Antietam Paranormal Society

This review may be a little short and sweet because ultimately this book was a long walk off a very short pier. I feel that the author spent a lot of time engaging his audience with various unrelated topics in order to introduce his own theory, Spontaneous Apparitional Trace Theory (SATT). The book begins with popular ghost theories; which includes pop culture, spiritualist, mediums, paranormal investigators, physics, and parapsychology. He posits that certain ingredients or processes are involved in ghostly experiences and that his equation for this, while oversimplified, is Psychological Aspects + Changes in Internal Energy or Bioenergetics + External Information Acquisition = Ghostly Experience.  The middle chapters share popular theories of energy, electricity, The God Helmet, magnetic field research, psychology, internal energy, bioenergetics, life fields, L-fields, collective unconscious, morphogenetic fields, and entanglement with case examples and research studies of each i...

Conjuring Up Philip: An Appraisal of the Book and the Method By: Iris M. Owen with Margaret Sparrow When I started this particular book I knew early on that I couldn't do a book review. This particular text is a testament to one of the most incredible experiments that has been undertaken in what was then referred to as psychical research. I purchased the mass market paperback published by Simon & Schuster as a Pocket Book edition. As I researched the book I noted that the hardback copy (left) ran around $200-300 dollars used on various book websites. A fellow paranormal investigator sent me a link to this copy on ebay for $44 which to me was a steal. It has some chew marks like it may have been an attempted "dog ate my homework" scheme, but it read just the same as the original published version. The original book was published by Harper & Row in 1976 and written by Iris M. Owen.  Iris Owen was a nurse and psychical researcher who was married to Alan Robert George...

Paranormal Pandemic  by Katie Mullaly and J. Patrick Ohlde Every good book starts with a synopsis that draws you in, like a really fat worm on a hook. Paranormal Pandemic draws in the paranormal investigator with its claim of a "no-nonsense guide" and "Learn how to separate true research from the crap." While I can agree that the book is no-nonsense I balk at the claim that it is a guide and that it will teach you to do real research. It may however give you a proverbial smack upside the head. The content is raw, chaotic, and rude. It is apparently no longer in print and cannot be purchased new. I want to really start this review with details on how I perceive books and how that translates to this book in particular.  I judge a book about the paranormal by how fast I read it, the quicker I read it the more unhelpful the content, good content usually means dry writing. At no time was the writing in this book dry and it took me a day to read it, most good books take a...

In my pursuit to research Reincarnation, I came across this book written by Mark C. Albrecht. I knew going into this reading that I would probably be privy to many biblical and scripture lessons regarding the "facts" of reincarnation...that is the Christian method of using the bible like a textbook to refute the concept.  In the early chapters I was pleasantly surprised by the many cultural, religious, occult, and scientific viewpoints discussed and well documented. There was much discussion surrounding the Gnostics, at certain points the author discusses their views on Reincarnation and the scripture that supports it. The author however mentions that since the Gnostics do not follow biblical teachings, they cannot use scripture to support their theories. Fast forward to the part where the author is discussing his own views of Reincarnation he uses a Taoist saying/teaching to support his view, forgetting that he mentioned Taoists believe in Reincarnation. Unfortunately the au...

 BOOK REVIEW: Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss, M.D. Many of the books that I curate for my paranormal library are for the purpose of furthering my research in one subject or another. Sometimes these subjects cross and I feel the need to pursue additional books to help round out the knowledge I have on the subject. I am currently researching for a "working theory" I have had for years and I needed to do some research on reincarnation. There are any number of books regarding reincarnation but none that really inspire confidence in the subject matter like Many Lives, Many Masters.  Brian L. Weiss is a well educated medical professional that attended Columbia University, Yale University School of Medicine, and completed an internship at the New York University-Bellevue Medical Center. He completed his MD and did his residency in psychiatry. He spent time in various positions and eventually was appointed Chief of Psychiatry at a large university hospital in Miami, F...

I just finished up "Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story of the Technological Quest for the Supernatural" by Peter Berbergal. I have owned this book for many years but recently someone recommended the book and I thought it was time to dust it off and read it. I have read many books about the paranormal and in recent years a lot of the books that you can buy are regurgitated details of old psychical researchers, spiritualists, and anecdotal evidence from the authors friends or colleagues. I will say that most of the 'evidence' we can get is anecdotal but in many cases people within the paranormal field rarely share how they arrived at an answer. I digress, back to the book. There are a significant amount of praise quotes on the book regarding it's comprehensive nature, the author's deft ability to explore the topic, how the information equates history of diverse phenomena to magic, and how it can be a guide to exploring technology as it pertains to find...

In the last 20 years we have seen paranormal television bring ghost hunting and paranormal investigation mainstream. Many seasoned paranormal researchers say their interest in the paranormal began from watching television shows, the inspiration of these shows spawned thousands of new investigators and teams worldwide. We can all appreciate the benefits of having paranormal phenomena becoming part of everyday conversation rather than be hidden due to disbelief, shame, or persecution. But we have to ask ourselves, do the benefits of paranormal television continue to outweigh the disinformation that has taken the forefront? Has paranormal television created a demographic of individuals and/or teams that will sacrifice ethics to gain a following or make money? Is the information being shared on paranormal television doing more harm than good? Disinformation is defined as false or misleading information that is intentionally spread with the purpose of deceiving or manipulating others. It ma...

Book Review: Blood and Ghosts- Paranormal Forensics Investigators by Ramsland and Nesbitt It always interests me to read books that compare a current and specific scientific approach to paranormal investigation and research. Blood and Ghosts was written by Katherine Ramsland, a forensics expert who is joined by Mark Nesbitt a paranormal investigator to bring a book that will shed light on the possibility that forensics could help aid ghost hunters and in turn possibly assist with finding justice in criminal or unsolved cases.  Each chapter sheds light on each of the author's methods and the theories or science behind their fields. They share the history of psychical research and the scientists that studied during the spiritualist movement, then branch out to newer scientific studies and forensic methods that would have helped push those pioneers further validate their results.  In one section of the book it describes an entire case of paranormal investigators gathering data, c...

BOOK REVIEW: An Introduction to Parapsychology by Irwin and Watt I will begin this blog by stating that this book is essentially a textbook. If you are interested in Parapsychology; this book is engaging, informative, and a very comprehensive text. However, it does have advanced vocabulary and verbiage.  The authors make a point to begin this text by stating "Most important is the point that in no way is there any presumption here of the existence of "the paranormal," contrary to the approach of many contemporary parapsychologists who actually regard parapsychology as the study of the paranormal." It is often misunderstood that parapsychology is the study of paranormal phenomena, when it is actually the study of psi as it pertains the human psychology. They also go on to say "traditionally there have been three basic domains of parapsychological research, namely extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, and the survival hypothesis." I enjoyed the disclaimers...

Through the last 16 years I would have to say that my team has been very fortunate to be called in by multiple historic locations to investigate. Their generosity and willingness to share their history and property has been one of the best parts of our journey as paranormal researchers. However not all locations initiated contact, a few of them were cold calls made by our team to gain permission to investigate. Some locations required me to meet with their board, some wanted proposals or statements to read during their meetings, some required votes, some required nothing but us to ask...  I recently asked "What are reasons that you've found that locations don't allow paranormal investigations?" on our Facebook page. The responses we received are familiar, as we have experienced them ourselves, but some are completely horrifying. When I see a few of these reasons it validates why I believe that there should be a standard that paranormal investigators and teams are held...

The Handbook of Parapsychology  By Hans Holzer I am going to start this by saying, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. This is probably the first book I have  given a bad review and unfortunately I can't find a way out of that. I will give you the rundown but please if you are wanting to find a good book on Parapsychology look for books from Rhine, his associates, Ebon, Price, Roll, Myers, or associates of theirs. There is one inaccuracy within this book that makes me question whether you can trust other information or details that he has received second hand. Is any of it accurate information?  Hanz Holzer is a well known parapsychologist that has authored many books about the paranormal and extrasensory perception. This handbook was written and published in 1972. Holzer begins the book with a short introduction that discusses his reasons for writing a handbook on parapsychology. First to help his students and second to help those who do not have the time or inclination to take classe...

Let's set the stage a bit for what it means to provide a Paranormal Investigation for a client's home or business. (Note: Scroll down for discussion on locations charging for ghost hunts or charging teams for using space for an investigation.) The longer I look at paranormal teams and investigators, the more diversity I see on how they perform their investigations and what is involved. I personally cannot assume what each team or individual does but I believe there is a certain ethical standard that should be in place for anyone that is asked to do a paranormal investigation which is supported by protocols and procedures to maintain accuracy and reliable data. If you have read any of my postings online or other blogs, I have already shared how we go about investigations, but for us it looks something like this: A client reaches out to request our team to do a paranormal investigation of their location. There are claims of disembodied voices, footsteps, doors opening and closing...