Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch [Paperback]

William Roll (Author), Valerie Storey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2004

One scientist's account of the poltergeist case that made headlines across the country -- and the riveting examination of a child's mysterious murder.

When she was just fourteen years old, Tina Resch became the center of the best-documented case of poltergeist activity of the twentieth century. During the spring of 1984, Tina's home in Ohio was thrown into chaos: appliances turned themselves on without electric current, objects flew through the air, furniture scooted across the floor. Censured endlessly by her adoptive family and thrust into the eye of a media twister thanks to one reporter's photographic evidence of a flying phone, Tina was propelled into a downward spiral that led to an abusive marriage, a divorce, and the birth of a child -- all before her twentieth birthday. Three years later she was charged with that child's murder, and she is currently serving a life sentence for a crime as controversial, mysterious, and complex as the accused herself -- a crime she maintains she did not commit.

Unleashed is Tina's story as told by a parapsychologist who witnessed striking paranormal phenomena in Tina's presence. Examining the destructive powers of thwarted emotions from a scientific perspective, William Roll sheds remarkable light on the case of Tina Resch -- and boldly confronts our cultural responses to events that cannot be easily explained.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Larry Dossey, M.D. author of Healing Words Unleashed is a gripping account of that strange, unguarded borderland between mind and matter, where thought and emotion explode onto the physical world in chaotic, unpredictable ways. Unleashed should come with a warning label: MAY FOREVER CHANGE YOUR WORLDVIEW.

About the Author

William Roll, Ph.D., is an Oxford-educated parapsychologist on the faculty of the psychology department of the State University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia. Over the course of his extensive career he has written three books and more than two hundred scientific articles. He has appeared on numerous segments of Unsolved Mysteries, as well as on the Discovery Channel and other television documentaries. In 1996, Roll received the Outstanding Career Award from the Parapsychological Association, and in 2002 he received the Tim Dinsdale Memorial Award from the Society for Scientific Exploration.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; Original edition (May 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743482948
• ISBN-13: 978-0743482943
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,728,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Valerie Storey is a creative writing teacher and the author of seven books. Currently living in New Mexico, Valerie has also lived in New Zealand and England, as well as California and Georgia.

"I love to read, I love to write, and I love teaching new writers all about the art and business of writing. When I'm not in my office my interests include collage, hand-built pottery, and found poetry."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Positive Review for "Unleashed", June 23, 2004

By 

Bryan J. Williams (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch (Paperback)

"Unleashed" by William Roll, Ph.D., and Valerie Storey is a fascinating look into one of the most interesting and well-documented cases of reported poltergeist phenomena in the history of parapsychology, told through the memories of the principal investigator of the case and one of the country's leading experts on haunt and poltergeist phenomena, Dr. Roll. Having followed his work over the years in the literature, I knew that a book by him on this case would be well worth reading.

This book tells the story of Tina Resch, a 14-year-old girl who is the center of ostensibly anomalous events within the Columbus, OH home of her foster parents, among them, sofas that move and telephones that fly through the air with no apparent force acting upon them. These strange and frequent events soon draw the attention of the national media, and for several weeks in March of 1984, the "Columbus Poltergeist" becomes national news.

At a loss for the events and how to rid themselves of them, the Resches invite noted parapsychologist Dr. William Roll and his assistant Kelly Powers into their home to observe and study the phenomenon while it is still active. At the same time, magician James Randi and other CSICOP skeptics try to play down the events in the case through exaggeration of an apparent attempt at poltergeist "mimicry" by Tina (which she apparently did to draw the media attention away from her, rather than to perpetrate fraud in the case), and claim the case a hoax, even though the skeptics have not made their own investigation within the home. However, as time passes, Dr. Roll begins to observe and document events within the Resch home, centered around Tina, that seem to occur even when Tina is in plain view and not doing anything. This leads Dr. Roll to consider the possibility that the unusual events within the home are not due to "noisy spirits" (as the term "poltergeist" implies), but rather to observable instances of ostensible mind-matter interaction on a visual scale (called recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis, or "mind over matter" on a large and frequent scale) that are being produced by the mind of Tina as she experiences psychological tension with her foster family and seeks attention from them. Tina at last seeks an escape from her foster family through an abusive marriage, and then suddenly finds herself suspected of murdering her own infant daughter. Dr. Roll recounts his memories of trying to help Tina as he suddenly finds himself personally drawn into the case, going from an objective scientist to being one of Tina's only hopes.

I enjoyed this book immensely for three reasons: 1.) its scientific value: the book lays out in complete detail the case of Tina Resch, allowing researchers to learn more about a case that has been previously difficult to obtain in the parapsychological literature; 2.) its learning value: Unlike most academic books, "Unleashed" is very easy to read and understand, allowing the general public to learn the straight facts about one of the most mysterious phenomena of the human mind; 3.) its style: the style of writing is very engaging and personal, adding a factor of drama that keeps the readers attention throughout the book. The effect of this was enough to where I finished the book in less than 3 days; it was that gripping.

In all, this is an excellent book for readers coming from any perspective. Over the past 30 years, a growing experimental database using random number generators seems to suggest that "mind over matter" may exist on a very small scale. The case of Tina Resch in "Unleashed" attests to that possibility on a very large scale. For the researchers and students of parapsychology, this book provides unique insight to a classic case of apparent "mind over matter" on a grand scale. For the general reader, it is both a learning experience and a chilling story that almost seems fictional, but is based in pure fact. I highly recommend "Unleashed."

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, but title is misleading., January 31, 2005

By 

A. Elizabeth Simpson (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch (Paperback)

I bought this book because I was interested in the intriguing story of Tina Resch. My knowledge of this individual and her story was very minimal, but I thought this book might be the key to understanding the situation. I must admit, however, that this book was not exactly what I expected it to be.

The title of this book led me to believe that Tina was possessed, or that poltergeists were 'living' among Tina's family. However, the author tells a story of a young lady who, he believes, has some kind of ability to move objects with her mind, sub-conciously. The author explains that he believes Tina has a condition that is similar to Tourette's Syndrome; however instead of acting out physically or verbally, Tina expresses this mentally, which causes objects to break, move, bend, etc. It really isn't a story of poltergeists, at all.

The other part of the title suggests that this book is about murder. Yes, Tina Resch's child was murdered, however, only very few pages are devoted to this horrible crime. The chapter that does focus on this incident, briefly describes the circumstances leading up to the event, and then emphatically denies Tina's involvement, without exploring much of the actual details surrounding the crime.

For the most part, this book focuses on the author's relationship with Tina, and describes the abnormal activity the author witnessed. This book is not about poltergiests. This book is not about murder. This book is about a woman who seems to have lead a difficult life, possessed a sad condition, and ended up in a sad position.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unleashed, only the beginning, September 22, 2004

By 

Thomas Cooney - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch (Paperback)

"Unleashed" is a fantastic book about the life of Tina Resch and Dr. William Roll. It is the type of book you will read in one day. It is that compelling. It is the story of poltergeist activity and how it affected Tina's life. Dr. Roll came in to study the phenomenon and Tina. The events he and others witnessed were amazing. Even more amazing is what happened to Tina years later. You see, Tina, now known as Christina Boyer, is serving a life sentence for the murder of her baby, a crime she did not commit. The actual murderer confessed and received a lighter sentence than the plea "bargain" arranged by her public defender. After reading this book, you will come away amazed at the extraordinary events of her life from the poltergeist manifeststions that cannot be explained to the life sentence that cannot be explained. This is a must read for anyone interested in the paranormal.