Customer Reviews

Unexplained!: Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences & Puzzling Physical Phenomena

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Clark's new, expanded edition of "Unexplained!" is one of the finest overviews of paranormal mysteries available today. I have been a fan of Clark's since his "Creatures of the Outer Edge" of 1978 (co-authored with his occasional writing partner, the equally dependable Loren Coleman). Clark's clear and professional writing style has only improved over the years. A sly, very subtle wit frequently emerges ("perhaps wisely, he takes this vague idea no further"). Although it's evident Clark's mind is open to most of the phenomena explored in the book, for the most part he keeps his opinions to himself, opting instead to let his reader make his or her own judgement based on the information available.

In scope and organization I found the book slightly similar to Janet and Colin Bord's excellent "Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century" of 1989, although that book also explores ghost and goblin-type phenomena whereas "Unexplained!" is concerned primarily with more tangible mysteries. Both are encyclopedic, objective tomes providing a detailed overview of a wide variety of topics. Especially welcome in this new edition of "Unexplained!" is the inclusion of the "Things That Are Not" section, highlighting previously believed legends such as the Bermuda Triangle and Cottingley Fairy Photographs. Also new are numerous "sidebar" discussions of select organizations and important figures in the Fortean world (i.e., Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans, Budd Hopkins, MUFON, CSICOP, etc.). Clark generously criticizes--in a professional manner--certain unreliable "experts" (Von Daniken, Berlitz) and hardcore debunkers, those "thinkers" who claim to be skeptics but instead are nothing more than vehemently closed minds.

This book is a serious, carefully-researched study. Clark has always made it a point to clearly document his sources, which makes it easy for the reader to further pursue an intriguing topic. Another of Clark's strengths is the natural integration of the many witness accounts and narratives, however extreme some of them might be. The information is presented in a manner that encourages the reader to form his/her own deductions. When examining far-fetched phenomena like Fairies, Clark uses a cautionary approach that still manages to remain receptive to the nagging body of stories, accounts, and folklore.

The presentation and layout of the book have been vastly improved over the 1993 edition. It's now much more serious and professional in its look, abandoning the Ripley's Believe It or Not-style cover of it's previous incarnation. The typeface and setting are also significantly improved and much more easily read. Instead of listing the entries in simple encyclopedic format as he did before, he now groups them together in intelligent sections. Considerably more photos and illustrations exist in the present version (although there can never be enough!).

I can recommend this book without hesitation to anyone with a serious interest in these phenomena. Clark is now one of the most dependable, scholarly, and professional voices in the Fortean world. I trust him.

I've been a Jerome Clark fan for years..He always presents a clear concise and objective view of whatever subject he tackles.Mr. Clark presents both sides fairly and attempts to provide a balanced report without the hysterical fanaticism of the "believers" or the rabid negativism of the skeptics. He (and his old partner Loren Coleman) are good examples of the old school reporters who understand the difference between fact and opinion. Mr. Clark is one of the few authors in this area that does not seem to have a pet theory about the mysterious phenomena. This book lists many famous cases with proof both for and against the "experts" explanations. Well researched and written, this book is a must read for any serious (or just curious) reader of unexplained phenomena. You can trust Jerome Clark to always lay out a well researched and balanced view. I do.

"UNEXPLAINED" goes beyond UFO"s & Bigfoot covering creepy creatures and strange events. Some are seldom heard or known yet every bit as intriguing as those we've all read about so often.
A complete collection that every Cryptozoology Buff, in fact anyone interested in X-file-like accounts will enjoy.
Can't stress it enough, this book is more than a collection of hidden animals or unusal events it's a desk reference for the weird!
Also recommended is "STRANGE HIGHWAYS" by Jerry D. Coleman.
Great Book Mr. Clark!!

"Unexplained (2nd edition) is an extensivelyupdated, completedly revised version of Jerome Clark's earlier informativefirst edition. Filled with new entries and different photographs,Unexplained is not a trick, but a treat; it's like getting a whole new bookfrom Clark. If it's not a bestseller, I'll be shocked for it combines theexplorations of curious topics for the novice with some indepth analyses forthe anomalies and Fortean audience. Highly recommended."

Mr. Jerome Clark did it, great information that covers "hundreds" of critters and events! To the point, easy to refer to and very informative! I'm new to this interest due to Jerry D. Coleman's "Strange Highways" awesome, informative book. But another book added to my list of awesome is now Clark's "Unexplained!"

Everything you've heard about and many things you have not will be found in "Unexplained!" Jerome Clark proves he's an individual author in this one! I cannot tell you how often I've looked something up again and again in this book. From Bigfoot to UFO's and so much more, it's in this one!

This is an incredibly detailed book with some extremely interesting stories. Some sections are more fun than others. Jerome Clark, the author, went to great lengths to cover topics such as Chupacabras, UFOs, Black Dogs, Lake Monsters, the Dover Demon, the Jersey Devil, and the list goes on. If you have any ammount of interest in the paranormal than come read this book. Regardless if whether or not you believe in such things, you should still buy this book. It might give you good creepy feeling after you finish. There's over 600 pages of creepy stuff in here.

You know the expression, If it ain't broken...

Well this expression sorta applies to this book. I'm a fan of esoterica and I've read countless of books on the subject for many years now and I have a fairly good grasp of the weird things that has occurred out there. And I also have a fair amount of personal experience with strange events myself. So when I bought the first edition of UNEXPLAINED back in the early 1990s, I was pleasantly surprised by the author's non-sensationalistic approach to the usually sensation-creating subjects. Even though I already had a good knowledge of most of everything in the book, I did learn several things and I've been using UNEXPLAINED as some sort of guide and it has served me well ever since.

When I saw that UNEXPLAINED was recently updated with a new edition that included an extra 200 pages of new information, I quickly bought the updated version and, well, I still prefer the first edition. The second updated edition is mightily confusing. I don't know who was responsible for the new page layout or the idea of creating different chapters for different subjects in the updated edition, but, to be blunt, it just doesn't work. In the first edition, everything was categorize alphabetically. Very simple and direct approach to the information. It was concise and easy to get to. And each monster or strange happening basically had its own chapter. In the new edition, everything is categorized in a confusing array of ambiguously titled chapters ("Things That Are Not"...huh?) which defeats the whole purpose of a guide. But the biggest problem with this new version is the fact that several events or creatures belong in not just one but several categories. The Mothman, for example, is relegated in the boringly titled "Other Incredible Entities" chapter, but it could have easily been included in the "Cryptozoo" chapter, because it is a creature or an animal of sorts, or in the "Shapes In The Sky" chapter, because the Mothman is connected with UFOs, and it does fly on it own. There are simply too many paranormal events that crossover into different categories for this new guide to work properly. As is, everything is muddled up for nothing. It's a shame because the information is still excellent, that is, if you can find it.

Anyway, I give this new edition 3 stars. It's still worth buying but the 1993 edition is so much better and the 5 big stars are for that version. If you can find the 1993 edition, buy it. And if UNEXPLAINED gets updated again in a new expanded edition with new information, please go back to categorizing every subject alphabetically and get rid of those silly chapters. Please.

Jerome Clark has written what I feel to be the definitive guide to all things paranormal. His book is filled with hundreds of entries that cover all aspects of the paranormal world, If it's paranormal related - you name it.. it's probably in this book.

What made the book a great read for me is that Clark has obviously researched for himself the various topics in his book, this is NOT just another rehash of the same old tired stories. While clark does a lot to dispel some of the myths and urban legends associated with some paranormal events, he also keeps an open mind and relates some of the strangest mysteries of our world with true an accurate details.

This book is by far the best of my paranormal collection, and a valuable tool for all paranormal enthusiasts and investigators. If you want the REAL facts of a paranormal event, then this is the book for you.

I have had this book for years and still continue to read it off-and-on. If you are looking for something that covers a broad horizon of paranormal phenomena, I feel you could not do any better. This book is at least a great place to start, and has information and events I have yet to see elsewhere.

This book is actually quite entertaining to read. It was well written and had tons of interesting information...however, what I truly expected in a book like this was pictures, and there weren't a whole lot of them. Half the time the images were drawings, and a good portion of them were described as "fakes." I was disappointed because the book is strictly about unexplained physical phenomena, but there are hardly any photographs in the book to add to the entertainment value.