This book includes brief accounts of a variety of encounters with the paranormal and supernatural, everything from doppelgangers and ghosts to UFO sightings
and cattle mutilations.
Review
Originally published in 1982, it already feels dated. It's another example of what I call Paranormal Lite, where a collection of anecdotes on the subject are
gathered without much attempt to speculate on the phenomena that caused them. The articles are extremely brief, rarely lasting much longer than a few paragraphs.
While many are intriguing, there is just too little information presented to sink one's teeth into. This is a good book if you just want something to page through
now and again for a brief glimpse at the world of unusual things, without having to get too deeply engrossed. I wouldn't have bothered buying it if it hadn't been
deeply discounted.
A collection of historical oddities, amazing phenomenon, and unexplained mysteries. From magnetic humans and internal combustion to the mysteries
of evolution and the natural world, this book has something for just about everyone. Old superstitions are debunked, the sources of many modern tales
are explained, and unexplainable, unique occurrences are mentioned.
Review
A good alternate title would've been "Paranormal Lite," but it's not a bad little read. True, the book is far from little, but it rarely discusses
anything for more than a page. Many different oddities, running the gamut from the afterlife to strange anecdotal coincidences, are included here, making
for some interesting reading. They tend to list a lot of stuff as "debunked" so the poor little reader doesn't have to fret about things too much, without
mentioning just how, when, or where the idea lost credibility. Otherwise, the range of topics makes this fun to look through occasionally. My library on
this sort of thing is far from extensive, so this is the only place I have any mention of some of these topics, but the briefs do little more than make me
wish I had a more extensive article at hand on the subject. This book is at its best when listing trivial tidbits, such as dumb historical crimes,
outrageous patents, and words with no apparent source that are nevertheless in common usage. For anyone interested in the unexplained, but who doesn't
want to think too much about it, I recommend this. For anyone else, like those who want some depth to their armchair investigations, this volume has some
points of interest, but, unless it's in the Bargain Book shelf (where I found it), I wouldn't shell out the cash for it.
