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XI. PSYCHICS, THE PARANORMAL AND MAGICAL THINKING IN POPULAR CULTURE

See also Daubert VIII(H)(6)

The paranormal has been a popular topic in literature since the English Gothic period.

XI. A. Novels (by subject)(Selected titles)

    Psychics and Psychic Detectives

Clark, Mary Higgins, Before I Say Goodbye (2000)

Greeley, Andrew M., Irish Eyes (2000)

Greeley, Andrew M., Irish Gold (1995)

Greeley, Andrew M., Irish Lace (1997)

Greeley, Andrew M., Irish Mist (1999)

Greeley, Andrew M., Irish Whiskey (1998)

Lawrence, Martha C., Aquarius Descending (2000)

Lawrence, Martha C., The Cold Heart of Capricorn (1998)

Lawrence, Martha C., Murder in Scorpio (1996)

Lawrence, Martha C., Pisces Rising (2000)

Magicians

Rawson, Clayton, Death from a top hat : a Great Merlini murder mystery (1938). Rawson was a successful magician. His sleuth,  The Great Merlini, solved mysterious crimes.

Rawson, Clayton, Death from nowhere (1940).

Rawson, Clayton, The footprints on the ceiling (1939).

Rawson, Clayton, The great Merlini : the complete stories of the magician detective (1979). Reprints of stories that originally appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.

Rawson, Clayton, The headless lady : a Great Merlini mystery (1940).

Rawson, Clayton, No coffin for the corpse (1942).

Investigators

McCarver, Sam, The Case of the 2d Seance (2000). Skeptic investigator John Darnell teams up with Arthur Conan Doyle and David Lloyd George to solve a kidnapping.

XI. B. Films

The Clairvoyant (1931).

The Cuckoos (1930). Stars Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey as phony psychics.

Death Dreams (TVM 1991). A woman believes her dead daughter is contacting her from the grave.

The Duxorcist (1987). Daffy Duck opens a business offering exorcisms.

Eyes of Terror (TVM 1994). Another Barbara Eden psychic film.

Ghost (

Poltergeist (1982). This hit movie starred Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams as parents trying to cope with hauntings in their family's home. Tag line: "They're here."

Poltergeist II (1986). Tag line: "They're back."

Poltergeist III (1988) Tag line: "He's found her." A couple of other Poltergeist movies followed: Poltergeist: The Legacy and a made-for-tv Poltergeist.

Sightings: The Heartland Ghost (2002). Exploitive, derivative movie about a skeptic who investigates a "haunted house" and comes to believe in the phenomenon he's investigating.

The Sixth Sense (1999). Bruce Willis is a psychologist who tries help a small boy who "sees dead people."

Village of the Damned (1960). Based on the sf thriller by John Wyndham, The Midwich Cuckoos. Remade in 1995 with Christopher Reeve.

Visions of Murder (TVM 1993). Barbara is a psychic psychologist who assists the police in solving crimes.

Visions of Terror (TVM 1993). Barbara Eden as the psychic psychologist.

Voice from the Grave (TVM 1996). Also called Crimes of Passion: Voice from the Grave and From the Files of Unsolved Mysteries: Voice from the Grave. Based on the real murder of a Chicago nurse. However, this film sets up the usual "straw man", suggesting that the police and prosecutors will have a difficult time obtaining a case against the suspect if they reveal the source of their suspicions is an acquaintance of the victim who claims to have had spirit communication with her. 

Bibliography

[Short item on murder trial], New York Times, September 2, 1978, at 43.

Holt, Don, and Pamela Ellis Simons, Crime: A Tip From Beyond? Newsweek, September 18, 1978, at 35.

O'Brian, John and Edward Baumann, Teresita: The Voice From the Grave (Bonus Books, 1992).

O'Hare, Kate, Chicago Murder Tale is Retold, Chicago Tribune, April 22, 1996, at C4

Television Series

Beyond Reality (1991-1993). Shari Belafonte Harper starred in this series about paranormal investigators.

Blacke's Magic (1986). Pilot film and television series featuring Hal Linden as a magician who solves crimes.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Movie 1992, TV series, 1997-2004).

• BBC Buffy Page

• UPN Buffy Page

• Slayage. A combination of forum, academia, and other materials on Buffy and Buffydom.

• TV Tome Page

In Search Of... (began 1976). Leonard Nimoy hosted this series which seems to have been the forerunner of many modern "investigative" shows. Every week In Search Of... featured a paranormal or other mystery and attempted to offer explanations for it. The one usually favored by the show was the one that most accented the paranormal or bizarre.

Jonathan Creek (BBC series, 1997--). Alan Davies as a magician who solves mysterious crimes. Features scientific and common sense explanations for what seem to be paranormal events.

The Magician (1973--). Film and tv series featuring Bill Bixby as a magician who solves crimes.

Mythbusters (The Discovery Channel, 2003--). Television show that attempts to verify or falsify claims about products, activities, etc. Available on DVD.

Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Showtime series featuring "debunking" of various pseudoscientific and other claims. Available on DVD.

PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranomal (1996--). Hosted by Dan Ackroyd and featuring Colin Fox as an academic studying the paranormal. See also TV Tome PSI Factor Page

The Sixth Sense (1972). This very short lived series featured Gary Collins as a paranormal researcher.

The X-Files (1993-2002). This phenomenally successful show starred David Duchovny as Fox Mulder, the FBI agent who "wants to believe" in the paranormal, and Gillian Anderson as his partner, Dr. Dana Scully, who always attempts to advance a rational explanation for unexplained events. Many analyses and commentaries on the show exist.

    Bibliography

•     Cavelos, Jeanne, The Science of the X-Files (NY: Berkley Books, 1998).

•     Edwards, Ted, X-Files Confidential (1996).

•     The Science Behind the X-Files

•     Simon, Anne Elizabeth, The Real Science Behind the X-Files (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1999).

XI. C. Plays

Coward, Noel, Blithe Spirit ().

Shakespeare, William, Hamlet. The ghost of Hamlet's father urges him toward revenge.

XI. D. Music

Opera

Giuseppe Verdi, Il Trovatore. Azucena is a gypsy fortuneteller.

Giuseppe Verdi, Macbeth. The three witches make appearances.

Popular Song

Cher, Dark Lady

Love Potion Number Nine

XI. E. Reference and Research Resources

Books

• Gardner, Martin, How Not to Test a Psychic (Prometheus Books, 1989).

Periodicals

• Psychic Magazine

Articles

• William Goldberg, The Tricks of the Psychics

• James Randi, The Art of Cold Reading

• The Skeptic's Dictionary, Cold Reading

• The Skeptic's Journal, Guide to Cold Reading

Skeptical Websites (a highly selective list)

• Andrew A. Skolnick's Debunking the Paranormal

• Mysticism and the Paranormal

• The Union of Concerned Scientists Junk Science Quiz

• Witchcraft (Anthropology Resources) (University of Adelaide)

• The Witchcraft Bibliography Project

• Witches on the Web (review page of scholarly sites)

• The World of Astrology. "This study intends to help common sense. It separates "credible" astrology from superstition and outright scams that masquerade as "popular" astrology." (from the website)

Search for more on Google using the following keywords: skeptics, skeptical, or check the Google Directory: Science--Science in Society--Skeptical Inquiry

Psychics' Websites (a highly selective list)

• James Van Praagh

• The John Edward Web Site

• The Sylvia Browne Web Site

Search for more on Google using the following keywords: Psychics; paranormal, or check the Google Directory: Society--Paranormal--Psychic or Society--Religion and Spirituality--Spiritualism

Bibliographies

• Hauntology (bibliography by Dr. Helen Sword)

Television Shows for the Skeptic

Mythbusters (Discovery Channel)

Skeptical Inquirer (on Science Discovery Channel) (various clips)

XI F. Satire and Other Amusements

• Ask Dr. Science: He Knows More Than You Do!

• Bad Science Projects

• Cecil Adams' The Straight Dope Page

• Donald Simanek's Whoops! Blunders and Mistakes of Science and Engineering

• Dihydrogen Monoxide

  • About Dihydrogen Monoxide

  • Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide

  • Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division Page                       

  • Drowning in Dihydrogen Monoxide

• Eric Schulman's Science Humor

• Hot Air: Annals of Improbable Research

• Junk Science Quotes

• Journal of Irreproducible Results

• Pretty Strange Patents

• Save the Electrons

• Science Humor Webring

• Science Jokes

• Space Jokes

Find more of these websites at http://directory.google.com/Top/Recreation/Humor/Science/

XI. G. Odds and Ends

• Far Shores Paranormal Dimension. This site features articles on the paranormal appearing in the mainstream press.

XI. H. Psychic Networks

Bibliography

• Kenworthy, Donna, A 1-900 Psychic Speaks (Hampton Roads, 1998).

• Nicholls, Joe, How to Make a Good Living as a Professional Psychic (Tranquility Press, 1998).

• Psychics and 900 Lines

• Woodruff, Frederick Secrets of a Telephone Psychic (Beyond Words, 1998).

XI. I. Urban Legends, See also XI F. Satire and Other Amusements.

        How Urban Legends Work (from howstuffworks.com)

        Websites

        The Cat in Urban Mythology

        Hoaxbusters

        Urban Legends and Folklore (an "What You Need to Know About" page)

        Urban Legends Reference Pages

        Urban Legends Research Centre

While the "Nigerian Bank Account Scam" is not an urban legend, it routinely causes confusion among people who have never received an email containing the scam. See these pages for more information and for amusing stories about how some recipients have "scammed the scammers."

              How To Recognize Advance Fee Scams

            The 419 Scam. Information provided by the University of Pennsylvania computing staff.

             The Nigerian 419 Fee Scam

        Scam Joke Page

        Wendland, Mike, E Mail Fraud Scheme: Despite Warnings, Americans Continue to Lose Millions to Nigerian Con Artists (dated 2002)

XI. J. CONSPIRACY THEORY

    1. Films

    Conspiracy Theory (1997) Film starring Julia Roberts, Mel Gibson, Patrick Stewart.

    Did We Land on the Moon (TVM 2001). Documentary featuring Mitch Pileggi, Michael Shermer

  2.  Types of Conspiracies

•     The Kennedy Assassination

•     9/11