Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Joe Nickell (Amherst, NY) has been called "the modern Sherlock Holmes" and "the real-life Scully" (from The X-Files). He has been on the trail of mysterious creatures and phenomena for four decades. Since 1995 he has been the world's only full-time, professional, science-based paranormal investigator. His careful, often-innovative investigations have won him international respect in a field charged with controversy. He is the author of numerous books, including most recently Tracking the Man-Beasts: Sasquatch, Vampires, Zombies, and More and Real or Fake? Studies in Authentication and Adventures in Paranormal Investigation. See www.joenickell.com for more.

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THE SCIENCE OF GHOSTS

Prometheus Books

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................................................9INTRODUCTION: TOWARD A SCIENCE OF GHOSTS........................................................................................................11Chapter 1. Ghosts: A Brief History..............................................................................................................17Chapter 2. Naked Ghosts!........................................................................................................................25Chapter 3. Headless Ghosts I Have Known.........................................................................................................31Chapter 4. Experiencing the Other Side..........................................................................................................41Chapter 5. Entombed Alive!......................................................................................................................49Chapter 6. Ghostly Lore and Lure................................................................................................................59Chapter 7. The Doctor's Ghostly Visitor: Tracking "the Girl in the Snow"........................................................................67Chapter 8. Elvis Lives! Investigating the Legends and Phenomena.................................................................................73Chapter 9. Encountering Phantom Soldiers........................................................................................................81Chapter 10. Conjuring Ghosts: The Haunting of Van Horn Mansion..................................................................................87Chapter 11. Animal Spirits......................................................................................................................95Chapter 12. Ghost of an Alaska Murderer?........................................................................................................101Chapter 13. Lighthouse Specters.................................................................................................................107Chapter 14. The Storied Lighthouse Ghost........................................................................................................115Chapter 15. Pirates' Ghosts: Aar-r-gh!..........................................................................................................119Chapter 16. An Austrian Castle Haunted by Paracelsus?...........................................................................................127Chapter 17. Incarcerated Ghosts: Haunted Dungeons, Prisons, and Jails...........................................................................133Chapter 18. Convict Specters at Alcatraz........................................................................................................141Chapter 19. Ghosts in the Mirror................................................................................................................147Chapter 20. Haunted Dutch Mines.................................................................................................................155Chapter 21. Stage Fright: Theatrical Hauntings..................................................................................................159Chapter 22. Worldwide Hauntings.................................................................................................................171Chapter 23. A Skeleton's Tale: The Origins of Modern Spiritualism...............................................................................185Chapter 24. Spirit Search: William James and the SPR............................................................................................195Chapter 25. Ghostwritten Texts?.................................................................................................................201Chapter 26. The Séances of "Hellish Nell": Solving the Unexplained.........................................................................209Chapter 27. Séance Undercover..............................................................................................................217Chapter 28. "Messages" from the 9/11 Dead.......................................................................................................223Chapter 29. Synchronicities: A Pathologist among the Spirits....................................................................................235Chapter 30. John Edward: Spirit Huckster........................................................................................................241Chapter 31. The Real "Ghost Whisperer"..........................................................................................................245Chapter 32. Sylvia Browne: Does She Talk to the Dead?...........................................................................................249Chapter 33. Ghost Hunting.......................................................................................................................259Chapter 34. Ghost Hunters.......................................................................................................................269Chapter 35. Scientific Investigations vs. Ghost Hunters.........................................................................................275Chapter 36. Ghost Hustling in Connecticut.......................................................................................................281Chapter 37. Ghost Forensics.....................................................................................................................287Chapter 38. Photoghosts: Images of the Spirit Realm?............................................................................................297Chapter 39. Ghostly Experiences: Magnetic Fields or Suggestibility?.............................................................................307Chapter 40. Ghost Hunting's Other Side..........................................................................................................309Chapter 41. Ghostly Endeavor: Ethical Issues Haunt Kentucky Press...............................................................................313Chapter 42. Catching Ghosts.....................................................................................................................319Chapter 43. Poltergeist Attacks!................................................................................................................325Chapter 44. Rampaging Mind: The Seaford Poltergeist Case........................................................................................333AFTERWORD.......................................................................................................................................343APPENDIX: THE HAUNTED MIND—A GLOSSARY OF MENTAL STATES, ATTITUDES, AND PERCEPTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH GHOSTLY ENCOUNTERS.....................345NOTES...........................................................................................................................................355REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................359INDEX...........................................................................................................................................399

Chapter One