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Not to be confused with the real world book Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal released by Three Rivers Press.

Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal[1] is a book written by Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates about the paranormal which appears in the 2016 Ghostbusters movie.

History[]

Primary Canon[]

Erin and Abby graduated with bachelors of science in physics from the University of Michigan in May 1996.[2] At age 22, they decided to spend the summer writing a book on the paranormal so pioneering it would render all existing books in the field obsolete. They hunkered down at the University of Michigan's Special Collections Library and went through research papers, journals and rare books.[3][4] After two weeks and a lot of Chinese take out from Tomorrow's Teriyaki, they completed a single-spaced 460 page manuscript.[5][6] The first sentence was "This is not a joke." Notably, it contained their own theory, the Spectral Field Theory. It postulated the existence of a new gauge field, hereafter known as the spectral ether and it was through the localized excitation of this ether by interdimensional entities in the form of spectral and standard model particles that resulted in the manifestation of ectoplasm.[7] For the acknowledgments section, Erin and Abby thanked the University of Michigan's Library staff, Chen at Tomorrow's Teriyaki, and Professor Alderman. They forgot to thank their parents.[8] A weakness of the book was it lacked experimental backing.[9] They printed a "truckload" of copies but couldn't sell any. To make matters worse, a promotional appearance on the campus talk show "Wolverine Scene" didn't go well. Erin and Abby's friendship came to an end, too.[10][11] Erin thought she burned and destroyed the only two copies in existence.[12] Abby promised to never print and sell anymore copies.[13]

Over 15 years later, Abby discovered a copy of Ghosts from Our Past was propping up the monitor in her office. She concluded it wasn't bad. She dug up the rest of the initial print run from storage and posted them for sale online.[14][15] The book was re-released on Amazon, as a hardcover and e-book, and Books on Tape without Erin's permission.[16][17][18][19] Abby saw it as a new revenue stream that would get her a new mini fridge for the Paranormal Studies Laboratory. Rowan North bought a copy and created devices designed to energize ghosts on a nuclear, paramolecular level, essentially the reverse of Erin and Abby's research.[20] Abby was one tenths of the way from her goal when Erin found out about it by a meeting with Ed Mulgrave.[21] Later that day, she found out more about it on Amazon including where she could get a hold of Abby. She went to Kenneth P. Higgins Institute to request the book be taken down. Abby claimed she and Jillian Holtzmann were close to actualizing theories from the book such as the hollow laser for the reverse tractor beam.[22] She went with Abby and Holtzmann to the Aldridge Mansion Museum to introduce them to Ed in exchange for Abby considering removing the book from Amazon until Erin made tenure. Ultimately she went with them into the mansion and she had a direct interaction with the ghost, Gertrude Aldridge. After Rowan killed himself in the boiler room of The Mercado Hotel, Holtzmann discovered a copy of Ghosts from Our Past and grabbed it before the police confiscated it. She presented it to Erin and Abby, confirming their suspicions Rowan based his technology off their theories. Erin took Rowan's copy with her to her apartment. She flipped through the pages until she saw some handwriting "Research Notes" with drawings of a cube and notes. She flipped and found a drawing of Gertrude Aldridge and Rowan's technology. She continued and found drawings of Rowan as a giant rampaging in the city. There was even a drawing of him killing himself like he did at the Mercado then a drawing of him grabbing people and full page spread drawing of people on a roof top bowing to him. "The Fourth Cataclysm" and "I Will Lead Them All" were also written on the pages.

The first editions of Ghosts from Our Past were pulled after Rowan attempted to use it for his own evil purposes. Over the course of six months give or take after Rowan's defeat, Erin and Abby updated Ghosts from Our Past.[23] The revised edition was "organized" into three sections, "Our Stories", "Our Research" and "Our Methods", on the suggestion of their editor. "Our Stories" detailed the backgrounds of Erin and Abby. "Our Research" went over the history of ghosts, the history of paranormal investigators, the evolution of supernatural taxonomy, and case studies of famous entities. "Our Methods" went over the tools of the trade and how to investigate. They decided to leave most of the original text intact except for the final chapter about attracting paranormal entities to the physical plane and removed over 200 pages of ghost orb photographs which turned to be just dust particles on Erin's camera lens. Holtzmann, Patty Tolan, and even Kevin Beckman got to contribute new material to it. Holtzmann wrote about the P.K.E. Meter, Proton Pack, and Trap. Patty wrote about case studies about some the most haunted places in history, including the Aldridge Mansion Museum, the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, the Borley Rectory in Essex, 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, The Mercado Hotel, and Cashen's Gap on the Isle of Man. Kevin wrote the epitaph.

Secondary Canon[]

IDW Comics[]

Several copies of the hardcover are still laying around in the Firehouse. During the dimensional overlap, Abby asked Kylie Griffin if Ray's Occult Books had her and Erin's book "Ghosts from Our Past" in stock. Kylie never heard of it. Abby figured as much.

Book Jacket Contents[]

Interior Left[]

Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal

By Abigail L. Yates & Erin Gilbert

Through all of history, societies have believed in the survival of personality after death. From ancient Mesopotamian spirits, to Pliny the Younger's letters, to modern encounters with apparitions, ghosts have an important place in human folklore. But are these stories just folklore, or can science give us definitive proof of their existence?

Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: A Study of the Paranormal is an exhaustive exploration of the marriage between paranormal research, physics, and science. Using particle physics, quantum theory and mathematics to examine case studies of real encounters with ghosts, Ghosts From Our Past offers an explanation for the things that, until now, could be explained.

Authors Abigail L. Yates and Erin Gilbert use scientific methodology to test traditional paranormal theories, while adding a new dimension in research to unlock the mysteries of the unseen worlds. Chapters include:

Pure Energy The Law of Conversation and the Afterlife

Something Weird The visible, Audible and Telepathic Experience

Schrodinger's Ghost The Observation Paradox and the Quantum System

Parallel University Quantum Fluctuation and Corresponding Particles

Ghostly Magnetism: Atmospheric, Electrical and Magnetic Clues

Interior Right[]

ERIN GILBERT

Erin Gilbert started her undergraduate work in Physics and Quantum Mechanics at University of Michigan. As an undergraduate she has coauthored the seminal paper "Condensed Matter in Transport of Fractional Quantum Hall States." She plans on finishing her graduate studies at MIT, under Professor Han Anschutz. She will also complete her Doctoral work at CERN and is currently studying Swiss.

ABIGAIL L. YATES

Abigail L. Yates is a two-time winner of the Institute for Advanced Theoretical Research Prize for Students and a recipient of the Westinghouse Dream Beyond Your Ability Award. She is currently working on a dual degree in Astronomy and Physics at University of Michigan, while at the same time serving as captain of the University of Michigan Curling Team. Her stated goal is to "blow every mind worth blowing in modern physics."

Development[]

On August 19, 2016, the Ghosts from Our Past Facebook posted the author photo of Erin and Abby from the first edition.[24]

Trivia[]

  • During the Council of Logic and Data's annual nondenominational winter holiday office party in 2014, Martin Heiss received a copy of Ghosts From Our Past as a white elephant gift. He read the synopsis out loud and everyone laughed. Heiss concluded Erin and Abby were completely unqualified to write it and the book was either nonsense or an elaborate in-joke. He attempted to sell his copy but every used bookstore already had numerous copies, several signed by Abby. Heiss even found a copy made out to Abby's mother.[25][26]
  • Abby sold Ghosts from Our Past on Amazon at a $22.99 MSRP.[27]
  • The book was released in the real world in a revision form by Three River Press.
  • Ghosts From Our Past appears in Ghostbusters: Slime City as a Legendary item and provides a 5% Proton Pack damage boost.[28]
  • Ghosts From Our Past appears in the music video for Elle King's "Good Girls" single.[29]
  • In the Tor Books Ghostbusters Novelization, on page 26, it's revealed Erin burned the only two original copies of Ghosts From Our Past and threw the ashes into the Hudson River in a weighted garbage bag.[30]
  • On page 20 of Ghostbusters International #11, pages from Rowan's copy of "Ghosts From Our Past" are posted up in panel 7 under Ray Stantz:
    • The drawing of giant Rowan grabbing people opposite of the 'Open the Barrier' page
    • The close up drawing of Rowan's face opposite of 'The Fourth Cataclysm' page
  • "Ghosts of Our Past" is mentioned in the Dramatis Personae bios of Abby and Erin in Ghostbusters 101 #1.
  • On page 20 of Ghostbusters 101 #1:
    • Right of Rowan's sketch, the book Abby looks at features pages from two different books. The left page is the excerpt about vengeful spirits in "Ghosts From Our Past" seen in Chapter 13 of the 2016 movie. It was opposite of the drawing of Rowan electrocuting himself.
    • Above Abby's book is a stack of three copies of "Ghosts From Our Past"
    • The post-it notes on top of the stack are a nod to Abby's discount price labels "Now 5.99" and "Special! Going like Hotcakes" seen in her lab at Kenneth P. Higgins Institute of Science.
  • On page 19 of Ghostbusters 101 #6, right of Patty is the stack of discounted copies of Ghosts From Our Past seen in Abby and Holtzmann's lab in the Kenneth P. Higgins Institute.
  • On Cover A of Ghostbusters Answer The Call Issue #3, Patty is holding a copy of Ghosts From Our Past.
  • In Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, the Erin Over The Top hairstyle alludes to Erin's attempts to distance herself from "Ghosts From Her Past"
  • In Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, the 2016 Gear Shell descriptions also mentions the book, "Don't let the Ghosts from Your Past prevent you from rekindling old friendships."

Appearances[]

Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]

Also See[]

References[]

  1. Ed Mulgrave Jr. (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:08:10-00:08:16). Sony Pictures. Ed Mulgrave Jr. says: "You're Erin Gilbert, right? Co-author of Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal?"
  2. Interview with Andrew Shaffer Andrew Shaffer says: " In May 1996, they graduated with their undergrad degrees from the University of Michigan."
  3. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 11. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "They were all of twenty-two when they wrote it, with nothing more than undergrad degrees from a Big Ten School."
  4. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 15. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "We'd just graduated with bachelors of science in physics. One of us---Abby---planned to return to Michigan for grad school while the other---Erin---had been accepted into the physics program at Princeton."
  5. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 15-16. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "And our favorite place, Tomorrow's Teriyaki, graciously supported us in our endeavor by delivering directly to our temporary workspace. Two weeks after sitting down, we had a single-spaced, 460-page manuscript that we christened Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal."
  6. Ed Mulgrave Jr. (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:08:36-00:08:41). Sony Pictures. Ed Mulgrave Jr. says: "A 460-page gag? The first sentence is, "This is not a joke"."
  7. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 86. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "If you've never heard of Spectral Field Theory, don't worry---it's so new it's still got that new theory smell. It's our own theory."
  8. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 215. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "IN THE FIRST EDITION, WE THANKED THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN'S LI-brary staff, Chen at Tomorrow's Teriyaki, and Professor Alderman. We realize, now, that we left a lot of people out, including our families---an inadvertent and regrettable error, or course."
  9. Erin Gilbert (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 2 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:12:30-00:12:32). Sony Pictures. Erin Gilbert says: "There is no experimental backing for anything in that book."
  10. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 16. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "We printed a truckload of copies but no one wanted them. We were far ahead of our time. A promotional appearance on a campus talk show, Wolverine Scene, didn't play out the way we'd intended, and our friendship and the book both died quiet deaths."
  11. Abby Yates (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 2 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:12:16-00:12:17). Sony Pictures. Abby Yates says: "That book was our baby. And you abandoned that baby before it even learned to fly!"
  12. Erin Gilbert (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:08:52-00:08:59). Sony Pictures. Erin Gilbert says: "I'm sorry. That book you're holding is utter nonsense. I don't even know how you got that. I thought I burned both copies."
  13. Erin Gilbert (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:10:16-00:10:17). Sony Pictures. Erin Gilbert says: "You promised you wouldn't do this."
  14. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 16. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "Years later, Abby discovered a copy propping up a monitor at her office, where it had been apparently been sitting for fifteen-plus years."
  15. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 16. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "Abby dug out the rest of our initial print run from storage and posted the books for sale online."
  16. Ed Mulgrave Jr. (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:08:59-00:09:01). Sony Pictures. Ed Mulgrave Jr. says: "It's on Amazon. Both hard copy and e-book."
  17. Ed Mulgrave Jr. (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:09:02-00:09:05). Sony Pictures. Ed Mulgrave Jr. says: "It's on Books on Tape, too. Only, I know how to read."
  18. Erin Gilbert (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 2 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:11:44-00:11:47). Sony Pictures. Erin Gilbert says: "You put our book online without my permission."
  19. Erin Gilbert (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 2 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:11:49-00:11:52). Sony Pictures. Erin Gilbert says: "Of course you need my permission. I wrote that book with you. My name is on it."
  20. Rowan North (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 13 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:30:53-1:31:02). Sony Pictures. Rowan North says: "My devices energized spectral entities on a nuclear, paramolecular level. Sound familiar? It's the reverse of your research."
  21. Abby Yates (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 2 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:11:55-00:12:00). Sony Pictures. Abby Yates says: "That book is a whole new revenue stream for me. And I'm, like, one-tenth away from getting a new mini fridge in here."
  22. Abby Yates (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 2 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:13:54-00:13:59). Sony Pictures. Abby Yates says: "Holtzmann and I are really busy here actualizing what we just theorized about in our book."
  23. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 173. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "They only gave me six months to write the epitaph, which is no time at all when you're training for a hide-and-seek tournament."
  24. Ghosts From Our Past Facebook 8/19/16
  25. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 11. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "At the CLD's annual nondenominational winter holiday office party last year, I received a copy of Ghosts from Our Past as a white elephant gift."
  26. Shaffer, Andrew (2016). Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal, p. 12. Three Rivers Press, New York NY USA, ISBN 9781101906002. Line reads: "One copy was personalized, To Mom. Thanks for everything! My heart broke in two---for that poor mother. Can you imagine pouring eighteen years into raising a child, only to have her waste her life on spooks and specters?"
  27. Abby Yates' Amazon page Line reads: "$22.99"
  28. Ghosts From Our Past Facebook 7/26/16
  29. Ghosts From Our Past Facebook 8/5/16
  30. Narrator (2016). Tor Books- "Ghostbusters Novelization (Holder)" (2016) (Book p.26). Line reads: "I thought I burned both copies. Then threw them into the Hudson River in a weighted garbage bag."
  31. Phil Hudson (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 8 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:54:27-0:54:32). Sony Pictures. Phil Hudson says: "You didn't tell me about a book that you wrote, and now everyone's saying you're some sort of crazy ghost hunter."
  32. Jillian Holtzmann (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): Past Lives (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:01:10-0:01:12). Sony Pictures. Jillian Holtzmann says: "It is a fantastic book, you know."
  33. Abby Yates (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): Past Lives (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:01:13-0:01:16). Sony Pictures. Abby Yates says: "It's a great book. That's why people were interested in talking about it on television."
  34. Abby Yates (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): The Duke (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:02:00-0:02:02). Sony Pictures. Abby Yates says: "You don't want me so sleepy I can't take the book down."
  35. Abby Yates (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #4" (2017) (Comic p.6). Abby Yates says: "How about Ghosts From Our Past?"
  36. Erin Gilbert (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #5" (2017) (Comic p.12). Erin Gilbert says: "Dr. Stantz has a whole store full of books, but nothing with his name on it. You... we wrote a book so comprehensive even a creepy bellhop person could follow the science in it and build from that."
  37. Narrator (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters: Answer The Call Issue #1" (2017) (Comic p.1). Narrator says: "Dr. Erin Gilbert, Physicist and co-author of Ghosts From Our Past...Dr. Abigail "Abby" Yates, Physicist and co-author of Ghosts From Our Past."
  38. 80-C Memo (2018). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #1" (2018) (Comic p.22). 80-C Memo reads: "Along with Dr. Gilbert, Dr. Yates co-wrote this dimension's most in-depth guide to parapsychology, "Ghosts From Our Past"."

Gallery[]

From Film and Trailers[]

Secondary Canon Images[]

Tertiary Canon Images[]

Behind the Scenes Images[]

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