Derek Acorah on rape

Last week I saw Derek Acorah's book 'Haunted' in a bargain bin.

Well, I say 'bargain' bin. It was 50p, which I think we can all agree, is too much.

I thought it would be an amusing read, and for the most part I was right. The first chapter for example, offers up the gem "...at times I come across spirit beings who are behaving in an anti-social manner" Huh?

But a few chapters later this paragraph popped up:

"I explained to Terry that, difficult though it might be to come to terms with, it is my belief that before we enter our physical lives we choose the way in which we will live those lives. We choose the burdens we will have to carry, the things we will have to endure and also the manner of our passing"

How naive I thought. He clearly hasn't considered stuff like death in childhood, brutal murder or rape.

Oh, it turns out he has, because in the next chapter he talks to a woman whose father raped her throughout her childhood and writes:

"As Nancy related this story to me I realised that unfortunately this was a case where people have to undergo certain harsh experiences in their lifetime in order to achieve soul growth. In other words, they had agreed to these experiences before they had incarnated into their physical bodies"

From the bargain bin, to the recycling bin. Let's hope it comes back as something more useful. Ditto that for Acorah when he passes in the manner of his choosing.