Poltergeists: A History of Violent Ghostly Phenomena - Hardcover

The story of violent ghost phenomena through the ages. The poltergeist of 'noisy ghost' phenomenon is commonly thought to be the result of a dead person's angry spirit expressing that anger by violence in the physical world, or the projected energies of an emotionally volatile human being, often a teenager. In fact, poltergeists are more interesting than either of those suggested explanations, because they are actually something of a mystery. Are they spirits of some kind, natural or anomalous forms of energy, or the products of trickery or self-delusion, or something else altogether? This account sets out to seek answers to those and other questions by providing examples of poltergeist activity from late antiquity to the present day, and discussing who recorded them, why, and for what kind of audience. It also clarifies the mystery and presents the reader with explanations of increasingly common, well-documented and intriguing manifestations of apparently paranormal phenomena.

P. G. Maxwell-Stuart is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of St. Andrews. His other books include GHOSTS: A HISTORY OF PHANTOMS, GHOULS, & OTHER SPIRITS OF THE DEAD ('Scholarly and well-written - a wide ranging account' THES), WITCH HUNTERS ('The lurid tales of orgies and other debauchery told by these individuals still make for shocking reading today' THE DAILY MAIL; 'Based on massive erudition... a learned, informative, at times very subtle book' JAMES SHARPE), WIZARDS: A HISTORY ('An excellent pioneering work... fascinating and entertaining' RONALD HUTTON; 'A fascinating, well-researched and lucid book' THE ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW), WITCHCRAFT: A HISTORY ('Combines scholarly rigour with literary flair' THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY), SATAN: A BIOGRAPHY ('P.G. Maxwell-Stuart is well established as a writer on magic, witchcraft and the occult, has an in-depth knowledge of these matters over a long chronological span - a learned and fascinating book' PROFESSOR JAMES SHARPE, TLS), THE CHEMICAL CHOIR: A HISTORY OF ALCHEMY THE OCCULT IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE, and THE MALLEUS MALEFICARUM. He lives in St. Andrews.