Paranormal Realities


Book Description

Paranormal Realities was written by Keith Johnson, one of the foremost experts in the nation on demonology. He has investigated the paranormal for nearly thirty years and has played a more than active role in excorcisms. Keith is also a former cast member of the very popular Sci-Fi channel series "Ghost Hunters." Paranormal Realities is a first hand account of some of the most infamous of his investigations.




Science and the Paranormal


Book Description

--Facts, not fiction: the case for the paranormal. Changing the way we look at the universe is not an easy accomplishment, and requires a true openness to exploration and experiment. Professor Ellison suggests that most of us are conditioned by our Western science-based education to think that the universe is much simpler and "material" than it really is. He argues that we should recognize the limits of the current scientific worldview which fails to account for genuine paranormal experiences, including phenomena such as out-of-body experiences (OBE), reliably reported by thousands of people. In honestly exploring these areas, rather than denying them, he argues we could look more deeply into the real nature of human existence.




Ghosted!


Book Description

Reports of paranormal experiences vary tremendously, but are often associated with ghosts, haunted houses, and otherwise eerie circumstances. There exist both classic and modern texts on ghosts and haunted or possessed people, places and spaces; many discuss traditional ideas regarding such phenomena or utilize now-outdated research in highly academic and technical ways. This book offers a very different approach in reviews provided by a leading-edge research program devoted to who has ghostly experiences and why. With new insights both global in scale and multidisciplinary in scope, this collaboration by five researchers uncovers consistent evidence that anomalous experiences represent a very real "Haunted People Syndrome"--a term describing anomalous experiences that manifest recurrently to the same percipients and are interpreted as "ghostly"--with implications for future research across academia. The participation of new citizen scientists (the field investigators and researchers among us) is invited in furthering the exploration of paranormal mysteries. Photos and figures illustrating concepts and models are included, as is a glossary.




Alternative Realities


Book Description

A reference work on paranormal experiences and phenomena offers articles discussing the characteristics of each experience, research and evidence associated with them, and possible scientific explanations




Ghost Channels


Book Description

Through American history, often in times of crisis, there have been periodic outbreaks of obsession with the paranormal. Between 2004 and 2019, over six dozen documentary-style series dealing with paranormal subject matter premiered on television in the United States. Combining the stylistic traits of horror with earnest accounts of what are claimed to be actual events, “paranormal reality” incorporates subject matter formerly characterized as occult or supernatural into the established category of reality TV. Despite the high number of programs and their evident popularity, paranormal reality television has to date received little critical attention. Ghost Channels: Paranormal Reality Television and the Haunting of Twenty-First-Century America provides an overview of the paranormal reality television genre, its development, and its place in television history. Conducting in-depth analyses of over thirty paranormal television series, including such shows as Ghost Hunters, Celebrity Ghost Stories, and Long Island Medium, author Amy Lawrence suggests these programs reveal much about Americans’ contemporary fears. Through her close readings, Lawrence asks, “What are these shows trying to tell us?” and “What do they communicate about contemporary culture if we take them seriously and watch them closely?” Ridiculed by nearly everyone, paranormal reality TV shows—with their psychics, ghost hunters, and haunted houses—provide unique insights into contemporary American culture. Half-horror, half-documentary realism, these shows expose deep-seated questions about class, race, gender, the value of technology, the failure of institutions, and what it means to be American in the twenty-first century.




Miracles and Other Realities


Book Description

Once in a generation, a person of extraordinary psychic powers comes along. Miracles and Other Realities tells the true story of Thomaz Green Morton, a gifted psychic from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil. Originally published in 1990 and now rereleased for a modern audience, Miracles and Other Realities recounts the fascinating story of Thomaz Green Morton and his powerful psychic abilities. This book will turn the heads of scientists, whose traditional acceptance of reality has been limited to that which can be measured objectively, and will introduce to a wider audience the power of mind over matter. Thomaz’s story begins when he is struck by lightning on his twelfth birthday. This electrical insult to his body detonated a dazzling range of paranormal abilities. (Severe electric shock is, incidentally, common to the childhood experience of every major psychic.) Thomaz has since been called the most powerful psychic in the world. Driven by his mind to the farther reaches of reality to produce psychic phenomena such as metal-bending, spiritual healing, and transmutations of matter, Thomaz’s feats are well-documented by the authors. The story is all the more captivating because Thomaz is graced with a childlike emotional temperament, making him intent on living life to its fullest. Coauthors Lee Pulos and Gary Richman explore through Thomaz the ways in which magic, or miracles, challenges the conventional view of reality, thereby shaking up rational belief systems that inhibit the experience of new realms of possibility. Readers will find Thomaz’s story compelling, not only as a real-life example of human potential but as a metaphor for unleashing other realities and levels of consciousness to tap into the potential within themselves.




On the Edge of Reality


Book Description

A global expansion of consciousness is underway. As predicted by ancient prophecy, old ways of thinking and of seeing the world are shifting. Mind-stretching new phenomena are challenging current reality. New frontiers of science are disclosing a connection between our consciousness and physical reality. As consciousness changes, so do our perceptions. The door is opening to a new reality. Join Colin and Synthia as they explore what is beyond this door. Examine the multitude of current changes—from the bases of society to the foundations of science—that indicate the unfolding of a new paradigm. Investigate non-ordinary reality and unexplained phenomena as interactions of consciousness. In this fascinating new title, you will explore and learn about: Parallel cases of inexplicable exchanges between lights in the sky and crop circles on the ground Strange sounds in the sky heard and recorded around the world Photographic orbs of light The Norway Spiral, a rotating spiral of light seen by hundreds of people in 2009 Unexplained RADAR interference patterns correlating with weather anomalies




Psychological Perspectives on Reality, Consciousness and Paranormal Experience


Book Description

This book explores various explanatory frameworks for paranormal encounters. It opens with the story of an inexplicable human figure seen crossing a secluded hotel corridor, interpreted as a ghost by the sole witness. The subsequent chapters explore the three most important historical perspectives accounting for this and other types of paranormal experience. Each perspective is examined from first principles, with specific reference to what happened in the corridor, how it happened, why it happened, and who might be responsible. The first perspective considers the experience to be legitimate – to be something real – and various possibilities are presented that are grounded in the paranormal and parapsychological literature, among which a “ghost” is one putative explanation. In turn, the second perspective treats the experience as being wholly illegitimate. With reference to psychological theory, the ghost sighting is a product of erroneous consciousness. The third perspective is different yet again, and considers the sighting to be authentic, but argues that explaining the ghost requires a radical departure from conventional models of reality and consciousness. By contrasting these three paths, the book provides a valuable resource for readers interested in the philosophical and psychological origins of explanations for paranormal experiences, from the 19th century to the present. It will appeal to general readers in addition to students and scholars of parapsychology, anomalistic psychology, and consciousness studies.




Unexplained


Book Description

"An immersive and engaging exploration of the world's ten most mysterious and spooky stories of the unexplained"--




Gothic Realities


Book Description

Eighteenth-century critics believed Gothic fiction would inspire deviant sexuality, instill heretical beliefs, and encourage antisocial violence--this book puts these beliefs to the test. After examining the assumptions behind critics' fears, it considers nineteenth-century concerns about sexual deviance, showing how Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dorian Gray, and other works helped construct homosexuality as a pathological, dangerous phenomenon. It then turns to television and film, particularly Buffy the Vampire Slayer and David DeCoteau's direct-to-video movies, to trace Gothicized sexuality's lasting impact. Moving to heretical beliefs, Gothic Realities surveys ghost stories from Dickens's A Christmas Carol to Poltergeist, articulating the relationships between fiction and the "real" supernatural. Finally, it considers connections between Gothic horror and real-world violence, especially the tragedies at Columbine and Virginia Tech.