First Quarter 2024 Spooky Reading!

Although April is already more than halfway over, I wanted to take a step back and share with everyone all the paranormal non-fiction books I've read during the first quarter of 2024! I'm an avid reader, and a huge bibliophile, concentrating on the collection of paranormal non-fiction from all genres (as well as West Virginia/Appalachia History) for my personal library. Continued education and life-long learning as it pertains to the paranormal field is a passion of mine, and it's important to me that I read up on the subject from a variety of viewpoints. So...here's a look at what I've been reading so far this year. Out of 26 total books I read between January 1 and March 31, eleven were paranormal non-fiction titles. 

1. They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, by Gray Barker. Anything by West Virginia's most controversial Ufologist/Documenter of Fortean Events is a must-read for me. And although those featured in this book are pretty controversial themselves, and may or may not be full of it...it's an interesting look into civilian ufo researchers and research groups of the 1950's. I think the general idea you're suppose to take away is that the government already knows what UFOs are...and they aren't being piloted by extraterrestrial friends from outer space.

2. Ghosts in Solid Form, by Gambier Bolton. This book takes a look at a series of experiments and investigation into what ghosts are and whether they exist, spanning over a seven year period at the turn of the last century. As dated as this volume is, there are still some interesting concepts and even some investigation protocol that still seem relevant today.

3. Ghosts of Kent, by Peter Underwood. Peter Underwood is such a prolific writer and archivist of so, so many English ghosts and hauntings. This particular volume goes over haunted locations in Kent, some with personal stories attached, and others with just a re-telling of popular tale. You can't go wrong with a Peter Underwood book, and I've nearly crossed all of them off my list. 

4. Edgar Cayce on Past Lives, by D.M. Hoover. Edgar Cayce, known as the Sleeping Prophet was known for two kinds of readings...one where he diagnosed illnesses and other current problems in his clients, and another where he took a look further back into the past lives. This book is a case study of some of those cases, including several of the select-few (18, I believe) of people he regressed whose souls had evolved to the point where they did not need to come back after this current lifetime. 

5. The Most Terrifying Places on Earth, by Conrad Bauer. Bauer releases quite a few free and low cost ebooks about different paranormal topics. While short, these books are usually well-written and interesting. They're a great glimpse into the topic at hand, and I usually get a few ideas for blogs from them...they're just not super memorable when you read as much as I do, since they just go over a high number of cases with just snippets of information.

6. The Most Bizarre Paranormal and Ghost Stories, by Henry Bennett. Again, this was another free ebook, giving little doses of information on a variety of cases. I don't remember a ton, but it certainly wasn't a bad book. 

7. Werewolf Stories, by Nick Redfern. This book is set up like an encyclopedia of all things werewolf, dogman, and shape-shifting in general. I purchased it as a research tool for my work last year with the Louisiana rougarou, but after picking out the relevant information for that case, I decided to go ahead and read it cover to cover. If this is a topic you're interested in, I definitely recommend!

8. Project Blue Book, by Charles River Editors. This publisher releases a lot of 'short histories' in ebook form. This one on Project Blue Book was a great introduction/summary of the former UFO investigation project. 

9. Dark Folk Tales From the Philippine Countryside, by Louis Bulaong. This was another free ebook I picked up on Amazon. It was a delightful collection of Philippine ghosts, hauntings, and legends. Although fairly short, there were quite a few really interesting stories in here. It's a nice little introduction to the folklore of that country.

10. Spooky Science, by John Grant. I highly recommend this book! Written from a skeptical, but fair point of view, Spooky Science goes through the history of paranormal research, beginning with the investigations of mediums and psychics during the Spiritualist movement. Lots of good information and good advice for those studying parapsychology and/or the paranormal field.

11. Scotland UFO Disclosure Volume 8, by Brian Caldwell. I wrapped up the quarter with another free ebook on UFOs. This one only had a few different cases, but was pretty interesting and well-written, nonetheless. I didn't realize that there were enough UFO cases in Scotland to merit a multi-volume set, but I'll gladly download other editions if I come across them for free as well. 

Second Quarter Spooky Reading 2022

Another three months have passed, and I've added another eleven paranormal non-fiction books to my completed reading list! I'm pretty proud of that number! Even though I've technically had plenty of opportunity to read, sitting in hospital waiting rooms and doctors' offices, I've been too stressed out to really concentrate. There's nothing more frustrating than someone with ADHD, wanting to read and can't! But, like I said, I'm pleased with what I did accomplish.

As a paranormal investigator and researcher, part of my continuing education is staying informed about various aspects of the field, and how all those different topics work together. I'm constantly looking for ways to improve my work as a paranormal investigator, as well as gathering new ideas for blog posts.  Plus, sometimes I just like to read a good, spooky ghost story. 

Per usual, you can find my reviews on my Book Reviews page, and follow me on Good Reads to see EVERYTHING that I'm reading throughout the year. But, let's take a look at the spooky stuff I've read in April, May, and June of 2022: 

1.  Ghosts of the River Towns, by Rick Fisher: I picked this one up while I was a speaker/vendor at Dave Spinks' WV Monster Con, back in March. It's a short, fun read featuring a variety of haunted locations in Pennsylvania. 

2.  Monsters, Cryptids, and Mysterious Wild Beasts, by Jannette Quackenbush: You can never go wrong with a title from the prolific author on all things spooky, Jannette Quackenbush! This was another paranormal convention pick up---I got to see and chat with Jannette at the Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo last January. I've reviewed this

3.  Otherworldly Encounters, by Novar Slevik. I also picked this one up during Monster Con. It's largely about UFO sightings and close encounters in the New England area. It's a really good, quick read full of interesting sightings. 

4. The Greatest Mysteries of the Unexplained, by Andrew Holland. This is one of those Bargain Books you can pick up for about $6 at BAM!, but it wasn't bad. Lots of very basic information about a wide variety of weird and paranormal topics, but well worth the read for some quick entertainment.

5.  Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover Up, by Timothy Good. I was able to download a FREE ebook version of this for my Kindle via Amazon, and didn't realize that it was an actual book that's been around for a long time! Although originally published in the 1980's, there's still a lot of good information about ufology. 

6. The Appalachian Bigfoot, by Dr. Russell Jones: This is Dr. Jones' second Bigfoot book, and it was a really, really informative text about anything and everything you'd need to know about Bigfoot in Appalachia. I reviewed this one for the blog earlier this month, so definitely check out my post on that for more info! 

7. Disneyland of the Gods, by John Keel: John Keel is an interesting author, and his tongue-in-cheek style of writing can take some getting used to. However, it's so worth it! Keel was one of the greatest Fortean writers of our time, and this book was just a mish-mash of the strange and unusual. 

8. Haunted America: Dead But Not Gone in West Virginia, by Sherri Granato: Haunted America was another FREE ebook I downloaded from Amazon, and I'm really glad I didn't pay anything. It was short...VERY short, and didn't really offer anything that couldn't easily be found online, despite the fact that the author had personally visited the locations mentioned. I've read some of the author's other books and they were much better. This wasn't bad...it was just way too short to be considered a 'book.' 

9.  The Vampire's Bedside Companion, by Peter Underwood: I love Peter Underwood and have made my way through quite a few of his paranormal titles over the past few years. The Vampire's Bedside Companion is a unique mix of allegedly 'real' vampire encounters and lore, plus several works of vampire fiction from various authors. 

10. Paranormal Creatures, by Conrad Bauer: Another FREE ebook from Amazon! Conrad Bauer offers a ton of books on lots of paranormal topics, and this title was a nice little collection of some well-known and some lesser-known examples from cryptozoology.

11.  The Signet Handbook of Parapsychology,  edited by Martin Ebon: This is a hefty tome of essays, plucked from parapsychology journals and papers on a variety of parapsychology topics. It's taken me over a year to get through it all, but it was worth it. Entries were written by some of the 20th century's greatest parapsychologists on topics such as animal behavior, dreams, ESP, and afterlife studies. 

So let me know what YOU'VE been reading lately, or if you've read any of the titles above and have any opinions you'd like to share! Let me know in the comments below or find me over on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State Facebook page!  You can also check out my First Quarter Spooky Reading and let me know what you think as well! Happy haunting! 

May's Bigfoot Book Round-Up

May's Bigfoot Reading

I had officially declared last month Bigfoot Month.  All throughout May, I spent every spare second I had reading about Bigfoot, watching documentaries/webinars/online lectures about Bigfoot, and listening to podcasts about Bigfoot. I shared several historical Bigfoot articles here on Theresa's Haunted History.  I even attended an awesome hands-on Bigfoot workshop at Kanawha State Forest, hosted by Wild and Weird West Virginia. I fully immersed myself in Bigfoot research, and I learned a TON. Of course, now that I've exposed my mind to so many different theories from so many different people in the field, and heard so many different personal encounters, I find myself having MORE questions about the topic than I did coming into it, lol. 

Anyway, I've kept a list of every piece of Bigfoot media that I consumed last month, with the intention of sharing it with you all.  It's pretty massive, so I'm gonna have to break it down into categories, starting with my favorite: Bigfoot Books!

Having a well-stocked personal paranormal library really came in handy for this project. I was able to raid my own shelves for quite a few Sasquatch/Bigfoot/Yeti books. Some I had read before, and others were part of my never-ending TBR pile. I pulled what I thought would be the most relevant, but unfortunately....I didn't make it too far into the stack.  I did, however, manage to read four books this month. 

1. Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Everything You Need to Know by Martha Brockenbrough

This was the first book I chose because I thought it would be a quick introduction to the Bigfoot phenomenon. I was wrong, lol.  This book took me forever to get through, not because it was boring or anything, but because it was just so densely packed with information. It covers the history of Bigfoot, current research and researchers, the science behind Bigfoot, and just about anything else you'd want or need to know. It's based around the show of the same name, and it's definitely a great companion piece if you're a fan of the show, but even if you've never seen Finding Bigfoot, this is still an extremely useful book. It's written for a younger audience, but honestly, anyone from a complete novice to a Bigfoot expert will probably find something in this book of interest. I took so many notes and got so many ideas of topics to delve a little deeper into. 

2. Mindspeak: Tapping into Sasquatch and Science by Christopher Noel

This is the only book I bought especially for this month's research. I had heard Christopher Noel on a podcast and was curious about his ideas of both the link between autism in humans and Bigfoot behavior, as well as Bigfoot's ability to communicate telepathically. Obviously, these beliefs are pretty fringe in an already fringe topic, but I wanted to read more about it because I had recently had my own experience that may have included a telepathic communication. I was in Kanawha State Forest, sitting at a picnic table down in the Dunlop Hollow area. I had had a rough therapy appointment that morning, and just wanted to get out in nature and relax. So, I was sitting out there, reading a book and just enjoying the solitude of the surrounding woods. Before I left, I decided to clean up the area a little bit---someone had been out there recently, and there was quite a bit of trash strewn around. After gathering up as much as I could find and depositing it in the trash can, I heard a deep voice say 'thank you.' I looked around, thinking that maybe a park employee was in the area, but didn't see or hear anyone. I realized I heard the voice more in my head than I did with my ears. I could have easily imagined the voice, but I'd like to think there was a Bigfoot out there, appreciative of my efforts.  

3. Sasquatch: North America's Enduring Mystery by Rupert Matthews

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't have super high-hopes for it, but it was actually a really thorough look into the major Sasquatch/Bigfoot events in history. It was a quick read, and really helped me personally start making sense of all this data that I was being inundated with. I'd hear something being mentioned in a documentary or during a lecture and then come to a mention of it in this book. 

4. Bigfoot: On the Track of the Sasquatch by John Green

I wanted to make sure that I got in at least one book written by one of the classic, iconic authors of Bigfoot research, and luckily, I had this on my shelf. I THINK I had read it before, but it was nice taking another look now that I had a much better understanding of the events and people discussed in the book. My brittle, yellowed paperback copy contained both 'books' under this title and as I was reading it, I couldn't help thinking about what the original owner of this book thought when it was bought in the 1970's. I loved hearing John Green's own words on the topic, and I'm really glad that I made the time to include this one. 

A few of the other Bigfoot books I was hoping to get to in May