The paranormal has long been a hotly contested topic, especially in academia. Most people are entertained by the paranormal or casually read a few books they come across on the topic, perhaps assuming that these topics are nothing more than campfire fodder. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being entertained by the paranormal, but how many people know that there is a long history of academic, scientific, and credible research into topics such as extrasensory perception, hauntings, poltergeists, cryptozoological sightings, near-death experiences, and more? In Researching the Paranormal, Courtney M. Block provides an overview of paranormal research and introduces readers to an assortment of resources that seriously examine various paranormal topics. She shows readers how to think critically about paranormal sources and how to apply the components of credibility when conducting their own paranormal investigations. Highlighting the long history of serious, academic inquiry into various paranormal topics, Block provides citations to primary source documents, journal articles, helpful databases, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and books. In addition, she provides a historical overview of various paranormal phenomena such as parapsychology, cryptozoology, ufology, divination, ghosts, hauntings, and more.

Mainline science rejects the paranormal because it cannot be proven by the classical methods of controlled experiments. But sciences such as geology, astronomy, and anthropology also don’t rely on laboratory testing for repeatable results. Moreover, psi concerns consciousness, which is by definition nonquantitative. "Psi researchers must stop acting like science’s poor relations," says author Lawrence LaShan, "limiting themselves to controlled experiments such as analyzing statistics of people guessing cards being flipped in the next room" This provocative book outlines the principles of making a real study of the large, exciting events — clairvoyance and precognition; mediumship and spirit controls; psychic healing — that would bring mainline science into and revitalize the whole field. "And the issue is not just academic," says LeShan. "The old, materialistic worldview has not worked. Psychic research," he argues, "can transform our sense of reality itself to offer a new and more hopeful picture of ourselves and of the world."

Tony Cornell has opened his case files and shared the fruits of his more than 50 years of labor and expertise in ghost, hauntings and mediumship research, in Investigating the Paranormal. Cornell's magnum opus not only provides a glimpse into a life's work in psychical research and parapsychology but also serves as a guide to field methodology for today's paranormal investigators. From reports of a ghost inhabiting a college dormitory, to a poltergeist with an affinity for fine antiques, the author shares detailed episodes of an extraordinary career.

Scientific Paranormal Investigation describes how logic, critical thinking, and scientific methodologies can be applied to mysterious or "unexplained" phenomena including ghosts, crop circles, miracles, Bigfoot, etc. The author includes a half-dozen in-depth investigation case studies describing how he solved the mysteries.

“A genuine attempt by someone who is a trained clinical therapist and parapsychologist to scientifically evaluate reported experiences of the paranormal.” —Magonia Review You’ve just laid down for the night when suddenly doors slam and the curtains shift. The lights begin to flicker and a white mist forms in front of you. You shut your eyes and keep muttering, “ghosts aren’t real.” But then you open your eyes and realize that “harmless” mist has shifted into the form of a man, staring intensely at you, as he floats above your bed. What causes ghostly experiences? Are ghosts real? Why do certain people report numerous ghostly encounters and others none? For centuries these questions have intrigued, puzzled, and bedeviled science, skeptics, and even believers. Based on cutting-edge research and new theories, The Ghost Studies provides insight into some of life’s greatest mysteries. This fascinating book is far more than a compilation of ghost stories. The Ghost Studies provides scientific explanations for paranormal occurrences, including: New and exciting scientific theories that explain apparitions, hauntings, and communications from the dead. The latest research on the role of energy and electricity in hauntings. The role that emotions, bioenergetics, and the environment play in supernatural phenomena. New research into why some individuals are more prone to ghostly encounters. “I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of the paranormal . . . This book is well written and opens the doors for countless areas of study and discussion and it is one that you will find yourself going back to again and again.” —Association of Paranormal Study

This collection of critical essays and investigative reports examines virtually every area of fringe science and the paranormal from a refreshingly scientific and clear-minded viewpoint. All bring to the task a determination to sift sense from nonsense and fact from fiction in an area notorious for misinformation, misperception, self-delusion, and wishful thinking.

Get closer to the truth about anomalous phenomena! This extraordinary volume draws together a team of experts to provide the latest techniques for investigating cases, interviewing witnesses, researching background information, and recognizing a hoax. Real-life studies and actual photos are presented, along with helpful checklists, diagrams, and instructions for leading your own investigations. Read about documented ghost and poltergeist hauntings, and conduct your own vigil. Delve into earth mysteries, like ley lines--locate them on a map and prove them in the field. Try remote viewing or use telepathy to "see" a distant place or event, then arrange your own session. Plus: UFOs, out-of-body experiences, life after death, street-light interference, premonitions and other mysterious occurrences. 144 pages, 40 b/w illus., 7 1/8 x 9 11/16.