Paranormal Books and Websites

Themes emerged from the self reports that I collected for my paranormal thesis.

Given my sense of knowing from my earliest moment, I was keen to see if those who had experienced the paranormal would report experiences that dated back to their early childhood. I wasn't disappointed. People confided intimate details about experiences that happened very, very early in their lives - before the second year of life. So, Im not alone in my early knowing!

I was curious to know whether more males or females report paranormal experiences - and statistically my research confirmed that there is a gender bias. In the past, it was shown that men tended to answer online surveys more frequently than women, but more recently this balance has swung the other way and my study confirmed this too. More women than men responded to the call to participate in my anonymous survey and the difference in the level of paranormal experience reports was statistically significant in favour of women.

All good stuff really and every bit of formal research helps, especially in an area like academic paranormal research where so little work is being done. Partly, there is a shortage because it's a matter of funding; partly it's a matter of career suicide for members of the paid academic fraternity (of which Im not a member, so I have nothing to lose).

During the course of my study I read a lot of books and articles and journals. Some of these are readily available online; many are only available through university libraries and the international network that binds them. Of course, over the years while waiting for the world to turn far enough for the paranormal to come out of the shadows, I read a lot of paranormal books, searching for confirmation that I wasn't alone in all this.

I'd like to share some of my references - from both of these sources. Some you may be familiar with, others are more obscure. I'll also start to place links to websites and blogs that I recommend.

One of the first serious books I read was Parapsychology by Richard Broughton. I'll review it next blog. In the meantime, here's a link for you to have a look at.