Apparitions, Hauntings & Poltergeists Text Resources Thread

Courtesy of the SPR Facebook page, here is a blog on Fortean phenomena by Paul Cropper. Poltergeists seem to be prominent so far, so I'll post the link here:
https://thefortean.com/

Again courtesy of the SPR Facebook page, here's a new post by Paul Cropper on a Zimbabwean poltergeist case. Since I first posted the link to his blog, he has reported on 20 poltergeist cases (see his archives):
https://thefortean.com/2019/08/03/a-polt...-zimbabwe/

The SPR has a review by Chris Jensen Romer of "The Bothell Hell House: Poltergeist of Washington State" (2nd edition) by Keith Linder, which was published early last year:
https://www.spr.ac.uk/book-review/bothel...ith-linder

Evidently many people consider this case to be a hoax, and the book was written by one of the two people who lived in the house and allegedly experienced the phenomena. Romer writes that while he was assessing the book "I was repeatedly approached by very different individuals who encouraged me to give up, to protect my reputation, to not further a ‘known hoax’ and to avoid the case." But he continued to read the book, and in fact was contacted by the author and discussed the case (though not the book or the review) with him at length.
 
Essentially, Romer's conclusion seems to be that psychical researchers are prejudiced against the case and have been remiss in not investigating it. He writes that "it would be entirely possible for a dedicated team to track down perhaps a score of people named in this book, and ask them to confirm or deny what is said about their experiences at the house." In fact, given that he himself is in contact with the author, who has already sent him "voluminous quantities of information," I doubt that it would even require a dedicated team to do that. But it does make it sound as though he is dependent almost entirely on the author's own claims (though he does mention a positive report by Steve Mera and Don Phillips [Philips]).

I can't help thinking it's a bit unfair to criticise other people for not devoting time to investigating something they find unbelievable, given the limited resources available. I suppose we all have different "boggle thresholds," and it's a decision everyone has to make for him/herself.

There is quite long review of the book by Tom Ruffles here:
https://tomruffles.wordpress.com/2019/08...th-linder/

He concludes that it's hard to know what to think about the case, but that it has to be either genuine or a hoax, rather than the result of misperception.

Courtesy of the SPR Facebook page - Michael Prescott discusses the sceptical accounts of two poltergeist cases in Charles Mackay's "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" (1852), and feels that in the light of subsequent history there may be more scope for non-conventional explanations than Mackay thought:
https://michaelprescott.typepad.com/mich...ories.html

Courtesy of the SPR website - here's a new book entitled "N equals 1: Single Case Studies in Anomalistics," edited by Gerhard Mayer, in the Perspektiven der Anomalistik series published by the Gesellschaft für Anomalistik:
https://www.anomalistik.de/en/books/pers...n-equals-1

Most of the contributions deal with poltergeists and apparitions, but some other phenomena are covered. Here is the list of contents:
https://www.anomalistik.de/images/pdf/sc...ntents.pdf

Carlos S. Alvarado has a short interview with the editor about the book:
https://carlossalvarado.wordpress.com/20...ard-mayer/

Courtesy of the SPR Facebook page - here are details of new book by Tony Jinks entitled "Psychological Perspectives on Reality, Consciousness and Paranormal Experience":
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.
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030289010

The three perspectives are (1) the figure was something real, such as a ghost, (2) the figure was the product of "erroneous consciousness" and (3) the figure was something authentic, but requiring "a radical departure from conventional models of reality and consciousness."

Tony Jinks is a senior lecturer in psychology at Western Sydney University. He has previously written about Disappearing Object Phenomenon (aka JOTT).

Again courtesy of the SPR Facebook page, here's a new post by Paul Cropper on a Zimbabwean poltergeist case. Since I first posted the link to his blog, he has reported on 20 poltergeist cases (see his archives):
https://thefortean.com/2019/08/03/a-polt...-zimbabwe/

Courtesy of the SPR Facebook page, here are some posts in the "Poltergeist" section of Paul Cropper's blog:
https://thefortean.com/2019/11/02/a-polt...-chechnya/
https://thefortean.com/2019/09/19/senora...ng-stones/
https://thefortean.com/2019/08/31/myster...louisiana/
https://thefortean.com/2019/08/24/a-polt...nicaragua/
https://thefortean.com/2019/08/24/ghost-...ltergeist/

The SPR has a review by Chris Jensen Romer of "The Bothell Hell House: Poltergeist of Washington State" (2nd edition) by Keith Linder, which was published early last year:
https://www.spr.ac.uk/book-review/bothel...ith-linder

Evidently many people consider this case to be a hoax, and the book was written by one of the two people who lived in the house and allegedly experienced the phenomena. Romer writes that while he was assessing the book "I was repeatedly approached by very different individuals who encouraged me to give up, to protect my reputation, to not further a ‘known hoax’ and to avoid the case." But he continued to read the book, and in fact was contacted by the author and discussed the case (though not the book or the review) with him at length.
 
Essentially, Romer's conclusion seems to be that psychical researchers are prejudiced against the case and have been remiss in not investigating it. He writes that "it would be entirely possible for a dedicated team to track down perhaps a score of people named in this book, and ask them to confirm or deny what is said about their experiences at the house." In fact, given that he himself is in contact with the author, who has already sent him "voluminous quantities of information," I doubt that it would even require a dedicated team to do that. But it does make it sound as though he is dependent almost entirely on the author's own claims (though he does mention a positive report by Steve Mera and Don Phillips [Philips]).

I can't help thinking it's a bit unfair to criticise other people for not devoting time to investigating something they find unbelievable, given the limited resources available. I suppose we all have different "boggle thresholds," and it's a decision everyone has to make for him/herself.

The SPR has a review by Ashley Knibb of the sequel to this book by Keith Linder, entitled "Attachments: Poltergeist of Washington State Part 2":
https://www.spr.ac.uk/book-review/attach...ith-linder

Courtesy of the SPR, here's a new book entitled "The Victorian Ghost Hunter's Casebook," edited by Tim Prasil. Apparently it's an anthology of non-fictional accounts of 19th-century ghost-hunting in the UK and USA, with a new introduction:
https://brombonesbooks.com/catalog/victo...-casebook/

Courtesy of the SPR Facebook page, here are some posts in the "Poltergeist" section of Paul Cropper's blog:
https://thefortean.com/2019/11/02/a-polt...-chechnya/
https://thefortean.com/2019/09/19/senora...ng-stones/
https://thefortean.com/2019/08/31/myster...louisiana/
https://thefortean.com/2019/08/24/a-polt...nicaragua/
https://thefortean.com/2019/08/24/ghost-...ltergeist/

Here's another poltergeist report - a stone-throwing case from South Australia in the early 20th century:
https://thefortean.com/2020/01/01/a-mallee-mystery/

Courtesy of the SPR, here's a new book entitled "The Victorian Ghost Hunter's Casebook," edited by Tim Prasil. Apparently it's an anthology of non-fictional accounts of 19th-century ghost-hunting in the UK and USA, with a new introduction:
https://brombonesbooks.com/catalog/victo...-casebook/

The SPR has a positive review of Tim Prasil's book by Ciaran Farrell:
https://www.spr.ac.uk/book-review/victor...tim-prasil