At the fore is Harry Price, who became chairman in 1938 after investigating paranormal activity at the Borley Rectory in Essex, which he called the “most haunted house in England.” Professing that scientific rigor could legitimize the study of the afterlife, Price debunked lore about a phantom nun on the grounds but claimed to have observed other ghostly goings-on, such as tapping on the windows and servant bells ringing after their wires had been cut. He drew both acclaim and criticism, leaving Dawson to wonder: “Who was Harry Price — a genius or a grifter? A conjurer or a con?”Dawson is less skeptical of the wider cultural appeal of spiritualism. Perhaps she’s right that war, industrialization and the Titanic’s sinking stirred metaphysical yearnings, but after listeners hear offhand mentions of club members’ commitments to colonialism and Christian Zionism — and if they have any outside knowledge of the occult origins of the Third Reich — listeners may wonder if there’s more to the story. Audrey Clare Farley is the author, most recently, of “Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America.”THE GHOST CLUB | By Kate Winkler Dawson | Read by the author | Penguin Audio | 4 hours, 1 minute

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Persons: Harry Price, ”, Price, Dawson, Harry Price —, ” Dawson, offhand, Zionism —, Audrey Clare Farley, Kate Winkler Dawson, Read Organizations: Zionism, Reich, “, Penguin Locations: Essex, England, America