Book Review: Ghosts of the Tsunami

Ghosts of the Tsunami

Writer:                          Richard LLoyd Parry

Publisher:                      Jonathan Cape

Type:                              Hard Cover

Pages:                             251

Genre:                            non-fiction

Published:                      2017

ISBN:                             9781911214182

 This is a handsome hardcover, the dust jacket has a shinny wave very reminiscent of The Great Wave of Kanagawa. Under the dust cover is a nice blue tome with metallic silver title on the spine. There a five maps at the beginning which are very helpful, and some black and white pictures. The book ends with extensive notes and index.

 I will note right upfront this book isn't as advertised. I pre ordered this book based on the description on a bookstore website.  It was described as an exploration of the paranormal events encountered after the 2011 Japan Tsunami. But while the book does indeed address some of the paranormal, that certainly is not the main focus of the work.

 It isn't until eight chapters in that we really get a good look at some paranormal activity. But the work is fascinating anyway. It examines the Tsunami and its effect on the people. The book deals especially with one school that lost many children. 
 The book examines grief, politics, law, precognitive dreams, possession, ancestor worship, all in relation to the Tsunami.

 Despite the book not being what i expected, i did really enjoy it. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the Tsunami, grief and survival. It really doesn't deal with enough paranormal activity to highly recommend it to the parapsychologist unless your also interested in the non paranormal aspects of the Tsunami. 

 I really do wish someone would write a book on the paranormal activity related to the Tsunami. 

Book Review: The ghosts of toowong cemetery

 The ghosts of Toowong cemetery

Brisbane's Necropolis

Author:                          Jack Sim

Publisher:                      Jack Sim

Type:                              Soft Cover

Pages:                             40

Genre:                            Non-Fiction

Published:                      2012

ISBN:                              9780975796023

 This is a small book with no spine. It was actually given to me by a friend. There are numerous black and white photographs.  The text is of good size and clear. The book even has a map of all the locations in the cemetery in the back!

 The book deals with the areas of Toowong Cemetery that are haunted or have had paranormal activity reported there.  Some of the uncanny goings on includes strange lights, disembodied voices, found bodies, Nazi- vandalism, moving statues, vampires, ghostly apparitions, haunted celebrity graves, grim reaper sightings, witchcraft, mysterious blood, wailing women, and death parades.

 The cemetery is also home to a spook hill one of many found around the world. You know the story park your car at the bottom of the hill and wait as unseen forces will push your car up the hill, defying gravity and the rules of the living. 

 Each place is given much explanation, with history and legends well explained. Unfortunately the cemetery is locked up at night but there are tours that have access. 

 One company Brisbane Ghost Tours was established by the author of this book. 

  This is a really good book, excellent for anyone interested in ghosts, the and paranormal of course. But just as interesting for those interested in the history of Brisbane in particular and Australia in general.

Book Review: Phone calls from the dead

 Phone Calls From The Dead

Author:                            Scott Rogo & Raymond Bayless

Publisher:                         Prentice Hall

Type:                                 Hard Cover

Pages:                                164

Genre:                               non-fiction

Published:                        1979

ISBN:                               0136643345

 My copy of this book is quite old, an original with no dust jacket purchased from a little second hand book shop. It has loose pages but was a bargain purchase as i had wanted to read this work for quite some time.
 The text is of a reasonable size and clear, there is only one black and white diagram within.

 This book was really the first dedicated to the phantom of phone calls from the dead. Now every ghost hunter, or parapsychologist has a tape recorder to capture EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) but when this work was written the concept was not at all popular.
 Basically a phone call from the dead is exactly how it sounds, a person receives a phone call and the caller appears to have been someone who ha died. Usually the receiver of the call is unaware of the callers death at the time of the call.

 The book examines where the calls might really be coming from and the mechanics of how they may actually be manifesting. It also touches on other related subjects such as EVP, PK, Edison, ESP, Other dimensions, UFO's, and mediums as well as other devices that have reportedly assisted the dead in contacting the living.

 There is even an appendix where the authors discuss criticisms of there work and the evidence they provide. As well as an extensive bibliography, and index.

 I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in science, the paranormal, and the supernatural. It should be in every "ghost hunters" book shelf.

Have you read this? What did you think? Have you ever had a phone call from the dead?

Review: Haunted Australia

 Haunted Australia

 

Author:                               John Heffernan

Publisher:                           Scholastic

Type:                                   Soft Cover

Pages:                                  161

Genre:                                 non-fiction

Published:                            2005

ISBN:                                   9781865048260

 I purchased this book online at about three in the morning, along with a few others, i missed the fact it was a scholastic book. For those who don't know Scholastic does fine works making books easier for school children to access. However Scholastic books tend to be for younger readers, so it has large printing, is wide spaced, glosses over many details and sometimes descends into silly speak.  
 Now don't get me wrong using 'spooxpert' to refer to parapsychologists, or paranormal investigators was kind of amusing the first time, however it grated more and more with every single use, and by the end of the book i wanted to hit something. 
 To be fair to this book i am going to rate it as best i can for its child to teen target audience.

 The book is a collection of true ghost encounters from Australia, while some cover a few pages others take up a single paragraph.
 The book has a good introduction, and i should mention i suppose that the book does deal with ghosts and therefore mentions death a few times, as with everything, if you are concerned about younger readers, be a responsible parent and read it yourself first, and discuss it after you have both read it. There are no pictures in this book at all, though some pages have a pattern (as seen in the above photo).
 The book covers haunted houses, ships, theaters, hotels, islands, barracks, prisons, hospitals, roads and even a haunted toilet.
 There is a section on ghost animals including  horses and cattle in addition to the usual dogs and cats.
 Other topics covered include Indigenous spirits, 'guardian angels', ghost hunting, spook (min min) lights, ghost towns, phantom hitchhikers, animal PSI, possession and old hag syndrome.

 There is a short frequently asked questions, but sadly;

 "Why are you trying to make 'spooxperts' a thing?"

wasn't one of those questions, my personal conclusion is that it wasn't included because there is no excuse as 'spooxperts' is an unjustifiable abuse of the English language.

 The book closes with a glossary and some references. There is no index!

 OK so all joking aside, this is a decent book, i can see myself reading this in mid to late primary school maybe. It might have been nice to know there were other haunted houses in Australia. Its simple to read, doesn't get too dark and should peek a child's interest in exploring the subject more. Personally while i can understand not putting the home addresses in the descriptions i would still have liked to see times, dates, and names, some of the places described have been destroyed so why not give there locations. And it has no index, how can any book of this nature be published without an index? 

 I would recommend this book to younger readers who have an interest in the paranormal or are experiencing a haunting, books of this nature focusing on Australia are not too common so anyone interest in Australia or its history might also find this book a launching point to further research.

__

Remember always expect a skeptic to be skeptical of everything, not just what they don't want to accept.

Drop Bear Growls

Review: Australian Poltergeist

 Australian Poltergeist

The Stone-Throwing Spook of Humpty Doo and Many Other Cases.

Audio Review

Author:                                Tony Healy & Paul Cropper

Publisher:                            Strange Nature

Type:                                    Soft Cover

Pages:                                   292

Genre:                                  non-fiction

Published:                            2014

ISBN:                                   97819211340

 The book itself is well made, it is seven inches wide, ten inches tall and over half an inch thick. The book has a great amount of black and white photos thorough and a few newspaper clippings and sketches.

 The book delves briefly into the history of the Poltergeist starting off in 355 CE and examines cases up to 1998. I will note that the book does use the antiquated BC/AD instead of the secular BCE/CE. The difference between Poltergeists and Ghosts in examined as well as possible causes, folklore, and some very poignant observations about 'skeptics'.

 This book is at its heart a catalogue of cases. Each case is given a five star rating with the weakest accounts getting zero stars and the most documented getting five stars. Each entry is also listed by the name given to the case, the location it occurred and the year or years the Poltergeist manifested.

 Chapter one deals with the Humpty Doo Poltergeist from the title, from there each chapter deals with a particular case. 
 The second chapter in addition to detailing the Mayhap case from Western Australia, also references Min Min, UfO's and Phantom Hands. 
 Chapters three and four deal with a haunted cowshed and a haunted prostitute respectively.
 The cases in chapters five and seven are from 1935 and 1887. It is interesting to hear the language of the times used in the reports.
 Chapter eight may detail a gay ghost.
 The Dubbo poltergeist of NSW in 1891-1894 details an Australian Kobold and parallels the Bell Witch phenomenon.
 Chapter twelve is different in that it shows all fifty two cases in lesser detail. These cases come from all over Australia and manifested in1845 to 1998. 
  Chapter thirteen takes a closer look at some possible causes and some interesting scientific findings. 
 The appendix takes a close look at three Djinn cases, with some short descriptions on fish falls, ball lightning, spook lights, UFO's, cosmic prankster, Yowie, alien big cats, and astral travel among other topics.

The book has an extensive bibliography and index. Every page has footnotes where they are relevant. 

 This is an amazing book, and i can highly recommend it to anyone interested in Australian history, folklore, and of course Parapsychology.

Review: The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons 

A field guide to Japanese Yokai

 

 

Author:                               Matthew Meyer

Publisher:                            Self Published (Kickstarter)

Type:                                    Soft Cover

Pages:                                   219

Genre:                                  non-fiction

Published:                            2012

ISBN:                                   13-978-0-9852184-0-9

 This book has an aged hardcover look to the cover but is indeed softcover. The black writing on the dark cover makes the title difficult to read at a glance. The book itself is ten inches tall, seven inches wide and a little over half an inch thick.
 The pages inside look aged and this makes the book look very cool. Every other page is a amazing full colour picture of the Yokai in question. The other page being a short description of the Yokai.

 Every description has the Yokai's name, its English translation, some alternative names that the Yokai goes by, its habitat and diet. Then there is a description of the Yokai divided into Appearance, behavior, interactions, origin and legends headings.While you may be able to find the information on the Yokai from many sources the authors artwork is truly beautiful.

  
 And sadly it is in the descriptions that this work is let down, there are so many grammar issues within this book that i honestly feel i paid too much for it. It felt like it had not been proof read or had perhaps gone through a last minute auto-edit that messed with the context of many sentences. It is readable but if your a real stickler for grammar this might not be the book for you. It is a real shame because this book looks great and the art is fantastic.

 The back of the book has references, bibliography and an index (which gives incorrect page numbers), its also where i discovered that this book was produced via kickstarter crowdfunding. I was not aware of this when i purchased it and also hadn't seen any reviews describing the extent of the grammatical errors. However i also haven't seen a book on Yokai (in English) that is as beautifully illustrated.

 I really want to love this book, it is a good reference, even just for the illustrations, but is let down by the grammar errors and the exorbitant price i paid for my copy.
 I would recommend this book for those interested in the Paranormal, Cryptozoological, or mythological if you are not too concerned with grammar and if you can find it at a reasonable price.
 Also note that my only copy is the 2012 edition, and that there was a revised edition released in 2015 that may address the grammar issues. If you have an updated copy please feel free to comment and let us know.

Book Review: I Hate Myselfie

I Hate Myselfie

A collection of essays by Shane Dawson

 

Author:                                Shane Dawson
Design:                                 Dana Sloan

Publisher:                            Keywords Press

Type:                                    Soft Cover

Pages:                                   228

Genre:                                  (True Stories)

Published:                            2015

ISBN:                                   978-1-4767-9154-8

 The book itself is well made. The cover is nice and stands out. I noticed no spelling or grammar errors. The paper is good quality and white, the print is quite large and well spaced making for a very easy but short read.

 There are a few black and white as well as colour pictures spattered within.

 Shane Dawson is a you-tuber (Its kind of like TV but different) and if you have enjoyed any of his skits or vlogs (video blogs) about his life. I am sure you would enjoy this book.

 The book is exactly what it says on the cover, a collection of stories from his life and are well told with humor. His voice really come through and i felt at times like i was watching one of his videos while reading.

 This book was released before Shane came out as bisexual so there are a few places in the book where he isn't exactly forthcoming with that information. But we shouldn't blame anyone for not coming out, we need to address the bigotry that prevents people from accepting there own sexuality and being open and honest with others about it.

 If you have ever enjoyed one of Shane's older videos then i am sure you will enjoy this book. A great book for younger readers, its easy to read and relevant. 

 If your at all worried about the content for younger readers, just read it first and then talk with the youth about any issues you may have with them after they read it. (I know, i know that's like basic parenting 101).
 An open dialogue is always better than censorship and ignorance, in my opinion.

The ghostly wrestler?

Paranormal Hammerlock

 It’s time for another spooky tale of the paranormal kind. This is a true story it happened to me yesterday (16/08/2025).

It began Sunday evening as I was washing up, beside my sink there is a door to the sleepout or sunroom, and it’s kind of like a veranda that has windows on all the outside facing walls. At the moment the sunroom is used for storage. So anyway I am standing there washing up and I am startled by knocking on this door! You have to understand that the only other door to this room is in my bedroom and it isn’t used, it actually has furniture placed on both sides. The house is on stilts and the windows out of reach and closed. 

 SIMS 4 PLAN OF MY HOUSE

So I hear this knocking and I look at the door, which is about a meter from me. I think it must be echoing strangely and I go check the front and back doors, which are both locked and no one is there. I check next doors drive way and they are not home, besides it was too loud to be from them. So I go back to the kitchen, I am standing at the door to the sleepout and I reach out my hand, wondering if I really want to open the door. , And it comes again five loud knocks, this time see the door move, I flinch back my right hand that was just about to grab the door handle. I consider again if I want to open the door, instead I say “no one is home, you can’t come in” at the door and go into the lounge room to play some second son on the PS4.

 SIMS 4 COPY OF MY HOUSE

That night I had trouble sleeping again, I do suffer from insomnia, but I have also been under a lot of stress due to my boyfriend of almost 4 years dumping me for another guy. So sleep didn’t come easy and when it did, it seemed I woke almost instantly.
Eventually I must have gotten to sleep because I awoke lying on my stomach with my head facing the bedroom door. I looked and listened for a momentarily to determine what if anything had woken me up.

THE BEDROOM DOOR TO THE SLEEPOUT

That’s when I noticed my right arm, laying at my side, it moved. I thought for a second it might be a spasm, or maybe my arm was asleep, as it felt very strange. It wasn’t asleep though, it moved again, awkwardly. It’s difficult to explain, I am lying there and I am watching my arm lift off the bed. I didn’t take notice at the time but the covers had been pulled away from my right arm and back. My arm moves again it looks like it’s being lifted and manipulated by unseen hands, I am thinking I am having some kind of seizure or something. 

I can actually see the skin moving as my arm moves.As the pressure tightens i can actually feel hands and fingers, the hardest being on my bicep, the thumb pressing deep into my skin.

Then my arm is lifted and twisted more, and I realize My arm is actually being twisted around and behind my back, in like a hammerhold, a restraining move, like the police do. 

I lash out with my mind in panic! And it is gone; I am alone in my bedroom again. I quickly rollover, pulling the covers back on me, and I fall soundly asleep.

THE KITCHEN DOOR INTO THE SLEEPOUT

This was not the old hag, I have only had old hag visits while lying on my back, this was different. Needless to say I cleansed my house and slept a lot better last night. In the mirror this morning i see a bruse where the entitys thumb dug deep into my bicep. 

Its kind of faint and didn't show up too well on camera, but its there, and not in a place that i could have accidentally hit without a convoluted and memorable event.

Please forgive the dreaded red circle of unseeing.