2026 Spooky Reading Part 1

Ya'll know I love a good ghost story or a book full of strange and unusual tales! For 2026, my spooky reading has taken somewhat of a backseat when it comes to my general reading selections. I've been focusing a lot more on certain social issues that are important to me, as well as books for my work teaching middle school. But, I've managed to squeeze in a few paranormal non-fiction titles that I wanted to share. Here's what I've read between January 1st and June 30th:

1. Hauntings and Apparitions, by Andrew MacKenzie (1983)

Although this is an older title, it's a Society for Psychical Research publication, and I found it to be an awesome little collection. Part of the book dealt with the history of the SPR and its methodology and evolving belief systems. The other part was a deep-dive into some of SPR's case files. Some of the stories I had come across before in other SPR works, but for the most part, it was an enjoyable read, both entertaining and educational. 

2. The Wisconsin Road Guide to Mysterious Creatures, by Chad Lewis (2011)

I always enjoy Chad Lewis' work, and even though I'm not super familiar with the Wisconsin area, I was really excited to read about some of the state's strangest monsters and other unexplained phenomena. I'm a long ways away from Wisconsin, but I really appreciate the format of these books, which make it easy to find locations accessible to the public. Who knows? One day I might go monster hunting out that way! 

3. Phantom Phenomena, by Darkness Prevails (2024)

I'm not gonna lie. I bought this book at Five Below on a whim, and was really disappointed. I'm pretty sure its AI-generated slop. If not, I sincerely apologize to whatever minimum wage intern was forced to churn out these stories.  It was a quick read and may be really fun for someone young just getting into the paranormal. That's all I say about it. 

4. Haunted Shores: True Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador, by Dale Jarvis (2004)

I don't live anywhere near this area, nor have I ever visited it. But, for whatever reason, I picked this book up and I'm glad I did. Although it seemed a little disjointed at times when it came to how the stories were organized, the stories were fun. It was a nice mix of historical background and storytelling. 

5. What Happens After Death--Scientific and Personal Evidence for Survival, by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler (1997)

Okay, so this one started off fantastic. I was scribbling notes and formulating ideas for topics to study more in-depth. And then, it went off the rails. The first half of this book is the 'scientific' part. It is a thorough and engaging look at the history of afterlife studies. The second half is a weird narrative of the author's communication with her guides...who aren't exactly what you may think they are. She goes on about past lives on other planets, time not being linear, and all sorts of strange and fascinating ideas. I was intrigued and read this section more like science fiction than fact. I can't quite wrap my head around it, but I'm trying to keep an open mind. 

6. Searching for Ghosts and Poltergeists, by Bill Breman (2011)

Although this book was meant for younger readers, there were some little hidden gems in here. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything I wasn't already familiar with. I found this book available to read for free on the Internet Archive and didn't realize exactly what it was at first. But, I can't resist a ghost book, even one for kids, so I finished it and added it to the list! 

7. A Ghost Hunter's Guide to the Most Haunted Places in America, by Terrance Zepke (2012)

This book got a little over-repetitive in its telling of each haunted location, but overall, I found it a light, fun read. I always enjoy hearing what haunted locations make the "Best of" lists for other people, and this was a fair sampling of some places with both the history and the haunted reputation to earn them a top spot. 

8. The Haunting of Bishop Pike: A Christian View of the Other Side, by Merrill F. Unger (1971)

Last year, I read Bishop Pike's book about the death of his son, the strange communications he began receiving after, and his quest to finding the answers to the question of what happens when we die. That book was extremely controversial, as was its author. This follow-up offers a Christian rebuttal to Bishop Pike's rather radical ideas. I was surprised that Unger wasn't more preachy about the topic, but this book still kinda gave me the ick. It was interesting, though, to read about the events that happened from another perspective. 

9. Humanoid Encounters 1 A.D.-1899: The Others Amongst Us, by Albert Rosales (2017)

I bought the first two books in this Humanoid Encounters series for a very specific research project a few years ago. I'm just now finishing up this chunkster. It is FILLED with strange, unexplained encounters with humanoid creatures, ranging from fae-type beings, aliens, mermaid, to who knows what else. This was definitely a fun read and I found a few more rabbit holes to go down in addition to my original project!

10. Freaky Stories About the Paranormal, by M.H. Seeley (2016)

This was another one of those books for kids that caught my attention while perusing the Internet Archive. I was actually really impressed with it. There was a wide range of strange and unusual topics covered in this book, and while the info was short and sweet, it was accurate and not dumbed-down for a younger audience. 

11. Haunted French Quarter Hotels, by Nicole Beauchamp (2025)

My sister always brings me back ghost books from her vacations, and this year's trip to New Orleans resulted in Haunted French Quarter Hotels! I can't say enough good things about this book. I loved the writing style. I loved the blend of historical research, personal experiences, and popular legend. And, of course, I love all things having to do with the French Quarter. My only complaint is that there could have been so many more stories and so many more places added to this book. 

Spooky Reading 2022 Wrap Up

In 2022, I decided to share my paranormal non-fiction reading with you all via quarterly updates. It's time to wrap up a year in reading with my 4th quarter spooky reading list of 2022! According to my GoodReads account, I managed an impressive fourteen (14) paranormal nonfiction books read between October 1st and December 31st. That brings my total for the year up to 39! Let's take a look at this last set of books I checked off my list.

1. Area 51: Discerning Facts from Fiction, by Conrad Bauer. I downloaded this Kindle ebook for free, and it was a nice, short concise history of the lore surrounding the secretive area known in UFO and conspiracy circles as Area 51. 

2. Unexplained Blackpool Hauntings, by Christine Miller. This was another free ebook I downloaded and it was a fun collection of haunted locations from the Blackpool area. Again, short and concise, but reasonably well-written and entertaining.

3. No Common Task: The Autobiography of a Ghost Hunter, by Peter Underwood. I'm a huge fan of Peter Underwood's work, so I was happy to read this account of his early life and some of his early forays into the paranormal field. I'm not gonna lie--it was a little dry at times, but if you're interested in how Underwood got his start and the man behind countless collections of true ghost stories, it's worth a read. 

4. Buckeye Legends: Folktales and Lore From Ohio, by Michael Jay Katz. Being so close to the Ohio border, I was really interested in taking a look at some folklore from a nearby area. There were a few really fascinating stories in here, and a few that were a little blah. 

5. The World's Weirdest Abductions, by Chip Norton: I went through a period last year where I did a deep dive into alien abduction theory, so I was familiar with most of the cases contained in this short little free ebook, but it was a quick and weird read and sometimes that's exactly what I'm looking for. 

6. The World of Lore: Dreadful Places, by Aaron Mahnke. I've been a fan of the Lore podcast since the beginning, and was pleased when Aaron began publishing the best of the best of the tales in book form. I'm pretty sure the text of the books is word for word from the podcast scripts, minus the sponsorship info, but I'm cool with that. There were a few stories that really caught my attention, such as one from the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.

7. Haunted Potomac River Valley, by David Thompson. You can't go wrong with these collections of haunted locations published by Haunted America, and I had to pick up this volume, as it featured a few places in West Virginia. These books are always a good mix of history and reported ghostly activity, and this one was no exception.

8. Spirits, Ghosts, and Troublesome Entities by Leanne Halyburton. This book, which was another free ebook, wasn't bad, but it just seemed a little disjointed, and relied heavily on the author quoting the experiences of her social media fan base who wrote in with their stories in response to her requests.

9. The Hollow Earth, by Raymond Bernard. I found this vintage paperback at Goodwill and knew I had to have it in my collection. Basically, it's the same information stated over and over and over trying to make the case for a Hollow Earth, with openings at the North and South Poles. Oh, and there's some info about how UFO's probably aren't from space, but come out of these openings at the poles instead. 

10. Real West Virginia UFOs, by Dave Spinks. One of my Mothman Festival pickups for 2022! I can't resist a collection of WV ufo sightings, and this one was a good one. Please see my review HERE. 

11. Where the Ghosts Walk: The Gazetteer of Haunted Britain, by Peter Underwood. This was just another hefty collection of British ghost stories from the king of British ghost stories. 

12. Truth Seeker, by Tom Moore. Tom Moore runs a paranormal investigation team here in WV and for several years, wrote a newspaper column in Parkersburg about his paranormal experiences. This book is a collection of those articles. Please see my review for it HERE. 

13. Chasing American Monsters, by Jason Offutt. I needed more cryptozoology books to round out the last quarter of the year, and this was a fine choice. Chasing American Monsters is broken down state by state and showcases a few of each area's iconic critters. 

14. Thirty True Tales of the Weird, Unusual, and Macabre, by Pat Bussard. Pat is a journalist who started her own group of paranormal researchers. She writes extensively on a variety of paranormal topics, and this is an eclectic collection of those writings. Everything from ghost hunting to Mothman to tarot cards is covered, complete with an introduction by the late, great Rosemary E. Guiley. 

Thanks for following along with my love of spooky reading, and I'll see ya back in early April for my 1st quarter of 2023 update. Until then, you can check out my Book Reviews page, or follow me over on GoodReads to see what all I'm reading in addition to my paranormal nonfiction. Stay spooky, ya'll! 

1st Quarter 2022 Spooky Reading

2nd Quarter 2022 Spooky Reading

3rd Quarter 2022 Spooky Reading

3rd Quarter Spooky Reading 2022

Another three months have passed, which means its time for another quarterly update on my yearly spooky reading! Ya'll know I love to read anything and everything I can in the paranormal non-fiction genre. As a paranormal investigator and researcher, I'm always trying to learn as much as I can about this field, and exploring books from a variety of viewpoints in a variety of different topics is a great way to accomplish that. As a blogger, it's also a great way to get new ideas for content to share with you all. And, as a paranormal enthusiast, I just love reading a good, spooky ghost story! 

Unfortunately, this quarter wasn't a great one for me. I only got around to eight paranormal nonfiction titles (and my general reading list wasn't much better). I managed to get a couple of gems, though, so let's take a quick look!

1. Living Among Bigfoot, by Tom Lyons:  This is the first in a whole series of books about one gentleman's encounters with Sasquatch. I found this as a free download, and while it was a quick, enjoyable read, I probably won't pick up any more in the series unless they become available for free as well. I'd just rather get the whole story in one volume, as opposed to a bunch of REALLY short (more like essays) books.

2. Strange Creatures From Time and Space, by John Keel:  John Keel is one of those authors you just HAVE to read if you research anything Fortean or strange. Keel has a very distinct style of humor to his writing, and each of his books, while usually overlapping heavily with his others in the content department, are full of really interesting cases of high strangeness and Keel's theories as to why these events are happening.

3. Queen Victoria's Other World, by Peter Underwood:  I love Peter Underwood's collections of ghost stories from various places around the British Isles. This book is a little different...instead of focusing on ghostly tales of haunted locations, it takes a look at the life of Queen Victoria and her interest in Spiritualism and the occult. There are also quite a few haunted places and ghost stories thrown in, with the note that no doubt Queen Victoria would have been familiar with this tale since she lived at this location, or visited it, or so forth. That part felt a little...forced for content...but it was still an interesting read.

4. Freak Files: The Unexplained Tales, by Gia Scott:  A free ebook download I found on Amazon. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about. Just a quick read about some spooky stories.

5. Real Celebrity Ghost Stories, by Sherri Granato. See above, but focusing on celebrities, lol. 

6. Life After Death, by Hans Holzer:  I love me some Hans Holzer. He was the author who inspired me as a kid to be a 'ghost hunter' in the first place, so I'm always thrilled when I come across one of his books. I found Life After Death at Goodwill and flew through the battered old paperback, loving the stories of people who claim that they have proof that life doesn't end with bodily death.

7. Mermaids: The Myths, Legends and Lore, by Skye Alexander: Ironically, I came across this book at a thrift store right as the whole Little Mermaid controversy was reaching a head. This is a beautiful little book filled with the origins of the mermaid myth, the mermaid in popular culture, and, well...anything and everything else you could want to know about mermaids. It gets super repetitive at times, but it was a fun read. 

8. The Grafton Monster, by George Dudding:  George Dudding is a prolific writer of all things paranormal, especially strange things going on in the Mountain State! I try to collect as many as his works as possible, so when I saw him at the 2022 Mothman Festival, I decided to pick up The Grafton Monster. My husband is from Grafton, so it's a topic that I love discussing with him, as he knows so much about the general area and his mom was living in the area at the time of the sighting. This was a fun book on a subject that there just isn't a whole lot of information available on. 

So there ya have it! That's what I've been reading lately, but I'd love to hear what paranormal nonfiction books you've been reading and loving lately. Join me over on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State Facebook or let me know in the comments below! 

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