Barker was a spiritual writer and in 1912 while in Paris, one evening she began automatic writing, a phenomenon where someone other than her own sub-conscious was writing using her hand. Much inspired writing over the years claims to have originated from disincarnate beings, and Barker was no exception. The entity responsible for the writing claimed to be Judge David Patterson Hatch, a lawyer from Los Angeles.

The judge explained that he had recently passed over and that he wanted to document his experiences on the other side in the form of letters that he would write through Elsa’s hand. Within a few days, Barker received verification from a friend that the judge had indeed died recently in Los Angeles.

Over the next three years, over 100 letters were ‘dictated’ and published as a trilogy, debuting with Letters from a Living Dead Man, followed by War Letters from the Living Dead Man and Last Letters from the Living Dead Man. Coming shortly after WT Stead’s bestselling channeled work, Letters from Julia, the letters are now considered an essential guide to the afterlife. All are fascinating, informative and inspirational and are required reading for anyone interested in life and death, the afterlife, and why we are here.