The Obscure Occult Book Report (TOOBR)

Ghosts haunt places but poltergeists people

The Obscure Occult Book Report (TOOBR)

Show Notes

An obscure and possibly much underrated poltergeist case, from 1938, is our springboard into issues concerning how a psychoanalytical approach to paranormal investigation radically recontextualises the notion of “faked” versus “genuine” psychical phenomena.

The text under discussion is On the Trail of the Poltergeist, by Nandor Fodor (New York, NY: Citadel, 1958).

For more about Fodor’s life and work, see the short biography provided at: survivalafterdeath.info, https://tinyurl.com/mpfrs32k. Accessed September, 2024. For more on the Thornton Heath poltergeist case, see: Kate Summerscale (2020), The housewife, the ghost hunter and the poltergeist, https://tinyurl.com/2pceja3c (theguardian.com). Accessed September, 2024.

Support the podcast by joining my Patreon at: https://patreon.com/oeith. Buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/oeith or https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dbarfordG. Or you could send me a lovely book from https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1IQ3BVWY3L5L5?ref_=wl_share.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from The Obscure Occult Book Report (TOOBR)

Apr 12, 2025

New podcast. Available from the usual places. Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford, editors of a forthcoming collection of Aleister Crowley's magical writings, discuss the true meaning of Crowley's legacy and thought. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jan 19, 2025

A collection of fictional writings that break the traditional rules of storytelling leads us into a consideration of how writing might be used for magical purposes.

Nov 5, 2024

We consider in detail some intriguing and sometimes startling true cases, exploring a text that offers frank and practical guidance to psychotherapists on how they should respond when paranormal forms of communication occur within therapy.

Oct 7, 2024

The seeds of chaos magic, uncovered in the unlikely context of a 1975 children’s book on chance and probability. We take a nostalgic romp through some of the fascinations and shortcomings of a scientistic take on magic, which seems to have formed a significant current in the 70s zeitgeist.

Aug 12, 2024

Can discarnate entities take possession of human beings? We consider an academic text that attempts to build a serious case by drawing on the work of Frederic Myers and considering evidence offered by the nature of dissociative states and hypnosis.

See all episodes →