The Science of Ghosts

by Joe Nickell

  Collier's Encyclopedia. 1993. New York: P. F. Collier.

  Esslinger, Michael. 2003. Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years. Carwell, CA: Ocean View.

  Ginsberg, Paul (president of Professional Audio Laboratories). 2009. Appearing on “Devil's Island,” an episode of Mystery Quest (first aired November 4, 2009).

  Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 2000. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. 2nd ed. New York: Checkmark Books.

  Heaney, Frank. 1987. Inside the Walls of Alcatraz by Frank Heaney, Alcatraz's Youngest Guard. Cited in Vercillo 2008, pp. 81–82 (below).

  Nickell, Joe. 1991. “Historical Sketches: Bank Robber.” Licking Valley Courier (West Liberty, KY), November 14, 1991.

  ———. 2001. Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  ———. 2008. “Catching Ghosts.” Skeptical Briefs, June 4–6.

  Senate, Richard. 1998. Ghost Stalker's Guide to Haunted California. Ventura, CA: Charon.

  Smith, Barbara. 2004. Haunted San Francisco. San Francisco, CA: Heritage House. Cited in Vercillo 2008, p. 85 (below).

  Vercillo, Kathryn. 2008. Ghosts of Alcatraz. Atglen, PA: Shiffer.

  CHAPTER 19. GHOSTS IN THE MIRROR

  Finley, Rush. 2011. Interview by Joe Nickell, March 19.

  Finley, Ruth. 2002. Interview by Joe Nickell, April 12.

  “Ghostly Encounters.” 2007. Charleston [WV] Gazette Mail, February 18.

  Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 1991. Encyclopedia of the Strange, Mystical, and Unexplained. New York: Gramercy Books.

  ———. 2007. “The Lowe Hotel: Haunted Rooms in Mothman Territory.” Fate, August, pp. 24–27.

  Hauck, Dennis William. 1996. Haunted Places: The National Directory. New York: Penguin.

  King, Francis X. 1991. Mind & Magic. New York: Crescent.

  “The Lowe Hotel.” 2010. Pennsylvania Haunts & History. http://www.hauntsandhistory.blogspot.com/2010/12/lowe-hotel.html (accessed April 13, 2011).

  “Marilyn Monroe's Ghost in Mirror.” 2000. http://www.hollywoodroosevelt.com/tt.htm (accessed April 22, 2000).

  Moody, Raymond. 1993. Reunions. New York: Villard Books.

  Nickell, Joe. 2001. Real-Life X-Files. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  ———. 2007. Adventures in Paranormal Investigation. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  ———. 2011. Tracking the Man-Beasts: Sasquatch, Vampires, Zombies, and More. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

  Rule, Leslie. 2008. Ghost in the Mirror: Real Cases of Spirit Encounters. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel.

  Senate, Richard. 1998. Ghost Stalker's Guide to Haunted California. Ventura, CA: Charon.

  “Sid Hatfield.” 2011. Wikipedia. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Hatfield (accessed April 13, 2011).

  Wicker, Christine. 2003. Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town That Talks to the Dead. New York: HarperSanFrancisco.

  CHAPTER 20. HAUNTED DUTCH MINES

  Dieteren, Frans. 1984. Koale en eike (Coals and Oaks). Beijnsberger: Heythuysen. Translated excerpt provided by J. W. Nienhuys.

  Harmans, Gerard M. L. 2005. Holland. Eyewitness Travel Guides. New York: DK.

  Lemmens, Gerard. 1936. Mijnwerkersfolklore in Limburg. Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands: Veldeke Advertising Bureau.

  Meder, Theo. 2005. “Details Volksverhall.” Posted October 18. http://www.beleven.org/verhalen/data/verhaal.php?id=6646 (accessed July 2, 2007).

  ———. 2006. Personal communication, Octo ber 24.

  Nienhuys, Jan Willem. 2006. Personal communication (citing Lemmens 1936, above), December 10.

  CHAPTER 21. STAGE FRIGHT

  “Area Landmarks: Lancaster Opera House.” 1998. Buffalo News, December 20.

  “Arthur J. Lamb.” 2011. Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary Composer Biographies. http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/appendix/composers/L/ArthurJLamb (accessed June 24, 2011).

  Belanger, Jeff, ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of Haunted Places: Ghostly Locales from around the World. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books.

  “Bird Cage Theatre.” 2011a. Dark Haunts. http://darkhaunts.com/ArizonaGhostStories/BirdCageTheatre.htm (accessed June 21, 2011).

  “Bird Cage Theatre.” 2011b. StrangeUSA. http://www.strangeusa.com/Viewlocation.aspx?id=12236 (accessed June 21, 2011).

  Bondrow, David. 2008. Interview by Joe Nickell, January 22.

  Claud, Dwayne, and Cassidy O'Connor. 2009. Haunted Buffalo: Ghosts of the Queen City. Charleston, SC: History Press.

  Cottrill, Janice. 2005. In Belanger 2005, pp. 170–71.

  Dabkowski, Colin. 2006. “Lots of Treats.” Buffalo News, October 27.

  “Ghost Light.” 1995. Shaksper: The Global Electronic Shakespeare Conference. http://shaksper.net/archive/1995/103-february/3014 (accessed January 24, 2008).

  Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 2000. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. 2nd ed. New York: Checkmark Books.

  “Harry Von Tilzer.” 2011. Parlor Songs. http://www.parlorsongs.com/issues/2004-2/thismonth/feature.php (accessed June 24, 2011).

  Hauck, Dennis William. 1996. Haunted Places: The National Directory. New York: Penguin.

  Houran, James, and Rense Lange, eds. 2001. Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

  Kachuba, John. 2007. Ghosthunters: On the Trail of Mediums, Dowsers, Spirit Seekers, and Other Investigators of America's Paranormal World. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books.

  Kazmierczak, Thomas, III. 1998. Interview by author, October 13. (Kazmierczak was executive director of the Lancaster Opera House.)

  LaChiusa, Matthew, Thomas LaChiusa, and Robert Kupezyk. 2008. Ghostlights: Folklore, Skepticism & Belief. DVD. Buffalo, NY: Morphine Hearts Productions.

  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (program booklet). 2009. Ghostlight Theatre, October (various dates).

  “Myths & Legends of the Bird Cage Theater.” 2011. Sonoran Paranormal Investigations. http://www.sonoranparanormal.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:myths-a-legends-of-the-bird-cage-theater&catid=29:haunted-places&Itemid=116 (accessed June 22, 2011).

  Nelson, Burt Erickson. 1992. “Phantoms of the Opera House.” Buffalo Magazine, April 5.

  Nickell, Joe. 2001. “Phantoms, Frauds, or Fantasies?” In Houran and Lange 2001, pp. 214–23 (above).

  ———. 2005. Unsolved History: Investigating Mysteries of the Past. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  ———. 2008. “Catching Ghosts.” Skeptical Briefs, June, pp. 4–6.

  ———. 2010. “Ghost of Clement Hall.” Center for Inquiry. May 4, 2010. http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blogs/entry/ghost_of_clement_hall (accessed February 27, 2012).

  Ogden, Tom. 2009. Haunted Theaters: Playhouse Phantoms, Opera House Horrors, and Backstage Banshees. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot.

  Rubinsky, Yuri. 1976. “Museum Reopens June 21 Officially.” Whitehorse Star (Whitehorse, YT), June 9.

  Smith, Barbara. 2002. Haunted Theaters. Edmonton, AB: Lone Pine.

  “What's a Ghost Light?” 2008. Theatrecrafts. http://www.theatrecrafts.com/glossary/pages/moreghostlight.html (accessed January 24, 2008).

  Wilson, Sheryl C., and Theodore X. Barber. 1983. “The Fantasy-Prone Personality: Implications for Understanding Imagery, Hypnosis, and Parapsychological Phenomena.” In Imagery, Current Theory, Research and Application, edited by Anees A. Sheikh. New York: Wiley, pp. 340–90.

  Winfield, Mason. 2006. Village Ghosts of Western New York, Book I: Actors in the Half-Light. Buffalo, NY: Western New York Wares.

  CHAPTER 22. WORLDWIDE HAUNTINGS

  Barosio, Guido. 2001. Morocco: Past and Present. New York: Metro Books.

  Bernhardson, Wayne. 2004. Moon Handbooks Argentina. Emeryville, CA: Avalon Travel Publishing.

  Blackman, W. Haden. 1998. The Field Guide to North American Hauntings. New York: Three Rivers.

  Brunvand, Jan Harold. 1981. The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legen
ds and Their Meanings. New York: W. W. Norton.

  Cheng, Phoebe. 2010. “Bidding Fashionable Farewell to the Dead.” China Daily, October 21.

  Colombo, John Robert. 1988. Mysterious Canada. Toronto: Doubleday Canada.

  Corliss, William R. 1995. Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena. New York: Grammercy.

  Creighton, Helen. 1957. Bluenose Ghosts. Reprint, Halifax, NS: Nimbus, 1994, pp. 118–20.

  Davis, Richard. 1998. The Ghost Guide to Australia. Sydney, Australia: Bantam Books.

  Eliade, Mircea. 1995. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 5. New York: Macmillan.

  Finucane, R. C. 1984. Appearances of the Dead: A Cultural History of Ghosts. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

  Fodors.com. 2004. Cited in Nickell 2006 (below).

  Fowler, Verlie. 1991. Colonial Days in Campbelltown: The Legend of Fisher's Ghost. Rev. ed. Campbelltown, NSW, Australia: Campbelltown & Airds Historical Society.

  Hauck, Dennis William. 2000. The International Directory of Haunted Places. New York: Penguin.

  Leach, Maria. 1984. Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

  Luski, Paola. 2005. Interview by Joe Nickell, September 16.

  Mooney, Paul. 2008. National Geographic Traveler: Beijing. Washington, DC: National Geographic.

  Morocco. 2011. http://www.aulia-e-hind.com/dargah/Intl/Morocco.htm (accessed July 29, 2011).

  Nickell, Joe. 2001. Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. (Additional sources are given in this source.)

  ———. 2004. The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. (Additional sources are given in this source.)

  ———. 2006. “Argentina Mysteries.” Skeptical Inquirer 30, no. 2 (March/April): 19–22. (Additional sources are given in this source.)

  ———. 2007. Adventures in Paranormal Investigation. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. (Additional sources are given in this source.)

  Supreme Criminal Court. 1827. Proceedings published in Gazette (Sydney), February 5.

  Wachler, Martin. (1931.) 1984. Die Weisse Frau. Reprjnt, Kulmbach, Germany: Freunde der Plassenburg.

  Winter, Brian. 2001. “Ghosts of the Present Haunt Argentine Cemetery.” http://www.funeralwire.com (accessed September 26, 2005).

  CHAPTER 23. A SKELETON'S TALE

  “Bones in ‘Old Spook House.’” 1904. New York Times, November 23.

  Cadwallader, M. E. 1922. Hydesville in History. Chicago: Progressive Thinker.

  Christopher, Milbourne. 1970. ESP, Seers, and Psychics. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.

  Doyle, Arthur Conan. (1926.) 1975. The History of Spiritualism. 2 vols. Reprint, New York: Arno.

  “Editorial.” 1909. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. March, p. 191.

  “The Fox House Figures Again in a Sensation.” 1904. Arcadian Weekly Gazette, November 23.

  Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 2000. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. New York: Checkmark Books.

  “Headless Skeleton in Fox Sisters’ Home.” 1904. New York Times, November 24.

  Keeler, P. L. O. A. 1922. “The Skeleton in the Fox Cottage.” In Cadwallader 1922, pp. 59–60 (above).

  Lewis, E. E. 1848. A Report of the Mysterious Noises Heard in the House of Mr. John D. Fox, in Hydesville, Arcadia, Wayne County. Canandaigua, NY: E. E. Lewis.

  Muldoon, Sylvan. 1942. Famous Psychic Stories, Psychic Series Volume II. Darlington, WI: New Horizon.

  Mulholland, John. 1938. Beware Familiar Spirits. Reprint, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979.

  Nagy, Ron. 2006. Interview by Joe Nickell and Diana Harris, September 1.

  Nickell, Joe. 2004. “Joseph Smith: A Matter of Visions.” Chap. 35 of The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, pp. 296–303.

  ———. 2007. Adventures in Paranormal Investigation. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  Pressing, R. G. N.d. Rappings That Startled the World. Lily Dale, NY: Dale News.

  “Topics of the Times.” 1904. New York Times, November 25.

  Weisberg, Barbara. 2004. Talking to the Dead. New York: HarperSanFrancisco.

  CHAPTER 24. SPIRIT SEARCH

  Blum, Deborah. 2006. Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death. New York: Penguin.

  Gardner, Martin. 1992. “Communicating with the Dead: William James and Mrs. Piper.” Free Inquiry, part 1 (Spring): 20–27; part 2 (Summer): 34–48.

  Gottlieb, Anthony. 2006. “Raising Spirits” (review of Blum 2006, above). New York Times, August 20.

  Gurney, Edmund. 1886. Phantasms of the Living. London: Trubner.

  Gurney, E., and F. W. H. Myers. 1884. “Visible Apparitions,” Nineteenth Century 16 (July): 89–91. Cited in Hansel 1966, pp. 185–89 (below).

  Hansel, C. E. M. 1966. ESP: A Scientific Evaluation. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

  “The Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research.” 1907. Journal of Society for Psychical Research (London) 13 (1907–1908) (October): 124–26.

  CHAPTER 25. GHOSTWRITTEN TEXTS?

  Christopher, Milbourne. 1970. ESP, Seers, and Psychics. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.

  Flournoy, Theodore. (1901.) 1963. From India to the Planet Mars. Reprint, New Hyde Park, NY: University Books.

  Gaines, Helen Fouché. 1956. Cryptanalysis. New York: Dover.

  Gardner, Martin. 1957. Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science. New York: Dover.

  Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 1991. Encyclopedia of the Strange, Mystical, and Unexplained. New York: Gramercy Books.

  Ingersoll, Robert. (1887.) 1929. “A Tribute to Henry Ward Beecher (June 26).” In Tributes and Miscellany. Vol. 12 of The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll. Reprint, New York: Ingersoll League, pp. 419–24.

  Kalush, William, and Larry Sloman. 2006. The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero. New York: Atria Books.

  A Message from Robert G. Ingersoll Transmitted by Automatic Writing through a Philadelphia Psychic. 1904. N.p. Twenty-three-page pamphlet.

  Nickell, Joe. 1987. Literary Investigation: Texts, Sources, and “Factual” Substructs of Literature and Interpretation. PhD diss., University of Kentucky.

  ———. 1991. Wonder-Workers! How They Perform the Impossible. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

  ———. 1999. “Ingersoll among the Spirits.” Ingersoll Report 6, nos. 1–3.

  ———. 2004. “Abraham Lincoln: An Instance of Alleged ‘Spirit Writing.’” Skeptical Briefs 14, no. 3 (September): 5–7, 11.

  Smith, Frank. 1990. Robert G. Ingersoll: A Life. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

  Wilson, Sheryl C., and Theodore X. Barber. 1983. “The Fantasy-Prone Personality: Implications for Understanding Imagery, Hypnosis, and Parapsychological Phenomena.” In Imagery, Current Theory, Research and Application, edited by Anees A. Sheikh. New York: Wiley, pp. 340–90.

  CHAPTER 26. THE SÉANCES OF “HELLISH NELL”

  Churchill, Winston. 1944. “Letter to Home Secretary, April 3.” Quoted in Shandler 2006, p. 3 (below).

  Gibson, Walter B. 1930. Houdini's Escapes and Magic. New York: Blue Ribbon Books.

  Gibson, Walter B., and Morris N. Young, eds. 1953. Houdini on Magic. New York: Dover.

  Houdini, Harry. 1921. Magical Rope Ties and Escapes. London: Will Goldston, pp. 71–77.

  Keene, M. Lamar, and Allen Spraggett. (1976.) 1997. The Psychic Mafia. Reprint, Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

  Nickell, Joe. 2001. Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  ———. 2004a. The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  ———. 2004b. Investigative notes, Cassadaga file, March 22.

  Official Helen Duncan Website. 2009. http://www.helenduncan.org.uk (accessed June 23, 2009).

 
Price, Harry. 1931. Regurgitation and the Duncan Mediumship. London: National Laboratory of Psychical Research.

  ———. 1933. Leaves from a Psychic's Case-Book. London: Victor Gollancz.

  Rauscher, William V. 2006. Religion, Magic, and the Supernatural: The Autobiography, Reflections, and Essays of an Episcopal Priest. Woodbury, NJ: Mystic Light.

  Shandler, Nina. 2006. The Strange Case of Hellish Nell: The Story of Helen Duncan and the Witch Trial of World War II. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo.

  Wilson, Sheryl C., and Theodore X. Barber. 1983. “The Fantasy-Prone Personality: Implications for Understanding Imagery, Hypnosis, and Parapsychological Phenomena.” In Imagery, Current Theory, Research and Application, edited by Anees A. Sheikh. New York: Wiley, pp. 340–90.

  Woolley, V. J. 1932. “Review of Harry Price's Regurgitation and the Duncan Mediumship.” Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 27 (January): 187–90.

  CHAPTER 27. SÉANCE UNDERCOVER

  Keene, M. Lamar, and Allen Spraggett. (1976.) 1997. The Psychic Mafia. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

  Nickell, Joe. 2004. The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  ———. 2007. Adventures in Paranormal Investigation. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

  “Phil Jordan the Psychic Venue.” 2003. Insights (Official Newspaper-Menu of the Grand Hotel), no. 4 (Summer): 1.

  CHAPTER 28. “MESSAGES” FROM THE 9/11 DEAD

  Baker, Robert A., and Joe Nickell. 1992. Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics, and Other Mysteries. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

  Dunbar, David, and Brad Reagan, eds. 2006. Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts. New York: Hearst Books.

  Frazier, Kendrick, and James Randi. 1981. “Prediction after the Fact: Lessons of the Tamara Rand Hoax.” Skeptical Inquirer 6, no. 1 (Autumn): 4–7.

  Gardner, Martin, ed. 1986. The Wreck of the Titanic Foretold? Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

  Griffin, David Ray. 2007. Debunking 9/11 Debunking. Northampton, MA: Olive Branch.

  Houran, James, and Rense Lange, eds. 2001. Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

  Lamon, Ward Hill. 1895. Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847–1865. Chicago: A. C. McClurgy.