to deny their existence and, as a matter of law, the house is haunted."
A history of the house and accounts of its hauntings, as well as the court
case.
- Visit Jennifer Finney
Boylan's website for her blog, videos of her book readings, a video tour
of her childhood house and more.
Filed under Cultural Curiosities
This "beyond the book article" relates to I'm Looking Through You. It originally ran in February 2008 and has been updated for the
October 2008 paperback edition.
Go to magazine.
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