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Fortean Books: Suggestions & Recommendations

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glamour_dust

Gone But Not Forgotten
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I've posted this question before in another forum so excuse me if I'm repeating myself, but I would dearly love recommendations of good fortean books/stories. I'm fairly new to forteana but I find it fascinating so far, and I enjoy reading stories of a supernatural/strange slant. I also don't mind having to track books down, it's kind of a hobby actually, so don't be unwilling to recommend rare ones. Much appreciated.
 
Not exactly Fortean but containing "fortean" spookyness, you could read any one of the series "The Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan" by Paul Doherty - set in Medieval London, each novel is a whodunnit with an element of the supernatural (and it's debunking).
Another one to look out for is Satan's Fire, also by Paul Doherty, which involves Spontaneous Human Combustion and the Templars - all very Fortean!
 
If you're after fiction you could try Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May novels which are based around the operations of the North London Peculiar Crimes Unit and are quite entertaining if you like that sort of thing.

I'd also recommend one of my all time favourite novels, Mother London by Michael Moorcock (in non sci-fi mode). It's one of those books that leaves you feeling enriched as well as entertained and a little bit sad when it's finished (although of course you never really finish a good book).

For non-fiction I still think for the best overview of the subject you can't do any better than Mike Dash's Borderlands or the Rough Guide's Unexplained Phenomena by Bob Rickard and John Michell.
 
hi

If this is the incorrect forum please redirect me

A while ago I made a list of books recommended by FT and sadly I have lost it

One author stood out for a collect of books on fortean type anomlies and discussion of them. I think there were at least 3 volumes. I know that is not very specific... any suggestions or links appreciated.

These books don't seem to be available in Australia
 
wooooo

well done

that is the book

excellent detective work from my really vague descripion

Thanks
 
I'm currently reading 'The Mammoth Book of True Hauntings' by Peter Haining and I'm enjoying it a lot.
Anybody got recommendations for other books they've read on a fortean theme, any input would be greatly appreciated (has to be available on Kindle if possible). Main topics of interest are ghosts and ufo's but I'm open to other suggestions as well. Cheers
 
Go to the section 'Fortean Culture' and you will find a sticky "suggestions for a good read". There's tons on there. :D
 
Thank you. Excuse my ignorance, you sir are a scholar!!
 
Not sure if you can get him on Kindle but John Pinkney has written quite a few books of collections of stories about ghosts etc. His publisher is FiveMile Press in Australia. I have a few of them but haven't seen anything new recently.
 
I have posted this on that section too, but if you go to either 'Project Gutenberg' or 'Archive.org' and do a search, there are millions of books, published before 1961, that are all available for free. You can also download each book into 'mobi' format, which is the Kindle's native format.

On there try peeps like:
Elliot O' Donnell
Catherine Crow (The Night Side of Nature)
Manly P. Hall

Also available are the journals for the Society for Psychical Research and the American Society for Psychical Research and their proceeding from the late 1800's.
 
Borderlands by Mike Dash.

Tom Slick and the Search for the Yeti by Loren Coleman

Flat Earth by Christine Garwood.

In Search of Shangri-La by Michael McRae.

Himmlers Crusade (to Tibet) by Christopher Hale.

The Master Plan (about the SS Ahnenerbe Institute) by Heather Pringle.

Edit to fix typo.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I shall check them out when I get a chance, much appreciated :)
 
ramonmercado said:
Borderlands by Mike Keel.
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Dash, dear boy, Mike Dash.

Now write it out a hundred times.

Seriously though, that's a good one. Agree with all the above pretty much, also anything by Janet & Colin Bord ("Alien Animals", "Modern Mysteries of Britain" both good).

Colin Wilson on a good day (cue James Whitehead spluttering espresso from his nose :)...alright then, "Mysteries" and "Poltergeist". Other than that I'd leave on the shelf.)
 
stuneville said:
ramonmercado said:
Borderlands by Mike Keel.
Click to expand...
Dash, dear boy, Mike Dash.

Now write it out a hundred times.

Seriously though, that's a good one. Agree with all the above pretty much, also anything by Janet & Colin Bord ("Alien Animals", "Modern Mysteries of Britain" both good).

Colin Wilson on a good day (cue James Whitehead spluttering espresso from his nose :)...alright then, "Mysteries" and "Poltergeist". Other than that I'd leave on the shelf.)
Click to expand...

Aaaargh! How could I make such a mistake? I should be keel hauled.
 
stuneville said:
Dash, dear boy, Mike Dash...

...Seriously though, that's a good one. Agree with all the above pretty much, also anything by Janet & Colin Bord ("Alien Animals", "Modern Mysteries of Britain" both good)...
Click to expand...

Yes to all that.

Also, for an overview: Unexplained Phenomena - A Rough Guide Special, by Bob Rickard and John Michell. I think this is now in it's second edition.

On a more specialised note: Mystery Animals of Britain and Ireland, by Graham J McEwan and Hauntings and Apparitions, by Andrew MacKenzie. Also, that old standard, The Reader's Digest - Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain and Westwood and Simpson's, The Lore of the Land.

I'd also recommend, yet again, True Ghost Stories of Our Own Time, by Vivienne Rae-Ellis. (Used copies going for 0.01 on Amazon - come on, got to be worth a punt.)

And, David Clarke's, Supernatural Peak District - obviously, a regional guide, and I'm bound to have a connection because I was born and brought up in the area, but I'm sure it will be of interest.

Edit: And, just to show that I'm not regionally biased, Jan Andrew Henderson's The Ghost That Haunted Itself - about the McKenzie poltergeist which is alleged to loiter about Greyfriar's Cemetery, Edinburgh, putting the wind up tourists and generally making a nuisance of itself.
 
On the Track of Unknown Animals, by Bernard Heuvelmans. Totally outdated and pretty much a history of colonial folklore but none the worse for that. It is the cryptozoology book. Really can't recommend it enough.

Also 'Carnivorous Nights' by Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson. A very realistic and unbiased synopsis of the state of affairs regarding the stripey one.

Finally though not strictly Fortean, as it's resolved, but still probably the strangest and scariest thing I've ever read is 'The Man Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag', by Jim Corbett. Also it's available free on line.
 
Spookdaddy said:
I'd also recommend, yet again, True Ghost Stories of Our Own Time, by Vivienne Rae-Ellis. (Used copies going for 0.01 on Amazon - come on, got to be worth a punt.)
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OK, you've convinced me, I've ordered a copy for the princely sum of one pence, which is far less than the postage.
 
Vivienne Rae-Ellis was in Australia at one time and I used to exchange letters with her. When I saw the post I was reminded that I came across one of her books and she had included something I told her.
 
There's a little-known author called Kenneth C Ryeland who writes stories based in post-colonial West Africa, some of whose short stories have a Fortean element. The most Fortean are probablyHot Metal and Juju Men (about Freemasons!), which are both available as individual e-books. You can also get the whole collection (called Tribal Gathering) as an e-book and a paperback. Might be worth a go if you're interested.
 
gncxx said:
Spookdaddy said:
I'd also recommend, yet again, True Ghost Stories of Our Own Time, by Vivienne Rae-Ellis. (Used copies going for 0.01 on Amazon - come on, got to be worth a punt.)
Click to expand...

OK, you've convinced me, I've ordered a copy for the princely sum of one pence, which is far less than the postage.
Click to expand...

I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's really an extended IHTM with little editorial intervention and no real research into any of the claims - so, it's by no means a serious scientific study. However, the general quality of the stories convinces me that a lot of chaff (which I don't doubt there must have been) was discarded for the book.

There are examples of the type of story I'm always a little circumspect about - the 'well, I've always been a bit psychic, you know' type. (I'll admit I may well be being unfair here; for all I know it may be a fair and accurate comment - however, for me, this kind of introduction always smacks a little of expectation, and also the possibility that the teller is telling the story in order to say something about themselves rather than for it's own sake.)

To my mind the most powerful stories are those told by individuals who profess never to have had such an experience before or since (and sometimes claim to not believe in ghosts, despite their experience) but who nevertheless found themselves, for a moment, undergoing an experience which - to paraphrase M R James - they could neither explain away or fit into the scheme of their everyday lives.

Great stuff - and a few of the stories are actually quite unnerving. Two especially have stayed in my mind since I first read the book.
 
If you fancy another cheap ghost book, then Ghosts Over Britain by Peter Moss can be bought from Amazon for 1p too.

I've collected loads of ghost books and this is one of my favourites. I think the author wrote to loads of local newspapers in the 70s asking for people's ghost stories, and it also reads like an extended IHTM. Many of the tales are unique to this book too, so you don't get the same old stories from all the other ghost collections. Some really spooky ones in there. Well worth the cheap price.

John Keel's "Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings" is another good read that I always come back to. Some way out strange stuff.

If you're after UFO books, then my favourite ones are by Jaques Vallee. He tends to be more interested in contact stories than lights in the sky, so is a good read if you're interested in strange beings, especially the link between UFO contact stories and things like fairies. Passport to Magonia is the classic, but can be quite expensive. Dimensions is a more recent book that might be cheaper.

Would also add another vote to Borderlands. An excellent guide to all things Fortean.
 
I was going to say Spookdaddy's recommendation of the Vivienne Rae-Ellis book reminded of one of my favourites, Ghosts Over Britain, when there it was recommended in the very next post! If the VR-E book is as good as that then I'll be a satisfied customer.

Another vote for Borderlands here, too.
 
gncxx said:
I was going to say Spookdaddy's recommendation of the Vivienne Rae-Ellis book reminded of one of my favourites, Ghosts Over Britain, when there it was recommended in the very next post!
Click to expand...

Not heard of this one - so I'm going to take my own advice and give it a go.

...If the VR-E book is as good as that then I'll be a satisfied customer...
Click to expand...

You see, I'm all paranoid now that you''ll think it's rubbish and blame me for spending a penny inappropriately. (When this happens to me I blame the cat.)

I should also have mentioned Seeing Ghosts, by Hilary Evans - recommended by Titch on another thread and thoroughly enjoyed.

(This could end up costing us all a small fortune.)
 
It's all right, I think I can afford 1p! And I love a good supernatural anecdote, which is why I ordered it.
 
Just finished reading Abduction to the 9th Planet by Michel Desmarquet. It's supposed to be a true account by the author and I found it quite interesting, even if it's just fiction.
I bought it from a carboot sale and it was published about 1993.
 
Just started reading the Vivienne Rae-Ellis book, and it's quite interesting so far, a lot of the storytellers have experienced their ghosts in the middle of the night in bed. Also someone called Mrs Joan Church seems to have a lion's share of the anecdotes, maybe she should have written her own book?

Anyway, I was getting ready to think no more of it than "OK" when this evening I got to the story of the little girl who twice was minding her own business in her bedroom when this stern-looking old woman entered the room and walked right up to her, face against hers, sending her into a panic so that she couldn't recall where the woman had gone afterwards. That's the sort of scary stuff I was hoping for!
 
"Ancient Mysteries" by Peter Haining

link

Just a fun little book, assorted mysteries, well worth a look.



----------------------------

"Manlike Monsters on Trial"

link

Scholarly treatment of sasquatch/bigfoot phenomena.
 
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