Before Haunted South Island was published just in time for Halloween, author and paranormal investigator Mark Wallbank reached out online to ask people for credible ghost stories.
The 56-year-old has been searching for the supernatural since he started the Paranormal New Zealand organisation in 1984.
"Nobody really knows the true answers and the facts. While paranormal investigators and researchers have our theories, opinions, and findings, sceptics and the scientific community will have their theories and opinions as well. But neither are right. They're just opinions and theories," he said.
"One moment I had, there was like a grey mass, a grey mist that sort of walked across the hallway from halfway through the hallway when I saw it, both eyes, and it walked into a room. I thought it was a person. I didn't see much more than that, it was just a grey mass of something... without legs."
He said Christchurch is well known for its ghostly encounters, some of which are documented in the book.
"They've had all sorts of experiences with people being shoved awake in their sleep, shadow figures in the hallways, glasses flying off shelves. There was one guy who was knocked down by something invisible that was running down the hallway one day, and it sort of ran past him and knocked him down."
The spooky tales about Christchurch's Bottle Lake Forest also stand out.
"People being chased by shadow figures and just sort of unseen.... people walking the dogs, and the dogs will start reacting and barking and running away, trying to pull the lead, trying to get away out of fear."
- Haunted South Island is available to buy on Amazon.
- By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air
