Your Personal Fortean Book Collection: How Big? What's In It?

[gerhard1]

I do own several Christopher O'Brien books and, while the subject matter is interesting, they were edited so horribly that I don't think I've read any of them more than once including The Mysterious Valley.

When I say bad editing, I'm not just talking about a misspelled word. There were duplicated paragraphs and in at least one instance there was a whole page left out with the text from a few pages back in its place. It's a shame, too; they really did seem like potentially good books.

Perhaps I'm being too critical and I should give them another shot.

Perhaps I got a later corrected edition, as I didn't notice anything like that.

 

[Spudrick68]

What a wonderful way to add to one's reading list.

Amongst favourites on my bookshelf are:
The Golden Bough - James George Frazer
The Roots Of Coincidence - Arthur Koestler
Hauntings & Apparitions - Andrew McKenzie
Mind Over Matter - Kit Pedler
Too Good To Be True - The Colossal Book Of Urban Legends - Jan Harold Brunwand
An Underground Education - Richard Zacks

 

[MercuryCrest]

Hey, Spud, I have "The Roots of Consciousness" too, but mine's written by Jeffrey Mishlove. It's a fantastic book.

I'm assuming same title, completely different books here, but now I have to check yours out....

 

[Coal]

Well, I've certainly added to my reading list on this thread.

For myself, too many to list, both retained and passed on, nearly all the 'standard' Fortean book of the 70s/80s. SSOTBME, 'Needles of Stone', 'The Alphabet vs the Goddess, all of Lethbridge, all of Lyall Watson the latter two among my favourites as they took the view something was going on and we should look into it (as opposed to 'it can't exist so we'll ignore it'). Watson provided primary references as well, so you can check stuff for yourself.

Plus too many others to mention covering psychology, physics, various popular science books, some not so 'popular' all sorts of book of myths, legends and fairy stories. And fairies come to that. They all join up round the back somewhere.

Latterly I'm more interested in how the mind can be deceived and I'd love a good tome of the various illusions and mis-direction that (say) magicians and mentalists might use, as I think more psychology might be learnt from those that reams of useless experiments on a dozen bored undergrads.

 

[Spudrick68]

MercuryCrest - it is a different book. Arthur Koestler asked some question about the nature of reality (some of which may have been answered now). But a testament to his thoughts are that many of his observations are still the basis of some parapsychology testing today.

 

[gerhard1]

Today, two books arrived by mail: Oddities: a Book of Unexplained Facts by Gould and Karen Mutton's effort, Sunken Realms. Oddities was as I remember, excellent, and I look forward to reading Mutton's work.

So, if you gentle people would please excuse me............

 

[MercuryCrest]

I do believe Oddities is on my wishlist on Amazon. Let me know how it is!

 

[gerhard1]

I do believe Oddities is on my wishlist on Amazon. Let me know how it is!

It is excellent. Be warned, however that it might be offensive to some because he (that is, Gould) uses at one time, the somewhat vulgar racial epithet in describing Black people. Other than that, it is a lively and entertaining book.

He presents such cases as Andrew Crosse, and the Chase vault in Barbados. Various phantom islands are looked at and the case for the planet Vulcan is examined, among other things.

Having first read it more than 30 years ago, I w as familiar with it so, when I recently bought it I knew what I was getting.

It first came out in 1928 if memory serves, and has had three editions, one in 1944, and the third in 1965. The 1944 and 1965 versions are identical except for the latter's inclusion of an index which Gould had to do away with due to limitations on war-time typography.

I trust that this was helpful.

 

[MercuryCrest]

Aha. Exactly that.

As for racial epithets, I do try to keep in mind the era in which they were writing.

 

[gerhard1]

Today, two books arrived by mail: Oddities: a Book of Unexplained Facts by Gould and Karen Mutton's effort, Sunken Realms. Oddities was as I remember, excellent, and I look forward to reading Mutton's work.

So, if you gentle people would please excuse me............

Karen Mutton's book is very good and I was impressed by her even-handedness in dealing with the various theories concerning Atlantis. She examines them and gives the pro-and-con of each. BTW, her book is not just about Atlantis; it looks at underwater structures reported from around the world.

Some of the reports in her book, I question, but the vast majority is fair and sound.

 

[gerhard1]

Three books were ordered from amazon a few days ago. One is Henry Stommel's Lost Islands. Then there is The Atlantis Encyclopedia by Frank Joseph, and The Lost Civilization Enigma, by the late Philip Coppens.

Lost Islands is for my brother. He said that he wanted to read it so I'll take it up when our niece is married later this spring.

 

[gerhard1]

Three books were ordered from amazon a few days ago. One is Henry Stommel's Lost Islands. Then there is The Atlantis Encyclopedia by Frank Joseph, and The Lost Civilization Enigma, by the late Philip Coppens.

Lost Islands is for my brother. He said that he wanted to read it so I'll take it up when our niece is married later this spring.

So far, Coppens' book is quite good. He makes a very valid point that many, if not most archaeologists are too quick to label anything that they don't agree with as fraud. The finds in Glozel, near Vichy in France, for example. The Antithykera (sp?)Mechanism is another, as are ancient optical devices. Skepticism, I understand, and demanding evidence of something is never a bad thing, but out-and-out rejection of any evidence that contradicts widely-held (i.e., favored) theories is not.

Coppens is skeptical of some things himself, (Akkakor, and if my impression is right, the Ica stones are two such items) and, like he seems to be, I am skeptical of claims by one American that he has found a crystal with special properties while diving in the Bahamas.

So, all-in-all, I like his approach and recommend The Lost Civilization Enigma very highly.

 

[amarok2005]

I wonder if I can list my Favorite Fortean Reads of all time. Such a thing would depend on how much I enjoyed them more than how accurate or informative they were. Well . . .

The Complete Books of Fort, of course. I found his style hard to follow at first, but now I love it -- and I imitate it all the time.

Strangely Enough! by C. B. Colby, a juvenile book that introduced me to such freaky concepts as spontaneous human combustion and mysterious disappearances.

Strange Creatures from Time and Space by John Keel -- I thought I knew about all the major monster stories when I was a kid, but this little paperback proved me wrong. First time I'd heard of Mothman or Men-in-Black or Black Dogs or Swamp Slobs or -- well, many other things.

Weird America by Jim Brandon -- fun gazetteer/atlas of strange phenomena in the United States. It has rather prejudiced me ever since -- I'll look at a picture of South Carolina, for instance, and think, "Nothing happens there," because it has no entry in WA.

On the Track of Unknown Animals by Bernard Heuvelmans -- a vast compendium of Cryptozoological legends! This one I did hear about for years before finding a copy at college. Watch out for the Nandi Bear!

Haunted People by Hereward Carrington and Nandor Fodor -- my introduction to Poltergeists (there is a list of about every polt case in the world up to that time). Also my intro to the Bell Witch and Gef the Talking Mongoose, who get long, long chapters.

Incident at Exeter by John Fuller -- my introduction to UFOs. I checked it out over and over from the library at age 7 or so, because the Big Words were hard to follow. Still find it fascinating and eerie, without a single abduction or even "alien" sighted.

Invisible Residents by Ivan Sanderson -- and not long after UFOs, here was the amazing concept of USOs from Sanderson. I recall being stunned by Sanderson's suggestion herein that alien visitors might turn out to be utter morons -- knowing only how to push buttons or tell computers where they want to go, not knowing thing one about how their technology works (hitting even closer to the mark decades later -- don't ask me how to take pictures with my cell phone!).

Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science by Martin Gardner -- on the skeptical side of forteana, but much of it is an overview of cults and weird belief systems. I know people who have flirted with (or actually joined) cults that sounded exactly like half-a-dozen money-sucking and/or mind-controlling "movements" in this book. This ought to be required reading.

Strange Disappearances by Brad Steiger -- an early book about one of my favorite topics -- well, strange disappearances. In retrospect, this little paperback influenced a lot of my fantasy stories. Hey, if someone disappears here, they must appear somewhere else!

Well, that's ten, and I'm taking up valuable room on this thread. It's probably significant that most of my favorites are also my earliest exposures to anomalous subjects. First impressions, and all that.

 

[gerhard1]

Right now, I am perusing Cornish writer Colin Wilson's Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries. This work includes chapters on the 'Tibetan Masters', the Man in the Mask, time slips, synchronicity, UFO's and Atlantis, among others. Wilson tries to be fair and is reasonably objective, I think. This book, and his Unsolved Mysteries, Past and Present, are two books that I have really enjoyed for more than 20 years. The second book goes into such mysteries as: was it really Rudolf Hess who was the last man to die in Spandau prison? Who was Junius? It also examines the Canning mystery as well as the puzzle of the unidentified children killed in the Gloucestershire railway crash of 1928. These are just a few of questions that Wilson tries to shed light on.

Although I don't agree with him on everything, I have to concede that Wilson was an engaging and quite thought-provoking writer. It's too bad that he is no longer with us.

 

[Dr. Porhoët]

The last two books I've read have been rather Fortean. The work of John Keel has been mentioned in this thread a few times, and I thought it was high time to read the Mothman Prophecies. I also just finished Arktos by Joscelyn Godwin, a book about polar shift, hollow Earth, Nazi survival and secret societies. Mental stuff.

Most of the books I buy are somewhat Fortean in nature. I review them on my blog as soon as I finish them, but I have a tonne of very peculiar texts that I haven't got around to yet. I could post a Glenn Danzigesque video tour of my collection if anyone is interested.

 

[ramonmercado]

The last two books I've read have been rather Fortean. The work of John Keel has been mentioned in this thread a few times, and I thought it was high time to read the Mothman Prophecies. I also just finished Arktos by Joscelyn Godwin, a book about polar shift, hollow Earth, Nazi survival and secret societies. Mental stuff.

Most of the books I buy are somewhat Fortean in nature. I review them on my blog as soon as I finish them, but I have a tonne of very peculiar texts that I haven't got around to yet. I could post a Glenn Danzigesque video tour of my collection if anyone is interested.

Do!

I must catalogue my own Fortean books. Lots of SF & Horror as well. Also History, Politics.

 

[JamesWhitehead]

I always think The Mothman Prophecies should be read in tandem with Strindberg's Inferno.

Both are records of a mental breakdown. Both are by professional authors who were sane enough to spice up their narratives.

We know that Strindberg's diaries became madder in the telling.

I am pleased to see that this site continues to cast light on John Keel.

 

[living-in-ithilien]

Patrick Harpur - Daimonic Reality

Colin Wilson - Mysteries

Paul Devereux - Haunted Land

Michael Talbot - The Holographic Universe

Timothy Good - Alien Base

Jacques Vallee - Dimensions

Various - The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Alien Encounters

Peter Brookesmith - UFO Sightings Catalogue

Alan Baker - Encyclopedia of Alien Encounters

Hilary Evans - From Other Worlds

Joshua Strickland - Extraterrestrials on Earth

Various - The Humanoids

Russel Hope Robbins - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology

Nigel Cawthorn - Witches, a story of persecution

Eduoard Brasey - An Encyclopedia of Fairies

Ornella Volta - The Vampire

J.Finley Hurley - Sorcery

Sabine Baring Gould - The Book of Werewolves

Alexandra David Neel - Magic and Mystery in Tibet

Various - Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits

Terence Mckenna - Food of the Gods

Nathan Constantine - A History of Cannibalism

John Symonds - In the Astral Light.

Also a couple of compilations from The Unexplained partwork and various Taoist, Buddhist and Stoic texts.

I also don't have all my books on-hand, but I can try to summarize...


I have everything by Linda Godfrey (I've met her in person and she's awesome).

Mysterious America (Coleman, met him too and he's also very down-to-earth and awesome)

Passing Strange and Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls, & Unsolved Mysteries (Citro, excellent writer)

Invisible Residents, Things & More Things (reprint), and Uninvited Visitors (Sanderson et al.)

Everything by Dennis Boyer (Northern Frights is the only one that comes to mind ATM)

A Geo-Bibliography of Anomalies by George Eberhart (It was going for $250 at one point but I got it for $60)

Ghosts of the Air and Natural or Supernatural by Martin Caidin (Amazing books!)

Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery by Quasar

Invisible Horizons (Gaddis, as Gerhard1 pointed out)

Strange World by Frank Edwards (My go-to from when I was a little kid and just getting into this stuff)

Encyclopedia of the Strange by Cohen

The Vengeful Djinn by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Invizikids: The Curious Enigma of Imaginary Childhood Friends by Hallowell

The Inhumanoids by Nunnelly and Redfern (really good stuff in about half the book)

Three Men Seeking Monsters and Memoirs of a Monster Hunter by Redfern (I've read good and bad books by him and these two are very enjoyable and well-written.)

Hunt for the Skinwalker by Kelleher and Knapp

And there are a bunch more which I'm too lazy to type up at the moment. These are ones that really stick with me though.

I've included all those links because there are similar titles by different authors and some just plain don't come up with a standard search on Amazon.

I'll be moving in a few months and I think it would be cool to just post hi-res pictures of our "Fortean" bookshelves...when I get re-situated again.

can you tell me about Invisikids? i cant find a copy.was that you who wrote the review for it on Amazon?

 

[MercuryCrest]

No, that wasn't me, but it's a great freakin' read.

Last I checked, there were numerous copies available. It seems like it's no longer available and I can only assume it's at the publishers discretion. I find that to be a terrible fate for a book that really does its best to unite theories on imaginary friends.

Maybe try an inter-library loan?

Also, it's "Invizikids: The Curious Enigma of 'Imaginary' Childhood Friends"

 

[Ascalon]

Too many to list but notable highlights are quite a bit of Arthur C Clarke, Colin Wilson and a few other stalwarts.

But among the stars for me are Immanuel Velikovsy's Worlds in Collision, and Lyall Watson'a Super Nature.

Though I'm also very fond of Wilkin's Fireside Book of Death.

 

[living-in-ithilien]

No, that wasn't me, but it's a great freakin' read.

Last I checked, there were numerous copies available. It seems like it's no longer available and I can only assume it's at the publishers discretion. I find that to be a terrible fate for a book that really does its best to unite theories on imaginary friends.

Maybe try an inter-library loan?

Also, it's "Invizikids: The Curious Enigma of 'Imaginary' Childhood Friends"

thank you ! i ask because i had some "imaginary friends" One was named Pete, and he appeared one day as i played under the kitchen table (my playhouse/fort).

 

[gerhard1]

Patrick Harpur - Daimonic Reality

Colin Wilson - Mysteries

Paul Devereux - Haunted Land

Michael Talbot - The Holographic Universe

Timothy Good - Alien Base

Jacques Vallee - Dimensions

Various - The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Alien Encounters

Peter Brookesmith - UFO Sightings Catalogue

Alan Baker - Encyclopedia of Alien Encounters

Hilary Evans - From Other Worlds

Joshua Strickland - Extraterrestrials on Earth

Various - The Humanoids

Russel Hope Robbins - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology

Nigel Cawthorn - Witches, a story of persecution

Eduoard Brasey - An Encyclopedia of Fairies

Ornella Volta - The Vampire

J.Finley Hurley - Sorcery

Sabine Baring Gould - The Book of Werewolves

Alexandra David Neel - Magic and Mystery in Tibet

Various - Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits

Terence Mckenna - Food of the Gods

Nathan Constantine - A History of Cannibalism

John Symonds - In the Astral Light.

Also a couple of compilations from The Unexplained partwork and various Taoist, Buddhist and Stoic texts.

I have the Robbins book. Mine was printed in 1959. Interesting book.