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The Science of Ghosts

Page 38

by Joe Nickell


  Night-Side of Nature, The (Crowe), 20

  “night terrors,” 109. See also waking dreams

  9/11 “messages,” 223–33

  noises, ghostly, 278. See also acoustics; shrieks, ghostly; moans, ghostly

  Oak Island, 119, 124–25, 173

  oblique-light examination, 294

  O'Brien, Lisa, 228

  O'Brien, Timmy, 228

  Occam's razor, 12

  Ocracoke Island, 119, 125–26

  Octagon House, 93

  Ogden, Tom, 159, 162, 170

  Old Fort Niagara, 35–37, 35, 36

  optical illusion, 165

  “orbs,” 103, 139, 145, 149, 167, 272, 301, 317

  Orloff, Judith, 239

  Ouija board, 21, 205

  out-of-body experience (OBE), 254

  defined, 350–51

  Owen, A. R. G., 165

  Owen, Iris M., 165

  Palace Grand Theatre, 167–70

  Palladino, Eusapia, 22, 198

  Palmer, John, 57

  Paracelsus, 127–32

  ghost of, 128–29

  tomb of, 130–32, 131

  Paranormal State (TV show), 311

  paraphysics, defined, 25

  parapsychological phenomena, 266

  parapsychologists, 266, 320, 329, 334, 336

  pareidolia, 146

  defined, 351

  Parker, Darl Lee, 143

  Parris, Lorraine, 114

  past-life recall

  defined, 351

  See also past lives

  past lives, 45–47, 247, 254. See also past-life recall

  Peggy's Cove lighthouse, 110

  “Pepper's Ghost” stage illusion, 175

  Persinger, Michael A., 307–308

  pet psychics, 96

  “phantasmagoria,” 159

  photo analysis, 301–306. See also photographs, ghostly

  photographs, ghostly, 121, 128–29, 129, 145, 177, 227, 271–72, 276, 297, 297–306, 299, 300, 304, 305, 306

  evolution of, 260, 298

  photo analysis, 301–306

  See also thermal-image “ghost”

  Piper, Leonora, 198

  Pirate's Alley, 121–22, 122

  Pirate's House Restaurant, 123

  Plassenburg fortress, 171–72

  Pliny the Younger, 17–18

  Podmore, Frank, 27

  Poe, Edgar Allan, 49, 124

  Pole, Margaret, 38–39

  Poltergeist: The Legacy (TV show), 23

  poltergeist-faking syndrome, 331

  poltergeists, 18, 23, 307–308, 321–23, 325–31. See also Columbus Poltergeist; Enfield disturbances; Lindley Street Infestation; Newbury Demon; poltergeist-faking syndrome; “poltergeist that wasn't”; Seaford Poltergeist

  “poltergeist that wasn't,” 330–31

  polygraph tests, 340

  possession

  defined, 351

  See also demons; exorcism

  pranks, ghostly, 85, 113, 144, 157, 160, 172, 185–88, 316, 320–21, 323–24, 323. See also poltergeists

  Pratt, J. Gaither, 334, 336, 340

  precipitations on silk, 287–90, 288–89

  experimentally reproduced, 290, 306

  precognitive dreams, 230. See also premonitions

  “Premature Burial, The” (Poe), 49. See also burial, premature

  premonitions, 229–33, 243

  Presley, Elvis, 73–80, 78

  ghost of, 78–80

  mythology, 73–75

  sightings, 76–77

  spirit communication, 76–77

  Presley, Jesse, 80

  Presque Isle Light

  New, 111

  Old, 113–14

  Price, Harry, 212–14, 259, 261–63

  Prior, William, 109

  prophetic dreams, 314

  Psychics Kids (TV show), 310

  Psychic Mafia, The (Keene), 21, 217

  psychic phenomena (psi), 351–52. See also psychics

  psychics, 145, 146, 147, 163–64, 167, 217, 263–64, 269, 273, 311, 314. See also mediums; see also names of specific “psychics”

  psychics, pet, 96

  “psychic sleuths,” 218–19, 253–54

  psychokinesis (PK), 166, 331, 337

  defined, 352

  recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK), 334

  See also poltergeists

  psychomanteum, 152–54

  purgatory, 11, 18, 245

  quantum theory, 27

  question trick (of psychics), 232

  Qur'an, 181

  Randi, James, 255, 330

  rappings. See spirit rappings

  Rauscher, Rev. William V., 217

  Real or Fake: Studies in Authentication (Nickell), 317

  Recoleta cemetery (Buenos Aires), 173–75, 174

  re-creation experiments, 296

  recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK). See psychokinesis

  reenactors as “ghosts,” 81–86

  Rees, Vaughn, 60, 141, 144, 249, 273, 306

  Reichenstein Castle, 33

  reincarnation. See past lives

  Rembrandt, 155

  Resch, Joan, 330

  Resch, John, 330

  Resch, Tina, 330

  retrofitting, 227

  revenant, 11

  reverie, 159

  Rhine, J.B., 334

  Ringword Manor, 270

  Riviera Theatre, 164–66

  Robertson, Clint, 305, 306

  Rockwell, Kathleen, 167–70, 168

  Roland, Paul, 267

  Roll, William, 330, 334, 336, 339

  Ronan, Margaret, 69

  “Rosna, Charles B.” (alleged spirit), 191

  Rule, Leslie, 147

  Ryan, Kelli, 311

  St. Augustine Lighthouse, 278, 80

  St. Clement Chapel, 34

  Sally Jessy Raphael (TV show), 283, 284, 285

  Salzburg Castle, 127–30, 129

  Samuel, ghost of, 17

  Schäuble, Rosemarie, 95–96

  Scot, Reginald, 18–19

  Scott, John Paul, 142–43, 356n2

  Scott, Sir Walter, 51

  scrying, 147, 151. See also mirrors

  Seaford Poltergeist, 33–41. See also poltergeists

  séances. See spirit communication

  Senate, Richard, 145, 152

  serology. See forensic serology

  Seul Choix Point Lighthouse, 108, 112–13

  Severs, Henrietta, 60

  Sexton, Robert, 323

  Shadow Chasers (TV show), 23

  Shakespeare, William, 19, 178, 259. See also Hamlet; Macbeth

  Shanklin, Bob, 109

  Shanklin, Sandra, 109

  Sherry, Dorothy, 76–77

  ship, ghost, 172–73

  shrieks, ghostly, 111–12, 146

  Shroud of Turin, 252

  “signs” (from the dead), 226–27, 314

  simulacra, 64, 65, 151–52, 273, 298, 351. See also pareidolia

  Singraven, 50–52, 52

  Sixth Sense, The (movie), 23

  Skeptical Inquirer (magazine), 9, 12, 218, 287, 303

  sleep paralysis

  defined, 352

  See also waking dream

  smells, phantom, 112–13. See also smoke, odor of

  Smith, Joseph, 185

  Smith, Timothy Clark

  grave of, 55–57, 56

  smoke, odor of, 112–13

  Smurl family, 283

  snake charmers, 179

  Snedeker, Allen, 282–86

  Snedeker, Carmen, 282–86

  and son's problems, 285

  Society for Psychical Research (SPR), 22, 195, 261, 297

  Southall, Richard, 267

  Southington, CT, demon/haunting case, 281–86

  spirit

  defined, 11

  spirit artist. See Bartlett, Patricia; spirit painting

  spirit cabinet, 20–21, 210–11

  spirit communication, 185–255


  and Elvis Presley, 76–77

  and fantasy proneness, 314–15

  and Fox sisters, 185–93

  at Van Horn Mansion, 93–94

  See also channeling

  spirit guide, 21, 219–21, 239

  Sylvia Browne's, 252, 253, 254

  spirit painting, 201, 205, 294

  examination of, 294

  spirit photos, 298–300

  spirit precipitations. See precipitations on silk

  spirit rappings, 20, 22, 165

  “Spirit Sack” (escape), 214

  spirit trumpet, 21, 218, 273

  spiritualists, 203. See also spirit communication; Fox sisters

  spirit writing, 201–208

  on slates, 197, 201

  Spookiest Stories Ever (Brown and Brown), 313–17

  SPR. See Society for Psychical Research

  Spraggett, Allen, 217

  Stalin, Joseph, 177

  Steenkolenmijn, 155

  Stekoll, Michael S., 101

  Stevenson, Captain Dick, 169

  Stinnett, Angelia, 61

  Stortebeker, Klaus, 34

  Strieber, Whitley, 247

  Stroud, Robert, 142, 143, 144, 146

  stylistic evidence, 205–207. See also automatic writing

  stylometry, 206–207

  suggestibility, 347

  defined 352–53

  suggestion, 165, 279, 308, 320, 331. See also expectancy; suggestibility

  Swayze, Patrick, 23

  synchronicities, 235–39, 353

  synchronicity defined, 236

  Syrett, Richard, 80

  table tipping, 21, 94, 165, 205, 217

  Tart, Charles, 266

  Teach, Edward. See Blackbeard

  telepathy, 352

  defined 353

  thermal-image “ghost,” 309–10, 310

  Thirty Mile Point Light, 108, 111

  Thomas, Hannah, 109

  Thomas, John, 109

  Thompson, William O., 111

  Thurston, Herbert, 51

  Titanic (premonitions of), 230

  Titus, Nellie, 195–96, 198–99

  Topper (TV show), 23

  Tourette's syndrome, 351

  Tower of London, 38–39

  Tozzi, Det. Joseph, 334–41

  Tracking the Man-Beasts (Nickell), 147

  trance. See dissociative state

  Treasure Island (Stevenson), 124

  trumpet. See spirit trumpet

  tunnel-travel. See near-death experience

  Twain, Mark, 263

  Tyrrell, G. N. M., 28, 110

  undercover investigation, 217–21

  University Press of Kentucky, 313–17

  Upchurch, Liz, 323

  urban legends. See legends; “Vanishing Hitchhiker”

  Vail, R. W. G., 70

  vampire, 11. See also “Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, The”

  Van Horn, James, Sr., 87

  Van Horn, Malinda (Niles), 88–94

  tombstone of, 88–89, 89

  Van Horn Mansion, 87–94, 87, 217

  “Vanishing Hitchhiker” (urban legend), 175, 246

  Van Praagh, James, 223, 241

  variants (in folktales), 62–63, 69–71, 103–104, 110, 117, 126, 161, 175

  verisimilitude, 117–18

  Vermeer, 155

  “Virgin Mary” simulacra, 298

  “visionaries,” 248

  “visitations” (from the dead), 227–29, 314

  voodoo, 19, 20, 40, 41–43, 64, 104, 109–10, 122, 228, 247, 315, 316, 345

  defined, 353–54

  waking dream, 19, 20, 40, 41–43, 64, 104, 109–10, 122, 228, 247, 315, 316, 345

  defined, 353–54

  Walsh, Joseph A., 328

  Warren, Ed, 264, 283–86, 328, 329

  Warren, Joshua, 267

  Warren, Lorraine, 264, 283–86, 329

  Warsinske, Kenna, 118

  Weber, William, 23, 293

  “weeping” effigy, 75

  Wendt, Ron, 103

  West Pittston haunting, 283

  “White Lady” (ghost), 171–72

  White Noise (movie), 23

  Willin, Dr. Melvyn, 297–304

  Wilson, Cheryl C., 247

  Wilson, Colin, 264

  Wilson, Grant, 138–39, 274, 275–80, 275, 309

  Wilson, Ian, 264

  Winchester, Sarah, 59–61, 277–78

  Winchester Mystery House, 59–61, 60, 277–78

  Winecoff Hotel, 63–65, 65

  Winfield, Mason, 90

  Winkowski, Mary Ann, 245–48

  wishful thinking

  defined, 354

  See also confirmation bias

  witch, 327

  of Endor, 17, 268

  Sybil Leek as, 263

  Witchcraft Act (of 1735), 211–12

  Witch of Endor, 17

  Woman in White, The (TV show), 23

  Wooley, V. J., 213

  World Trade Center. See 9/11 “messages”

  Worrell, George, 175–77

  Wortman, B., 345

  Wright, Earl, 62

  Wrinn, Stephen, 316–17

  Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 38

  Yaquina Bay Light, 115

  Young Teazer (ship), 173

  zombie, 11

 

 

 


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