New Books and Media

From the publisher's website: Alejandro Parra nos invita a un viaje fascinante a través del mundo de los médiums y la diversidad de experiencias espirituales. En esta obra pionera, el autor explora con rigor y sensibilidad las vidas y relatos de videntes de diferentes épocas y culturas, desentrañando los misterios de la comunicación con lo inmaterial. Abordando las dimensiones psicológicas, transpersonales, históricas y clínicas de la mediumnidad, ofreciendo una perspectiva comprensiva y accesible tanto para expertos como para legos. Desde las primeras formas de contacto intangible en la infancia hasta los relatos de sensitivos excepcionales que han influido en la sociedad, este libro es una lectura obligada para aquellos que buscan entender uno de los enigmas más profundos del ser humano.

Further information at the publisher's website: Editorial Almuzara.

From the publisher's website: Paranormal expert Theresa Cheung shares 101 of the most mysterious and spooky true stories of hauntings from around the world together with the latest afterlife science and research, providing fascinating insight into our never-ending love affair with ghosts. Belief in ghosts is surprisingly common worldwide. Mysterious glowing orbs, unexplained chills, things that literally go bump in the night: signs of paranormal activity have reportedly surged during the pandemic. As have specialist investigators, organised ghost hunts, eerie podcasts, TV shows and reports of everyday hauntings.

Further information at the publisher's website: Michael O'Mara.

Review by Peter A. McCue.

From the publisher's website: A History of Ghosts, Spirits and the Supernatural charts the extraordinary narrative of one of the most fascinating and controversial subjects in the world, covering everything from Neolithic ancestor worship and ancient necromancy to modern-day ghost-hunting and creepypasta tales and from the Japanese onryo to the La Llorona of Latin America. The perfect introduction to the subject, this spellbinding volume details the numerous ways in which spirits and the spirit world have been depicted in myth and religion, folklore, art, and literature.

Further information at the publisher's website: DK.

From the publisher's website: A number of converts to Buddhism report paranormal experiences. Their accounts describe psychic abilities like clairvoyance and precognition, out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, and encounters with other beings such as ghosts and deities, and they often interpret these events through a specifically Buddhist lens. This book is a groundbreaking exploration of these phenomena and their implications for both humanistic and scientific study of the paranormal.

Further information at the publisher's website: Columbia University Press.

From the publisher's website: Possessed by curiosity, paranormal investigator Richard Estep hunts down firsthand experiences and historic accounts of the most legendary demonic activity. He consults with experts ranging from a medical doctor to an ordained Catholic exorcist on cases like the Salem Witch Trials and the inspiration for The Exorcist. He also visits several sites of alleged demonic infestations, such as the Monroe House. With the facts at your fingertips, you can determine the truth for yourself.

Further information at the publisher's website: Llewellyn.

Review by Nemo C. Mörck.

From the publisher's website: Uncover fascinating paranormal activity on this chilling, nerve-wracking global tour of over 50 paranormal locations, with a brilliant foreword from award-winning writer, Danny Robins. Set out on a uniquely dark armchair journey and witness the shocking supernatural events, ghosts and unexplained phenomena that have captivated humankind for as long as we have told stories to each other, looked to the skies, and wondered whether we really are alone…

Further information at the publisher's website: Quarto.

Review by Ciaran Farrell.

From the publisher's website: This is the first illustrated volume to gather the art and objects that made medium and magician performances iconic during the Spiritualism movement and beyond, a time when people actively debated and wondered, "can spirits return?" An international selection of paintings, photographs, posters, stage apparatuses, film, publications, and other objects reveal how audiences were entranced and mystified by these experiential performances, captivating willing believers and garnering skeptics as they navigated the intersecting realms of science and spirituality. From the origins of the iconic Oujia board to spirit photography, this book is a treasure trove.

Further information at the publisher's website: Rizzoli Electa.

Review by Matthew L. Tomkins.

From the back cover: This ground-breaking volume consists of essays by scientists and academics describing their own experiences of synchronicity and how these experiences transformed both their worldviews and the way they lived their lives. The essays consider possible interpretations/explanations and implications of these synchronistic events for a deeper understanding of consciousness and the interconnected nature of reality in terms of epistemology and ontology. A major theme of the volume is, "What kind of universe makes synchronicity possible?“ We anticipate you will be intrigued and perhaps feel a sense of participatory resonance and joy, at the answers you find in the essays. We truly believe this is a fundamentally benevolent, creative and playful universe in which we, as individual expressions of the one Universal Mind, co- create our reality.

From the publisher's website: Swansea has long been a place of magic and mystery. Ruined castles with ghostly inhabitants dot the landscape, while the golden sands of Gower are steeped in Arthurian mythology and seafaring tales of smugglers and pirates. Yet it has also seen much upheaval and destruction, from the early Viking invaders to the Luftwaffe’s devastating ‘three-nights’ blitz’ during the Second World War. Paranormal Swansea and Gower takes the reader on a spine-chilling journey to dozens of supposedly haunted locations, ranging from well-known tourist destinations to more secluded spots off the beaten track, each with its own eerie tale to tell. These include the spirits of ancient soldiers who wage war on the beaches at dusk, the Gothic ruins guarded by the most terrifying of apparitions, the family home where the wraith of a murderer returned to haunt his former neighbours, the Swansea Devil, a ‘cursed’ work of art which lurks in the museum, and the workaholic miller who refuses to down tools at an historic watermill long after shuffling off this mortal coil.

Further information at the publisher's website: Amberley Publishing,

Review by Peter G. Maxwell-Stuart.

From the publisher's website: Today, for the first time in history, the scientific exploration of death and what happens when we die is real, active and ongoing. Contrary to popular perceptions, this subject is no longer the remit of philosophy, religion, or personal opinion. Truly remarkable scientific discoveries that will fundamentally affect everyone’s lives now and in the future are taking place, yet very few people are aware of them.  Most people—including scientists and doctors—maintain strong beliefs about death and its experience. Those beliefs are rooted in traditional, and often cultural, notions of death. But what if all that we have come to believe about death is fundamentally wrong? What if the paradigm we have been operating within no longer exists? What if death is not the end we thought?

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

From the publisher's website: This new edition of Parapsychology continues to challenge and provoke readers with some of psychology’s most puzzling phenomena. Whether believers or sceptics, the book provides readers with the opportunity to further their understanding of the paranormal, bridging the gap between traditional psychology and fringe areas.

With contributions from leading paranormal researchers, this edition has been thoroughly updated and includes new chapters on dreams, precognition and prediction of future events and anthropology. The book has been reorganised to help readers frame each phenomenon within the context of cognition, science and religion, and chapters are structured around science and experience, cognition and belief, religious belief and science, and further topics in parapsychology. The book covers a range of topics that can be considered parapsychological; including reincarnation, entity encounters, astrology, mediumship and near-death experiences.

Providing a balanced introduction to parapsychology that explores the strengths and limitations of scientific investigation, this is essential reading for students and professionals in the field, along with anyone interested in learning more about the science of the paranormal.

Further information at the publisher's website: Psychology Press.

From the publisher's website: A mind-bending invitation to experience the impossible as fundamentally human. From precognitive dreams and telepathic visions to near-death experiences, UFO encounters, and beyond, so-called impossible phenomena are not supposed to happen. But they do happen—all the time. Jeffrey J. Kripal asserts that the impossible is a function not of reality but of our everchanging assumptions about what is real. How to Think Impossibly invites us to think about these fantastic (yet commonplace) experiences as an essential part of being human, expressive of a deeply shared reality that is neither mental nor material but gives rise to both. Thinking with specific individuals and their extraordinary experiences in vulnerable, open, and often humorous ways, Kripal interweaves humanistic and scientific inquiry to foster an awareness that the fantastic is real, the supernatural is super natural, and the impossible is possible.

Further information at the publisher's website: University of Chicago Press.