Many people today are entranced by the idea of speaking with the dead or else immersing themselves in vampire tales and wonder. What most people don't realize is how old and revered these stories really are. Within this work Calmet attempts to show where the idea of spirits and apparitions comes from and then within the second part of the main work where the idea and history of the vampire itself comes from. This work simply is not just a history text of ancient religious beliefs but also explains the thinking and beliefs that surrounded the spirits and vampires in the day and age when Calmet wrote this work.

Augustin Calmet's work, The Phantom World, overviews a rich and varied selection of supernatural tales and beliefs from the stance of the logician. The author compiles testimonies from different places such as Hungary, Poland, Peru, and England and provides his stories with illustrations by famous authors. He seeks to understand the truth behind the stories. For example, what made people believe in good and bad angels, magic, apparitions, vampires, witchcraft, possession by demons, and other mystical stories.

The Phantom World The History and Philosophy of Spirits, Apparitions From the French of Agustine Calmet With A Preface and Notes By The Rev. Henry Christmas The apparitions or appearances of good angels are frequently mentioned in the books of the Old Testament. He who was stationed at the entrance of the terrestrial Paradise was a cherub, armed with a flaming sword; those who appeared to Abraham, and who promised that he should have a son; those who appeared to Lot, and predicted to him the ruin of Sodom, and other guilty cities; he who spoke to Hagar in the desert, and commanded her to return to the dwelling of Abraham, and to remain submissive to Sarah, her mistress; those who appeared to Jacob, on his journey into Mesopotamia, ascending and descending the mysterious ladder; he who taught him how to cause his sheep to bring forth young differently marked; he who wrestled with Jacob on his return from Mesopotamia,--were angels of light, and benevolent ones; the same as he who spoke with Moses from the burning bush on Horeb, and who gave him the tables of the law on Mount Sinai. Includes Chapters on: The Appearance of Good Angels The Apparition of Bad Angels Examples which prove the Reality of Magic On Sorcerers and Sorceresses, or Witches Obsession and Possession of the Devil Examples of Real Possessions caused by the Devil Some other Examples of Elves Narrative of a Vampire Excommunicated Persons