New Books and Media

From the publisher's website: Based on ethnographic research in England, Doubting Ghosts explores the paradoxes faced by paranormal investigators or "ghost hunters": in spite of spending significant time observing and documenting what they suspect to be paranormal phenomena—in a scientific, secular and rational fashion—many paranormal investigators remain skeptical about the existence of the paranormal. What, then, does it mean to regularly see ghosts and yet to not believe ghosts are real?

Further information at the publisher's website: Routledge.

From the back cover: People encountering UFOs, monsters, or spirits understand that reality is stranger than it seems. Yet an even more unsettling phenomenon lurks in the margins: real encounters with fictional characters from literature, mythology, and even comic books.

These impossibilities litter the paranormal. Flying saucers mimic their pulp depictions. Cryptids emerge from the pages of folklore and fiction. Urban legends manifest as genuine, ghostly phenomena.

This-the permeable ”fourth wall” separating fiction from reality-repreents the final taboo of High Strangeness. Blending celebrated cases with rare and unpublished accounts, Joshua Cutchin invites readers to search for truth in the most unlikely place: the crossroads of the paranormal, the imaginary, and the real.

Further information is available at the author's homepage: Joshua Cutchin.

From the publisher's website: This book offers an up-to-date handling of C. G. Jung’s Theory of Synchronicity and the more mainstream paranormal phenomena known as extra-sensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK), collectively referred to as ‘psi’. Author Lance Storm re-works various aspects of synchronicity, traditionally marginalized by parapsychologists, to bring about a paradigm shift in the field. Most often seen as fundamentally different, the book draws parallels between psi and synchronicity and equates the two, arguing that psi was all along a form of synchronicity – just as Jung had anticipated. To achieve this, Storm necessarily modifies both the parapsychologist’s view about psi, and Jung’s views about synchronicity, enabling a satisfactory merger of the two paranormal phenomena. Based on rigorous scientific research and written in an easy-to-understand style, this book is an important resource for specialists such as anomalistic psychologists, parapsychologists, philosophers, paranormalists and theologians.

Further information at the publisher's website: Routledge.

From the back cover: If you keep your eyes and your mind open, you will see that the paranormal, the miraculous, the merely inexplicable not only happen, but they are not even uncommon. Now the author of Apparitions has provided an overview of more than a dozen phenomena which defy the laws of nature as we know them. Trained in science himself, his procedure is as follows: document everything, attempt a mundane explanation at first instance, don’t accept anything until it is confirmed by a second incident, but at the same time do not reject anything, no matter how fantastic.

From the publisher's website: The evidence for an afterlife is vast, varied, and ancient. Now, meticulously compiled into one place, this evidence can be critically evaluated to resolve the age-old controversy of survival beyond death. Equipping you with a tool kit drawn from science, philosophy, and legal reasoning, Oxford-educated philosopher Chris Carter facilitates a thorough examination of the evidence and its corresponding counterarguments. Explore compelling case studies of near-death experiences, deathbed visions, apparitions, children who remember a previous life, and communications from the deceased. With findings that cannot be explained away by fraud, mistaken eyewitness testimony, incompetence, or extrasensory perception (ESP), this book proves beyond all reasonable doubt that our consciousness endures past bodily death.

Further information at the publisher's website: Llewellyn.

From the back cover: Eileen Garrett was one of the most internationally renowned and studied psychic mediums of the twentieth century. She was also an author, publisher, and co-founder of the Parapsychology Foundation. In Behind the Medium’s Mask: Eileen Garrett’s Shadow Self, historian Elisabeth J.C. (Lis) Warwood reveals significant discrepancies in Garrett’s autobiographies. That none of her Spiritualist associates or parapsychological investigators discovered the woman behind the mask may shock those who grew up believing her origin story.

A vital contribution to the historical study of psychic phenomena, Behind the Medium’s Mask sheds new light on a figure who has captivated scholars and the public alike. It is a revealing investigation into the facts of Eileen Garrett’s life. presenting new and important insights that demand a reassessment of Garrett’s abilities, motives, and influence in the world of parapsychology.

From the back cover: What lies behind the hums, whisphers, disembodied voices and booms that defy explanation? This book takes you on a journey through the mysterious world of unexplained sounds from the ocean, sky, forest, ground, blending witness accounts, scientific inquiry, and cultural insights to uncover the secrets behind these auditory phenomena. Are these disturbing sounds natural, psychological, or something far more extraordinary?

From the publisher's website: This book critiques conventional parapsychological viewpoints about extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK), collectively referred to as ’psi’. Since the 1930s, an over-arching view on psi has been built on J. B. Rhine’s theories and research at Duke University. The author argues that there are fundamental problems with the psi paradigm, and offers solutions based largely on Jung’s Theory of Synchronicity, treating the subject matter in a rigorous scientific way. The synchronicity concept speaks to ambiguous psi terminology, the narrow methodological approaches in psi testing, and limited interpretations of psychic experience that do not consider the pivotal role of meaning. This book considers problems with terminology, findings, and the psi construct from a Jungian synchronistic standpoint, which gives credence to issues such as archetypes, meaningfulness, and numinosity. An important new contribution to the understanding of psi, this book will be of interest to practitioners and researchers working in the disciplines of psychology, parapsychology, consciousness studies, and physics, especially quantum mechanics.

Further information at the publisher's website: Routledge.

From the publisher's website: Discover how the bonds of life and love transcend death. Since ancient times, people from nearly every culture and corner of the world have experienced visions of loved ones that coincided with their faraway deaths. Daniel Bourke explores these otherworldly synchronicities, known as crisis apparitions, from ancient times to the present, including hundreds of vivid accounts, demonstrating their universal nature.

Further information at the publisher's website: Destiny Books.

From the back cover: "In this fascinating book, Peake not only examines the latest neuroscientific hypotheses concerning the physical and psychological aspects of NDEs, but also explores how anthropological studies and spiritual beliefs have contributed to our understanding of them. With pertinent assessments of out-of-body experiences, the panoramic life review and the concept of time distortion, Peake provides a timely consideration of a subject that questions our views of consciousness and reality."

From the publisher's website: Have you ever been in an accident and felt that time slowed down? Have you felt time stretch radically, or even apparently disappear, in a state of deep meditation? Psychologist Dr Steve Taylor calls these Time Expansion Experiences, and in this book he shares his years of research into this life-changing phenomenon.

Further information at the publisher's website: Watkins Publishing.

From the publisher's website: After an injury threatened his chances of signing a professional baseball contract, R. Alan Streett sought help from Olga Worrall, a world-famous psychic healer. This encounter set in motion his lifelong search for the origin and nature of psychic phenomena. Were they natural or supernatural? From God, or from the devil? Were they mentalists’ tricks, or feats of the subconscious mind? Streett invites us to join him in real time as he explores the fascinating world of the paranormal, offering insights into healing, magic, trance channeling, yogic meditation, alternative medicine, astral projection, and the brain’s ability to produce spiritual and mystical experiences. 

Further information at the publisher's website: Eerdmans

Review by Gregory M. Westlake.