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. 

First Quarter Spooky Reading 2022

Here at Theresa's Haunted History, I've always advocated a spirit of life-long learning when it comes to the paranormal field. No matter how experienced you may be, no matter how many years you've been chasing down the ghosts, there's ALWAYS plenty left to be learned. One of my favorite ways to indulge this continuing education into the world of the unknown is to read everything I can possible get my hands on! 

Reading a variety of books from different authors on different paranormal topics is how I got my first real taste of this field as a kid...and it's how I continue to get my fix well into adulthood.  However, not everything I read gets reviewed here on my blog's Book Reviews page.  I still wanted a way to share with you what I've been diving into when it comes to my paranormal nonfiction, so I thought the best way to do this would just be a quarterly re-cap, with links and a brief summary of the books I got around to finishing. As with so many of my projects, there just aren't enough hours in the day to really get to EVERYTHING I want to, and unfortunately, I only read a mere 8 books on the paranormal from January 1st to March 31st! 

1. Haunted Shenandoah Valley by Denver Michaels: Like the title would suggest, this book covers hauntings from all over the Shenandoah Valley, including a small section from West Virginia. Denver Michaels is a prolific author of the paranormal, so each story was well-written, interesting, and had plenty of historical background thrown in. This is a great book for anyone interested in the hauntings of that location, or even those interested in Civil War-based ghost tales, as there are quite a few from the Shenandoah Valley!

2. Strange Twist of Fate edited by Curtis Fuller: I found this battered paperback in an antique store for $2 and had to add it to my collection. As it is a collection of articles originally appearing in Fate Magazine, the topics range from ghosts to UFOs, to psychic ability and all sorts of other Fortean phenomena. And as such, some of the stories are really fascinating and well-written and some are rather...head-scratching. 

3. The Wild Man of North America by Louis Petolicchio: Back in December, I picked up my signed copy of this book (and met the author!) while stopping by the Yeti Expo at the West Virginia Bigfoot Museum in Sutton. Unfortunately, the author passed away before I could return to the museum and let him know how much I enjoyed his book. This is a collection of vintage newspaper clippings from all over the country featuring stories of Wild Men, many of which we'd probably classify as a 'Bigfoot' today. 

4. The Ghost Hunter's Guide by Peter Underwood: Peter Underwood is another one of those super-prolific writers on the paranormal, and even though the publication date for this one is a little...dated...the information really isn't. The basics of paranormal investigation and ghost hunting haven't changed much since the days of Harry Price...and I can't decide personally if that's a good thing or not! 

5. Men in Black by Conrad Bauer: I picked up the e-book version when it was being offered for free, and I'm really glad I did. Although it was a quick read, it was fairly thorough and well-researched, mentioning plenty of famous Men in Black cases, including some high strangeness associated with the Pt. Pleasant Mothman flap. 

6. Paranormal Crimes by Conrad Bauer: Another free-to-me find by the same author as Men in Black, this one was actually pretty interesting as well. Relating paranormal phenomena to crime was a really unique concept, and it was fun to read. However, some of the 'crimes' were quite the stretch. 

7. Ghosts of Hampshire and Isle of Wight by Peter Underwood: This was my second book by the legendary Peter Underwood that I finished this quarter. It is a huge compendium of haunted locations from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. As I'm not familiar with these locations, there were times when the extensive history got a little dry for me, but it's a great collection of ghost stories that can be enjoyed by anyone, no matter where they're from. 

8. Phantoms of Dixie by Hans Holzer: This was another battered, old paperback I picked up at a local antique store, and just one of the hundreds of books published by ghost hunter, Hans Holzer! This was actually a kind of weird read for me...I'm not entirely sure I agree with Holzer's definition of 'Dixie,' as some of the deep south states only got a few pages dedicated to them, while Texas was over half the book...with a little Oklahoma?? thrown in. Still, you can't go wrong with Hans Holzer and there were some great cases discussed. 

So that's my first quarter reading list! I've got a TBR pile a mile high of paranormal non-fiction I want to get to this summer, yet I continue to buy more and more books...from conventions, from thrift stores, and from free offers on my Kindle. There will never be enough time to read everything I want to read...but check back in 3 months to see what additional titles I was able to finish.  Happy Reading...and as always, stay spooky!