PIM recommends these books to help further educate you about the field of paranormal investigation. These books cover topics ranging from the history of paranormal investigation, to how psychics work, to techniques in paranormal investigation. There is even a great book on how many cryptozoology claims got started.
Each picture is linked to where you can purchase this book if you would like to. Some of these books are hard to find or a little pricey, so PIM suggests you check your local library if you are interested in reading them. However, we feel that reading any of these books will be time well spent.
Throughout our history, humans have been captivated by mythic beasts and legendary creatures. Tales of Bigfoot, the Yeti, and the Loch Ness monster are part of our collective experience. Now comes a book from two dedicated investigators that explores and elucidates the fascinating world of cryptozoology.
This work provides an accurate, in-depth examination and scientific evaluation of the most famous hauntings in American history as depicted in popular films and television programs.
• Supplies a balanced approach to the subject of the paranormal and social psychology that explores both sides of the issue and evaluates the evidence as a scientist would
• Examines subject matter that is of universal, natural interest to students, teachers, and the general public, and supplies interdisciplinary coverage of religion, history, sociology, social psychology, folklore, critical thinking, pseudoscience, and media/film studies
• Provides an ideal resource for students writing reports and research papers
Was it horror or was it hoax? For years, the question went unanswered while everyone who ever glanced at the tabloids in a supermarket knew about the Amityville Horror-a house haunted by the remembered evil of mass murder. For 20 years, parapsychologist Stephen Kaplan and his wife, Roxanne, investigated the phenomenon keeping a detailed diary of everything that happened. This book is the result of that diary. Follow step-by-step and day-by-day as the Kaplans locate witnesses battle rival ghostbusters track down leads and attend an unlikely Halloween party at the Horror House. the result of all this effort? The Kaplans exposed a hoax that was almost as unnerving as the haunting itself. A real page-turner for anyone who is fascinated by things that go bump in the night!
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.
Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today’s so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.
James Randi is internationally known as a magician and escape artist. But for the past thirty-five years of his professional life, he has also been active as an investigator of the paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims that have impressed the thinking of the public for a generation: ESP, psychokinesis, psychic detectives, levitation, psychic surgery, UFOs, dowsing, astrology, and many others. Those of us unable to discriminate between geniune scientific research and the pseudoscientific nonsense that has resulted in fantastic theories and fancies have long needed James Randi and Flim-Flam!
‘Cold reading’ can loosely be described as ‘how to talk to a complete stranger as if you have known them all your life’. This definitive yet easy-to-read guide explains every aspect of cold reading in detail. Although the book focuses on how cold reading is used within the psychic industry, many cold reading principles have applications in other fields such as selling, negotiation, management and therapy. This is a ‘must read’ book for anyone interested in the psychology of persuasion.
Journey back in time with author Troy Taylor as he delves into the history and mystery of the Spiritualist movement and the efforts of the first ghost hunters to investigate the earliest evidence of contact with the spirit world! Beginning with the Fox sisters, “Ghosts by Gaslight” explores the famous and little-known mediums and proponents of Spiritualism, the mysterious cases that baffled the scientists of the day and even the incidents of outright fraud that have given the period such a colorful reputation. The book’s second half is devoted to the scientists, researchers and magicians who investigated the claims of the Spiritualists and how they debunked — and accepted – the strange incidents that occurred. This is a chilling, mystifying and entertaining addition to the history of ghost research and a must-have book for curious history readers, ghost buffs, paranormal investigators and anyone else who wonders about the things that go bump in the night!
The first book in Troy Taylor’s GHOST BY GASLIGHT series delves into the earliest days of the Spiritualist movement, from the knockings in Hydesville, New York to the rise of the movement in the middle years of the nineteenth century. Few can fathom today how the belief in Spiritualism swept across America, creating converts to a belief in spirit communication from every walk of life — man and woman, rich and poor and even to the front door of the White House. Discover the lives of the pioneers of the movement and how belief in talking to the dead spread from coast to coast. Find out who held the very first séances in the America White House — and why! See how Spiritualism affected daily life, politics, newspapers and the great literary works of the nineteenth century! And then see how the Civil War — and Abraham and Mary Lincoln — saved Spiritualism and helped to create its “golden age” after the Civil War! This is a fascinating look at a little-known period in American history and one that will fascinate even the most jaded readers of historical research into ghostly phenomena — told by one of the most acclaimed historians of the supernatural writing today. Don’t miss it!
The second book in Troy Taylor’s GHOST BY GASLIGHT series reveals the mediums, strange stories and amazing feats that helped propel the popularity of the Spiritualist movement into the years of the Civil War and beyond! The book delves into the mysterious Stratford Knockings, a Connecticut haunting that earned newspaper coverage all over America, and includes the weird tales of the Koons family’s “Spirit Room” in Ohio — which seemed to defy all explanation. Discover the secrets of the legendary Davenport Brothers and see what effect they had on the way that seances were conducted. Were they mediums or magicians? And finally, plunge into the mystery of D.D. Home, dubbed “the greatest medium who ever lived.” In all of his years of startling feats, he was never exposed as a fraud — even when witnesses claimed that he could actually fly! The author’s fascinating look at this little-known era in American history continues with a second volume and continues to fascinate even the most jaded readers of historical research into ghostly phenomena. Don’t miss it!
The latest entry in Troy Taylor’s GHOSTS BY GASLIGHT series reveals the deep spiritual connections behind the emerging women’s rights movement of the middle nineteenth century and the rise in interest in Spiritualism and communication with the dead. At a time when women were considered second-class citizens and literally the property of their husband, women in the Spiritualist movement were becoming business and religious leaders, changing public opinion and offering advice to the most powerful men in history—even the president of the United States. The author pulls aside the curtain and reveals some of the most influential women in Spiritualism, from the popular trance speakers of the 1800s, to women like Florence Cook and her spirit guide, the mysterious Katie King; Eusapia Palladino and even Pearl Curran, who channeled the intriguing spirit of Patience Worth. This is another compelling look at another largely unknown facet of American history and it’s sure to please anyone with an interest in ghosts and the supernatural – don’t miss it!
What if a world-renowned philosopher and professor of psychiatry at Harvard suddenly announced he believed in ghosts? At the close of the nineteenth century, the illustrious William James led a determined scientific investigation into unexplainable incidences of clairvoyance and ghostly visitations. James and a small group of eminent scientists staked their reputations, their careers, even their sanity on one of the most extraordinary quests ever undertaken: to empirically prove the existence of ghosts, spirits, and psychic phenomena. What they pursued and what they found raises questions as fascinating today as they were then.
Throughout history, people have reported seeing “ghosts.” But a Victorian ghost is in many respects a very different phenomenon from a ghost in Classical Greece, or in medieval Europe. Finucane surveys reports of ghosts from ancient Greece, the early Christian era, the Reformation, the Victorian age, and through the twentieth century. He asks such questions as: How have the physical aspects claimed for ghosts varied from age to age? What differences are there in the functions and intentions ascribed to ghosts? How have the changes in more general beliefsin religion and science, in particularinfluenced the perception of ghosts? Drawing on primary sources from all periods and cultures, Finucane addresses this topic in its full breadth.
Join author Karen Stollznow as she hits the road to investigate America’s most haunted places. From Alcatraz to Coral Castle, the Myrtles Plantation to the Winchester Mystery House, Stollznow leaves no stone unturned and no “spirit” unsettled in her search for the truth behind the scares.
In the tradition of their Haunting of the Presidents, national bestselling authors Joel Martin and William J. Birnes write The Haunting of America: From The Salem Witch Trials to Harry Houdini, the only book to tell the story of how paranormal events influenced and sometimes even drove political events. In a narrative retelling of American history that begins with the Salem Witch Trials of the seventeenth century, Martin and Birnes unearth the roots of America’s fascination with the ghosts, goblins, and demons that possess our imaginations and nightmares. The authors examine the political history of the United States through the lens of the paranormal and investigate the spiritual events that inspired public policy: channelers and meduims who have advised presidents, UFOs that frightened the nation’s military into launching nuclear bomber squadrons toward the Soviet Union, out-of-body experiencers deployed to gather sensitive intelligence on other countries, and even spirits summoned to communicate with living politicians.
Ghosts have fascinated and haunted us for millennia. They appear in our campfire tales, films, books, and television shows as well as in our dreams and nightmares. Despite widespread belief in spirits and the popularity of television ghost hunting shows, scientific evidence for them remains elusive. Investigating Ghosts is the first book to examine the history and techniques of ghost hunting from folkloric, scientific, and sociocultural perspectives.
No mere armchair scholar, author Benjamin Radford’s book is based on nearly twenty years of first-hand, science-based investigations and research. Investigating Ghosts will entertain and educate skeptics and true believers alike, separating fact from fiction about this timeless mystery.
Do ghosts exist? What about Bigfoot or Skinwalkers? And how will we ever know? Journalist Tea Krulos spent more than a year traveling nationwide to meet individuals who have made it their life’s passion to hunt down evidence of entities that they believe exist but that others might shrug off as nothing more than myths, fairy tales, or the products of overactive imaginations. Without taking sides in the debate, Krulos joins these believers in the field, exploring haunted houses, trekking through creepy forests, and scanning skies and lakes as they collect data on the unknown poltergeists, chupacabras, Skunk Apes (Bigfoot’s stinky cousins), and West Virginia’s Mothman. Along the way, he meets a diverse cast of characters—true believers, skeptics, and hoaxers—from the credible to the quirky, and has a couple of hair-raising encounters that make him second-guess his own beliefs. This books also features PIM.
If interested in this book, email Kenny Biddle.
Professor Richard Wiseman is clear about one thing: paranormal phenomena don’t exist. But in the same way that the science of space travel transforms our everyday lives, so research into telepathy, fortune-telling and out-of-body experiences produces remarkable insights into our brains, behaviour and beliefs. Paranormality embarks on a wild ghost chase into this new science of the supernatural and is packed with activities that allow you to experience the impossible. So throw away your crystals, ditch your lucky charms and cancel your subscription to Reincarnation Weekly. It is time to discover the real secrets of the paranormal.
Mark Edward confesses that for years he exploited believers who wished to connect with supernatural ideas and sad family members who missed dead loved ones.
Edward is a professional mentalist who has worked the Magic Castle in Hollywood for over thirty years and is also on the Editorial Board of Skeptic magazine, where he has worked with other critical thinkers to reveal the methods of psychic scamsters. This entertaining book is at once confessional and instructional regarding human belief and those who exploit it.
Edward believes that most practitioners of the psychic business are out-and-out scam artists, and that the common need to believe in things supernatural is merely a part of human nature
The discovery of the story of Lamar Keene and his remarkable life began when William V. Rauscher contacted Keene and conducted 75 hours of interviews not including visits to investigate Spiritualist Camps, preparing written reports, contacting publishers, writing the foreword and the extensive bibliography assembled from his own research library. The selection of a publisher and their desire to have researcher, writer, Allen Spraggett prepare the final manuscript resulted in one of the great classic books of psychical research. In addition to his research Rauscher’s pastoral help to Keene averted the mediums plan to commit suicide. Keen was later successful in several business ventures and he never returned to mediumship. Lamar Keene died June 11, 1996. His story is a testament to the underworld of fake mediumship and the intriguing life of a man known as the “Prince of Spiritualism.”
Do psychics have special powers, allowing them to succeed where ordinary police work fails? How often do the police actually enlist psychics in solving crimes, and what do they really think of these paranormal “experts”? These are just some of the questions discussed in this illuminating study of those who supposedly use extrasensory powers to help solve crimes.
Famed paranormal investigator Joe Nickell assembled a psychic “task force” of experienced researchers – investigative writers, professional magicians, private detectives, and paranormal investigators – and challenged them to examine the claims of a famous paranormal crimebuster. Among the “psychic sleuths” examined are Greta Alexander, Dorothy Allison, Gerard Croiset, Peter Hurkos, Phil Jordan, Rosemarie Kerr, Noreen Reiner, and Bill Ward. Noted psychologist James E. Alcock offers an assessment of the psychics’ claims in light of the investigative reports.
Are ghosts real? Are there truly haunted places, only haunted people, or both? And how can we know? Taking neither a credulous nor a dismissive approach, this first-of-its-kind book solves those perplexing mysteries and more–even answering the question of why we care so very much.
Putting aside purely romantic tales, this book examines the actual evidence for ghosts–from eyewitness accounts to mediumistic productions (such as diaphanous forms materializing in dim light), spirit photographs, ghost-detection phenomena, and even CSI-type trace evidence. Offering numerous exciting case studies, this book engages in serious investigation rather than breathless mystifying. Pseudoscience, folk legends, and outright hoaxes are challenged and exposed, while the historical, cultural, and scientific aspects of ghost experiences and haunting reports are carefully explored.
Is the Shroud of Turin really the burial cloth of Jesus, produced by a miraculous burst of radiant energy at the moment of Resurrection? What happens at faith-healing services to provide apparently miraculous cures?
Steering between the twin pillars of belief and disbelief, experienced paranormal investigator Joe Nickell examines these claims and more. Relying on his forty-plus years of experience in tracking down the solutions to mysteries, Nickell uses on-site examinations, lab experiments, and other detective methods to uncover the facts behind the most incredible claims. He evaluates the evidence in six major categories of miracle claims: miraculous images (such as “weeping” icons); magical relics (like the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Grail); miracle healings (at Lourdes or at the hands of healers like Benny Hinn); visionary experiences (including near-death experiences); saintly powers (such as stigmata); and “the devil’s work” (such as demonic possession).
In the 21st century, reality television and the Internet have fed public interest in ghosts, UFOs, cryptozoology and other unusual phenomena. By 2010, roughly 2000 amateur research and investigation groups formed in the U.S.–ghost hunters, Bigfoot chasers and UFO researchers, using an array of (supposedly) scientific equipment and methods to prove the existence of the paranormal.
American culture’s honorific regard for science, coupled with the public’s unfamiliarity with scientific methods, created a niche for self-styled paranormal experts to achieve national renown without scientific training or credentials. The author provides a comprehensive examination of the ideas, missions and methods promoted by these passionate amateurs.
What is it like to travel the world investigating the paranormal? To not just sit back and wonder about the world’s famous unexplained mysteries, but actually go out and solve them? To investigate haunted houses, searching for evidence of ghosts and spirits? To search the world’s lakes for giant, fearsome monsters? To investigate and create the mysterious phenomena of crop circles? To talk to people who speak to the dead, solve crimes for police, or use ESP? Scientific Paranormal Investigation is the first book to give the public an inside look at the life, methods, and work of a real-life scientific paranormal investigator. Author Benjamin Radford has investigated unexplained phenomena for over a decade, not just read or written about them, but actually gone out to see what’s there. Unlike most other books and reality TV shows on the supernatural or paranormal, Radford strictly adheres to scientific methods.
“What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that’s that―the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my lap-top?” In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die.
