How well do you know your ghosts? Because even the experts need help sometimes! Within the world of the original Ghostbusters, the team turned to Tobin’s Spirit Guide, a frequently updated tome that covers all kinds of spirits, including “Class 5 Free-Roaming Vapors!”
This week, Insight Editions is releasing Tobin’s Spirit Guide: Official Ghostbusters Edition, an in-universe book written by Erik Burnham and illustrated by artist Kyle Hotz that treats the events of the first two movies and The Real Ghostbusters animated series as if they really happened. Burham has previously written IDW’s Ghostbusters comics, so he does have some experience in this area!
Insight Editions has passed along a trailer for the book and a few preview pages, including on that hints that Ray is still sleeping with the Succubus-like dream ghost from the first film!
“Tobin’s Spirit Guide is kind of the holy grail of Ghostbusters books,” explained Insight Editions senior editor Chris Prince. “Tobin’s Spirit Guide is briefly mentioned in the original movie, but you never see the book itself. It’s also turned up in the animated shows, video games, and other elements of the franchise, but there’s never been a definitive version of the book itself. For fans, it’s always been one of those fun mysteries—what is Tobin’s Spirit Guide and what does it contain?—and we really wanted to answer that question.”
“It’s designed to be like an encyclopedia of all the ghosts with classifications, illustrations, and commentary by Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz,” continued Prince. “We really liked the idea of the original Ghostbusters ‘revising’ Tobin’s Spirit Guide, and adding in notes from their experiences. Erik Burnham’s job was to go back and look the various ghosts from theoriginal franchise including the films, video games, the animated shows, and the comics and choose the most memorable ones to include, essentially creating a compilation of the very best spooks and specters. And Kyle just took Erik’s text and the original designs for the ghosts and put his own unique spin on it, and the end result is totally stunning.”
Prince also shared his favorite ghosts from the franchise who made it into the book.
“I was a kid when the first movie came out, so Stay Puft and Slimer will always be my favorites because they are so nostalgic for me, since I grew up seeing them on cereal boxes and whatnot,” said Prince. “It’s also great to finally see characters that are mentioned in the original film but that you never get to see, like Ivo Shandor, and the Toab and Sloar. I also really like Ravana, the hungry ghost that feeds people until they pop, and also the Grundel, a really creepy creature from the Real Ghostbusters TV show.
Tobin’s Spirit Guide: Official Ghostbusters Edition will be released tomorrow, June 14 in bookstores everywhere.
What did you think about this preview? Let us know in the comment section below!
