Customer Reviews

The Unexplained: An Illustrated Guide to the World's Natural and Paranormal Mysteries

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has all you ever wanted to know about: Cats with wings, falling frogs, the Loch Ness monster, mysterious black dogs, merfolk, the holy grail, moving statues, crop circles, green children, Stonehenge, Spring-Heeled Jack, the Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, the Cornish Owlman, screaming skulls, wailing banshees, the Devil's hoofprints, rat kings, the Alpine Tatzelworm, werewolves, the Golden Fleece, the Gevaudian beast, vampires, the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the prophecies of Nostradamus, Mona Lisa, statues that weep or bleed, levitating saints, sacred relics, stigmata, the Ark of the Covenant, Noah's Ark, salt pillars, shrieking statues, pyramidology, the Star of Bethlehem, riddles of the Sphinx, Lemuria, Living Dinosaurs, Lizard and Death Birds, Elephantine enigmas, Were-leopards, crocodile boys, the Flying Dutchman, ghostly hitch-hikers, man-eating trees, manna, Tibetan wisdom, dancing with cobras, Yeti, Blue tigers and devil cats, Mongolian death worm, magnetic mountains, the Tunguska Fireball, the Jersey Devil, aliens, goblins of Hopkinsville, Mothman, leviathans, the Iceman, Atlantis, James Dean, the Titanic mysteries, King Solomon's mines, anacondas, zombies, the Chupacabras, the Bermuda Triangle, Easter Island, fire-walking, the Bunyip, the mystery of mass whale strandings, and much, much, more. Beautifully illustrated, a must-have book,

All that and much more can be found in this delightful little book. Broken down into chapters focusing on different geographic regions, Dr. Karl Shuker takes the reader on a wonderful tour of the strange, mysterious and sometimes down right bizarre. Some of the material is thought provoking, other stuff Dr. Shuker openly admits to be hoaxes. Still, this book can provide fun reading for both adults and children, particularly those interested in the paranormal. All the usual things you'd expect are here... ghosts, sea serpents, bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, Atlantis, crop circles, spontaneous human cumbustion. But there are also plenty of lesser known gems to pick through as well.

The first chapter is focused on Ireland and the British Isles, showing the region's rich heritage of hauntings, alongside the Loch Ness monster, black dogs, spring heeled Jack, alien big cats, stonehenge and stranger things. Next, we delve into historical mysteries of continental Europe, continental Europe like Kasper Hauser, Austria's tatzelwurm, alchemy, the Comte St. Germain, Leonardo da Vinci and the Voynich manuscript. A chapter on Africa and the Middle East explores both Biblical mysteries like the Ark of the Covenant, King Solomon's mines and Noah's ark beside more primal mysteries of the Dark Continent such as dinosaurs in the Congo, man-eating trees in Madagascar, pygmy elephants and strange snakes.

A chapter on Asia explores the mystics and occult lore of the east, such as the Himalayan yeti, fakir magic in India, the Tunguska enigma, the lost city of Shambhala, and Mongolia's death worm. Moving on to Latin America, we get treated to the mysteries of the Aztecs and Inca, Puerto Rico's chupacabra, giant anacondas lurking the Amazon, Voodoo and the crystal skulls of doom. Closer to home, a chapter on North America covers such infamous American phenomena as the Minnesota ice man, thunderbirds, the Marfa lights, Edgar Cayce, the Jersey Devil and alien abductions. A final chapter focuses on Australia and the Pacific, examining sea serpents, Uluru, the Aboriginal Dreamtime, the lost continent of Mu and the survival of the Thylacine.

This stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. The book covers so much other stuff that I don't have time or space to get into here. More obscure stuff that you rarely see in other books, including several photographs which I believe are unique to this book. If your interested in the paranormal, you should probably get this book.

Let me cut to the chase. If the reader is sceptical of the paranormal, this book is a good place to start. Karl Shuker, who actually has a Ph.D. in zooloogy, dissects many of the popular and forgotten mysteries from places all over the world, and from magazines like the dubious Fate and the more credible Fortean Times. He takes the cases, lays out the facts and comes to conclusions by graciously mentioning the scientific evidence and comparing it against what has been said elsewhere and what he witnessed. And if the explanations are too abstruse, then he will entertain with his mordant wit. A competent book in a normally incompetent field.

( If this book appeals to your tastes, I would further recommend Karl Shuker's other books, especially "From Flying Toads to Snakes with Wings" which specializes in mysterious animals, the works of Bernard Heuyvelmans, the father of cryptozoology, Ivan T. Sanderson, and Janet and Colin Bord. Most of the other people in the field are really amateurish tin horns (e.g. Budd Hopkins and Whitley Striebert) who are convinced they are doing the work of God. The aforementioned authors are cool and objective in an area rife with hoaxes and misinformation.)

All that and much more can be found in this delightful little book. Broken down into chapters focusing on different geographic regions, Dr. Karl Shuker takes the reader on a wonderful tour of the strange, mysterious and sometimes down right bizarre. Some of the material is thought provoking, other stuff Dr. Shuker openly admits to be hoaxes. Still, this book can provide fun reading for both adults and children, particularly those interested in the paranormal. All the usual things you'd expect are here... ghosts, sea serpents, bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, Atlantis, crop circles, spontaneous human cumbustion. But there are also plenty of lesser known gems to pick through as well.

The first chapter is focused on Ireland and the British Isles, showing the region's rich heritage of hauntings, alongside the Loch Ness monster, black dogs, spring heeled Jack, alien big cats, stonehenge and stranger things. Next, we delve into historical mysteries of continental Europe, continental Europe like Kasper Hauser, Austria's tatzelwurm, alchemy, the Comte St. Germain, Leonardo da Vinci and the Voynich manuscript. A chapter on Africa and the Middle East explores both Biblical mysteries like the Ark of the Covenant, King Solomon's mines and Noah's ark beside more primal mysteries of the Dark Continent such as dinosaurs in the Congo, man-eating trees in Madagascar, pygmy elephants and strange snakes.

A chapter on Asia explores the mystics and occult lore of the east, such as the Himalayan yeti, fakir magic in India, the Tunguska enigma, the lost city of Shambhala, and Mongolia's death worm. Moving on to Latin America, we get treated to the mysteries of the Aztecs and Inca, Puerto Rico's chupacabra, giant anacondas lurking the Amazon, Voodoo and the crystal skulls of doom. Closer to home, a chapter on North America covers such infamous American phenomena as the Minnesota ice man, thunderbirds, the Marfa lights, Edgar Cayce, the Jersey Devil and alien abductions. A final chapter focuses on Australia and the Pacific, examining sea serpents, Uluru, the Aboriginal Dreamtime, the lost continent of Mu and the survival of the Thylacine.

This stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. The book covers so much other stuff that I don't have time or space to get into here. More obscure stuff that you rarely see in other books, including several photographs which I believe are unique to this book. If your interested in the paranormal, you should probably get this book.

I have more than my share of cryptozoology and paranormal (pity that those two are so often lumped together) texts among my multi-thousand-volume library. Shuker's stands out as a beacon light amid an ocean of foolishness, for his are the words of an objective scientist to truly employs the scientific method and is open to being amazed, not jaded against progress. (By way of contrast, promulgators of the "scientific method" such as CSICOP's Joe Nickell seem utterly unable to approach any mystery with an open mind, declaring it non-mysterious a priori and carefully working backward to those subsets of "the facts" that support their theses.) Shuker weaves a handsome panorama that covers a broad swath of mysteries--ranging from cryptozoological to spectral to religious to geokinetic (I just coined that, but I refer [hopefully obviously] to rocks that move by themselves and that sort of thing)--and does so in a unique and refreshing continent-by-continent basis, giving the feel of a gazetteer with frequent, detailed sidebars. Bravo, Dr. Shuker, for a job well conceived and expertly realized. I shall treasure your balanced portrayal for years to come.

Fast response. Received it fast. Great book for beginners and anyone who likes the paranormal

All that and much more can be found in this delightful little book. Broken down into chapters focusing on different geographic regions, Dr. Karl Shuker takes the reader on a wonderful tour of the strange, mysterious and sometimes down right bizarre. Some of the material is thought provoking, other stuff Dr. Shuker openly admits to be hoaxes. Still, this book can provide fun reading for both adults and children, particularly those interested in the paranormal. All the usual things you'd expect are here... ghosts, sea serpents, bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, Atlantis, crop circles, spontaneous human cumbustion. But there are also plenty of lesser known gems to pick through as well.

The first chapter is focused on Ireland and the British Isles, showing the region's rich heritage of hauntings, alongside the Loch Ness monster, black dogs, spring heeled Jack, alien big cats, stonehenge and stranger things. Next, we delve into historical mysteries of continental Europe, continental Europe like Kasper Hauser, Austria's tatzelwurm, alchemy, the Comte St. Germain, Leonardo da Vinci and the Voynich manuscript. A chapter on Africa and the Middle East explores both Biblical mysteries like the Ark of the Covenant, King Solomon's mines and Noah's ark beside more primal mysteries of the Dark Continent such as dinosaurs in the Congo, man-eating trees in Madagascar, pygmy elephants and strange snakes.

A chapter on Asia explores the mystics and occult lore of the east, such as the Himalayan yeti, fakir magic in India, the Tunguska enigma, the lost city of Shambhala, and Mongolia's death worm. Moving on to Latin America, we get treated to the mysteries of the Aztecs and Inca, Puerto Rico's chupacabra, giant anacondas lurking the Amazon, Voodoo and the crystal skulls of doom. Closer to home, a chapter on North America covers such infamous American phenomena as the Minnesota ice man, thunderbirds, the Marfa lights, Edgar Cayce, the Jersey Devil and alien abductions. A final chapter focuses on Australia and the Pacific, examining sea serpents, Uluru, the Aboriginal Dreamtime, the lost continent of Mu and the survival of the Thylacine.

This stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. The book covers so much other stuff that I don't have time or space to get into here. More obscure stuff that you rarely see in other books, including several photographs which I believe are unique to this book. If your interested in the paranormal, you should probably get this book.

I found the book full of information. And it is much more successful to fulfil your interest.

I found the book very educational and informational. It covered many topics but I was upset with the lack of coverage of the topics of extra-terrestrials and mind-powers. I enjoyed how the author seperated the occurences in geographical locations and how maps with detailed icons where included which eneabled the reader to pin-point the location of the occurences.

I found the book full of information. And it is much more successful to fulfil your interest.