Apparitions is a classic study of the supernatural and occult science by Joseph Taylor that features The Mystery of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, and Haunted Houses and includes the following intro:
The subsequent little Work owes its rise and progress to very trifling circumstances.
In the early part of my life, having read many books in favour of Ghosts and Spectral Appearances, the recollection remained so strong in my mind, that, for years after, the dread of phantoms bore irresistible sway. This dread continued till about my twenty-third year, when the following simple affair fully convinced me, how necessary it was thoroughly to investigate every thing that tended to supernatural agency, lest idle fear should gain a total ascendancy over my mind.