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paranormal

A collection of 100 posts

a halftone line drawing of a ghost with the words "ghost hoaxing"

Victorian Ghost Hoaxers: Part 4

Note: This post contains mentions of physical attacks, vigilantism, mental asylums. In the last post, I wrote about some of the men who dressed up as ghosts in 19th century Australia in order to commit crimes. But women did it too, albeit more often for crimes that you might describe

a halftone line drawing of a ghost with the words "ghost hoaxing"

Victorian Ghost Hoaxers: Part 3

Note: this post contains mention of sexual assault, vigilantism, poisoning, mental asylums, cancer, and injury/illness. Late nineteenth century ghost hoaxing, or "playing the ghost," became so common that it happened several times per week in Ballarat, Australia, during its height. It seemed that dressing up as a

a halftone line drawing of a ghost with the words "ghost hoaxing"

Victorian Ghost Hoaxers: Part 2

Note: This contains mentions of colonialism and people being attacked. Dr. David Waldron, a folklorist and historian at Federation University in Ballarat, Australia, is an expert in the subject of Victorian ghost hoaxers. In his paper "Playing the Ghost," he talks about the disaster of colonialism in Australia,

a halftone line drawing of a ghost with the words "ghost hoaxing"

Victorian Ghost Hoaxers: Part 1

Note: This contains mentions of vigilantism and angry mobs. Did you know that in late 19th century Australia, ordinary people would dip sheets in toxic glowing paint and run around at night pretending to be ghosts? I dug up this oddball story way back in 2020, and my then-cohost and

a green and gray halftone photograph of mushrooms with the words "psychogeography & hauntology"

I still don't quite understand hauntology or psychogeography

But I'm trying to

a sketchy digital drawing of a crested owl

Learning Things

Randonauting, synchronicity, and lost batteries (Learning Things: June 19, 2023)

The New Blood Kickstarter campaign is still going strong this week! (It'll be running until July 9 at 8:08 am EST.) Last week, I appeared on a livestream with the rest of the cast and crew of New Blood and Inhuman Beings, two brand-new paranormal shows that

a purple halftone drawing of a cassette tape and the word "nostalgia"

Feelin' nostalgic: emotions and analog paranormal investigation tools

Continuing my deep dive into nostalgia and the paranormal! Does the way we feel about paranormal investigation tools change their efficacy? How do our emotions (especially nostalgia) interact with the paranormal? Highlights include: * My continuing fascination with whether the ghosts of living people can haunt us * Looking at nostalgic paranormal

a halftone illustration of a UFO and the NYC skyline with the words "anemoia in NYC, feels bad, man"

Midcentury UFO literature, anemoia, and bitterness: Part 2

Check out part one of this post. One of my favorite terms is anemoia, or "nostalgia for a time or place that one has never known." It was coined in John Koenig's Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which I own but haven't read cover-to-cover yet.

a halftone illustration of the Luxor hotel with the words The Curse of The Luxor Part 9

The Curse of the Luxor Hotel (Part 9)

The actual ghost stories

green halftone UFO drawing with a Russell Targ quote: to be right, you have to be willing to be wrong.

Digital camera nostalgia, remote viewing, and digital gardening (Learning Things: June 12, 2023)

I'm back from Iceland and back in the swing of things. It's shaping up to be a busy month, but a good one! One big ongoing project: I mentioned this last week, but the New Blood Kickstarter is still in progress! In case you missed it,

a diagram of a DR60 overlaid on a swirled purple background with the words "the hype around the Panasonic RR-DR60"

The hype around the Panasonic RR-DR60

A look at lore surrounding the legendary Panasonic RR-DR60. How did the late 1990s audio recorder become a device that now sells for $4,000-5,000 USD on eBay? What makes the DR60 so special? Highlights include: * plenty o' nostalgia (and skepticism) * a digression about hard drives (everyone'

a drawing of mugwort, columbine, garlic mustard, bluebells, wild geranium, and white trillium

Crunch time (Learning Things: May 29, 2023)

Thank you to everyone who reached out last week about my digital garden blog post series! I've had some great conversations with folks about it, and I'm glad it's a topic that's resonating with other people, too. So what's up

a halftone illustration of a walled garden with the text "trapped in walled gardens"

A plea to fellow paranormal researchers: break free of walled gardens and build your own digital gardens

Earlier this year, one of my favorite thinkers, sci-fi author Cory Doctorow coined the term "enshittification." Enshittification is the process of a platform destroying itself. It often goes like this: the platform initially seems great, so users sign up, then it shafts its users in favor of attracting

yellow and purple pixel art of a rosebush with the word "digital gardens"

Digital gardens, zettlekasten, and paranormal research

How and why I'm sharing my in-progress research notes

polaroid photos with the text "we can be sure this is real"

Instant photography, nostalgia, and the paranormal

A wild ride through nostalgia about instant photography, the pitfalls of both analog and digital photography, the weirdly zeitgeisty history of the Polaroid Corporation, and the search for images we can "trust."

a drawing of an ouroboros superimposed over trees, with the words "a stone with curious carvings"

The Philosopher's Stone in Philadelphia

Yesterday, I wrote about Johannes Kelpius and his group of mystic monks who moved to Philadelphia in the 1690s to wait for the end of the world. Though the group had Christian inclinations, they also dabbled in esoteric practices like astral projection, astrology and astronomy, and alchemy. Here's

a green halftone photo of a cave in the woods with the text "a doomsday cult in philly"

An occult doomsday cult in 1690s Philly

In the 1690s, a Transylvanian-born mystic, occultist, musician, and writer named Johannes Kelpius led a group of forty Rosicrucian monks to colonial Philadelphia await the end of the world. Though Kelpius and his group of highly-educated mystics were disappointed when the day of revelation didn’t come, they made the

a halftone illustration of a vintage tape deck with the repeating words "the gateway tapes" surrounding it

My Gateway Tapes experience (so far)

Initial thoughts on a foray into doing the Gateway tapes.

A pixel drawing of a cranesbill plant

Digital gardens and fungi research (Learning Things: May 15, 2023)

It's really feeling like spring here in NYC (or summer, really—it's been toasty). My wife and I went to Central Park this week, which is in bloom and full of birds (we saw a black-crowned night heron, which is always exciting). The cranesbill bloom pixel

a digital collage of an ad for UFO detectors in Skywatch magazine

Vintage UFO detectors

Some charming "UFO detectors."

a digital collage of multiple magnetic maps and the words "magnetic anomalies map from the United States geological survey"

Window areas and how to find magnetic faults near you

How to research a specific area's magnetic anomalies.

a digital drawing of a teal UFO, moon, and stars

Electromagnetism, UFOs, and psychic abilities

Following up on last week's post about John Keel's Wednesday phenomenon, I want to look at electromagnetic weirdness that came up in both John Keel's book Operation Trojan Horse (1970) and Russel Targ's book Limitless Mind (2010). Also, a disclaimer: Physics was

a drawing of a purple Eurasian eagle-owl

Dark forests and notable trees (Link Roundup: May 9, 2023)

Here's some stuff I've enjoyed reading, playing, and listening to lately.

a yellow UFO with a purple background with a graph of notes

Vintage zines and research woes (Learning Things: May 8, 2023)

Here's a rundown of what I've been up to this week: Paranormal research Over the weekend, I spent a while looking through old UFO newsletters and zines. I love the aesthetic of the typewritten, xeroxed 1950s-1980s publications (I definitely have a bit of anemoia when it

a purple UFO imposed over a distorted halftone USGS magnetic anomaly map

What's the best time for remote viewing and seeing ultraterrestrials?

More about John Keel's Wednesday phenomenon.