Teenage vampires. UFO sightings. Alien invasions. Ghost stories. The zombie apocalypse. You don't have to look far to see that today's pop culture is becoming increasingly dominated by paranormal beings. Topics that once belonged to the fringes of the occult world have suddenly found their way onto every television channel and magazine cover. What does this mean for Christians? How do we respond to a culture saturated with the paranormal? In this compelling book, Dr. Timothy Dailey explores the counterfeit spirituality of the paranormal world. By confronting these phenomena head-on, Dailey exposes the dark truth behind these tales. "MythBusters meets This Present Darkness in this gripping new book."--Peter Sprigg, senior fellow for policy studies, Family Research Council, Washington, D.C. In a world that fears an uncertain future, Dailey offers hope: a way back to the one true source of spiritual connection. The only one that can satisfy our souls. "You will be surprised. Well written and well worth reading!"--C. Fred Dickason, Th.D., professor emeritus, former chair of theology, Moody Bible Institute "Dailey has taken on a difficult but very important subject and he has succeeded! Read the book, folks. Read the book."--Jim Valentine, director, Christian Apologetics: Research and Information Service "A well-documented examination and a powerful refutation of this whole dangerous movement."--Walter A. Elwell, Ph.D., professor emeritus, biblical and theological studies, Wheaton College

Fringe Rhetorics: Conspiracy Theories and the Paranormal identifies the rhetorical similarities of conspiracy theories and paranormal accounts by delving into rhetorical, psychosocial, and political science research. Identifying something as “fringe” indicates its proximal placement within accepted norms of contemporary society. Both conspiracy theories and paranormal accounts dwell on these fringes and use surprisingly similar persuasive techniques. Using elements of the Aristotelian canon as well as Steve Oswald’s strengthening and weakening strategies, this book establishes a pattern for the analysis of fringe rhetorics. It also applies this pattern through rhetorical analyses of several documentaries and provides suggestions for countering fringe arguments.

Toward the end of the twentieth century, science fiction television took a dark turn. Series like The X-Files, Millennium, and Dark Skies wove menacing technologies, paranormal forces, and shadowy government agencies into complex tales of corruption and cover-ups. Mind control, alien abductions, secret government laboratories, and implacable “men in black” moved from the fringes to the mainstream of American culture, making weekly appearances in living rooms everywhere. Other series that played on fears of new technologies—such as virtual reality—set the stage for unfamiliar kinds of exploitation, while Dark Angel offered glimpses of a near-future wasteland devastated by a technological catastrophe. In The Paranormal and the Paranoid: Conspiratorial Science Fiction Television, Aaron John Gulyas explores the themes that permeated and defined science fiction television at the turn of the millennium. The author traces the roots of this phenomenon in an earlier generation of series including The Invaders, Kolchak: The Night Stalker,and Project U.F.O. and examines how changes in the cultural landscape led to the proliferation of these types of shows. This book delves into the internal mythology of shows like The X-Files, resurrects now-forgotten series like Wild Palms and VR.5, and provides an important glimpse into American culture at the close of the twentieth century. While exploring the pervasive grimness of these shows, Gulyas also examines how they offer hope in the form of heroes—like agents Scully and Mulder—who relentlessly dug through the tissue of lies and distortions to find and expose the truth. The Paranormal and the Paranoid will appeal to scholars of media studies, sociology, and science fiction—not to mention fans of these programs and even conspiracy theorists.

Offers lucid, scientifically based explanations for a wide range of unexplained and paranormal phenomena, including alien abduction, zombies, hauntings, telekinesis, and multiple dimensions. Original.

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.

An exploration of exaggerated cases of conspiracy theories which helps to reveal why traditional modes of argument fail against unwarranted, unsound, or untrue evidence.

“A wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief.” —Sam Harris, New York Times–bestselling author of The Moral Landscape and The End of Faith In this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world’s best-known skeptic Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths. Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a belief matches reality. “A must read for everyone who wonders why religious and political beliefs are so rigid and polarized—or why the other side is always wrong, but somehow doesn’t see it.” —Dr. Leonard Mlodinow, physicist and author of The Drunkard’s Walk and The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking)