The Poltergeist Phenomenon: An In-depth Investigation Into Floating Beds, Smashing Glass, and Other Unexplained Disturbances [Paperback]

Michael Clarkson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 2011

A poltergeist is defined as a disturbance or energy with bizarre physical effects of paranormal origin that suggest mischievous or destructive intent, such as breaking or moving objects and loud knocks or noises.

The Poltergeist Phenomenon is an exciting, original look at an old subject by an award-winning investigative reporter. The author has reviewed 75 cases and interviewed hundreds of witnesses, paranormal experts, law enforcement officers, psychologists and skeptics to come up with eye-opening results:

The typical poltergeist case involves a young person from a repressed home who is going through puberty. He or she may have epilepsy, which produces recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis, a state in which gravity is temporarily suspended.

A respected former Princeton University scientist believes he has proven in laboratory experiments that psychokinesis exists and that poltergeist cases are probably true.

This rare energy may be part of a person's fight-or-flight system, which is hardwired into everyone and can erupt in certain conditions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I admire Michael Clarkson's clear-sightedness and guts in telling it is like it is."
--Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Professor of Psychology, Claremont University, and best-selling author of Flow

"[Michael Clarkson]...does not take the topic lightly. He brings a fresh approach to the paranormal."
--William Roll, renowned poltergeist investigator and author

"Michael Clarkson got to the next millennium before the rest of us did.... His research and theories on the powers of the human mind and on the fight-or-flight system and its amazing, mysterious powers are well ahead of his time."
--"The Amazing Kreskin," mentalist and television star

About the Author

Michael Clarkson has written six psychology books, including Intelligent Fear and The Secret Life of Glenn Gould, and has won many newspaper awards for investigative stories, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination for a rendezvous with reclusive author J. D. Salinger. He is considered an expert in fear, producing new research and lecturing on the subject. While working in the Niagara region, he researched many ghost stories and got the only interview with a young man thought to have caused a poltergeist incident that affected an entire shift of police officers. He lives in Fort Erie, Ontario.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: New Page Books; 1 edition (January 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601631472
• ISBN-13: 978-1601631473
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Boots on the Ground Research - A Must Read, March 29, 2011

By 

Marshall Masters "Your Own World Books" (Northern CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Poltergeist Phenomenon: An In-depth Investigation Into Floating Beds, Smashing Glass, and Other Unexplained Disturbances (Paperback)

The difference between a author who is a hack and an author who is a real researcher is the depth of the book. Hacks scoop up info from the Web and report it. Hacks are useful for a fluff view of a topic but if you want to go really deep, you need a real researcher In The Poltergeist Phenomenon, Michael Clarkson transports you to the boots on the ground level. This is a man is more than a researcher. He is a man who has paid a great personal price to bring us the information in this book.

Marshall Masters

Host, Cut to the Chase Radio

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, June 16, 2011

By 

Beth's Book Reviews - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Poltergeist Phenomenon: An In-depth Investigation Into Floating Beds, Smashing Glass, and Other Unexplained Disturbances (Paperback)

As a fan of Fringe and The X-Files I, of course, leapt at the chance to review this - it was right up my alley! I was not disappointed!

My reaction to each new story was frankly "Well, that was just freaking weird!". The documentation is creepy in and of itself, but when one really stops to acknowledge that this is nonfiction and a scientific look at the phenomena it really gets just that much freakier.

The only thing that bothered me was the odd gray patches on each page that look almost like burns. They were a bit distracting, and quite realistic enough that they had me wondering if it was just my copy that had them (it isn't).

This is well written in a clear, very readable style. It is extremely well researched from a scientific perspective. Scully would be proud. I highly recommend this to those interested in the subject, but do not read this after dark or you'll be putting it in the freezer a la Joey!