ALSO RECEIVED

WE LEAF THROUGH A SMALL SELECTION OF THE DOZENS OF BOOKS THAT HAVE ARRIVED AT FORTEAN TOWERS IN RECENT MONTHS...

Ethel Post Parrish

Mediumship in America

Gerald O’Hara

Privately published, 2020

Pb, 240pp, £12.01. ISBN 9798663887489

Ethel Post was a colourful and influential character in the world of American Spiritualism between the 1930s and 1950s. Her séances – well-known for manifesting a wide range of ‘spirit’ forms (visible in dim red light), as well as her ‘Indian’ guide ‘Silver Belle’ – were attended by both celebrities and other famous mediums. Lampooned by Houdini and dogged by a sceptical press, which delighted in the tales of police raids, undercover journalists, and accusations of fraud, she was also a pioneering female entrepreneur who ran a successful Spiritualists’ retreat while being unfortunately beset by court cases over leases and legacies. O’Hara’s well-written and deeply researched study about the woman and the medium adds much to our understanding of contemporary Spiritualism in which she flourished.

How to Survive Anything

The Ultimate Readiness Guide Michael Fleeman

Centennial Books, 2020

Flexibound, 191pp, £12.99. ISBN 9781951274290

This manual – copiously illustrated in full colour with minimal text (presumably because you might not have much time for detailed explanation) – presents the essential dos and don’ts when you are faced with seven categories of life-threatening situations: including the wrath of nature, crime and terrorism, wildlife (really wild), wildernesses, transportation accidents, ‘doomsday’, and basic ‘survival’. There are timely (or should that be ‘opportunistic’) section on COVID and other pandemics, cybercrime and advice on coping with sieges and evacuating your town or city. It’s an amusing yet instructive book (but vies with eight other identical titles) should you have the bad luck to need it … but there is no harm in being prepared, right? Like the 10-year-old who, when attacked by an alligator, kept calm and fended it off by poking her fingers up the beast’s nose.

Serial Killers

Butchers and Cannibals

Nigel Blundell

Wharncliffe True Crime, 2020

Pb, 176pp, £12.99. ISBN 9781526764409

Its one of those jobs that somebody had to do, but journalist Blundell does it well. The subject matter is sensational enough, so he offers a reassuring hand, keeping calm while he guides us through the incomprehensible minds behind the killings and the subsequent mutilations and cannibalism. Nothing the killers say about their own feelings or motives, recorded here, can be trusted as they are quite lost and alien to human normality (whatever that is). The 29 serial killers portrayed here are stranger and more terrifying than any imagined alien invader. A useful reference, should you need one.

Introducing UFOs

A Young Person’s Guide

Philip Mantle

Flying Disk Press, 2020

Pb, 158pp, £15.00. ISBN 9798654158369

It’s not often that an exposition on UFOs is aimed at “young persons” as the subtitle here declares. Seven chapters divide the historical account into distinct decades, the last covering 2000 “and beyond”. Philip Mantle — a veteran ufologist and perennial director of BUFORA — provides a fairly restrained text, presenting a sample of key incidents with selected supportive witness quotations. There are no references for quotations; no further reading; and the whole is marred by poor proofing from Flying Disk. This thin book does benefit from being prolifically illustrated with documents, portraits, and imaginative illustrations by Ronald Kinsela and others. Given the importance of proper guidance for young readers new to the subject, the introduction is woefully brief. It merely points to the historicity of anomalous aerial phenomena before challenging the readers to decide for themselves. The guidance for analysis is pitiful. After referring to “many theories” the by-now stunned reader is asked to choose between natural phenomena, secret military aircraft, or alien visitation. The authors favour the latter because “claims of contact with aliens [..] come from all over the world and are remarkably similar in detail.” Sad to say, this pointless book is a missed opportunity.

Sacred Geometry

Language of the Angels

Richard Heath

Inner Traditions, 2021

Hb, 278pp, $40.00. ISBN 9781644111185

What John Michell used to call ‘sacred geometry’, author Richard Heath an ‘angelic science’ coded into the plans and structures of ancient holy monuments using the mathematic principles established by the Pythagoreans and other illumined geometers. In this beautifully illustrated thesis, Heath shows precisely how number, proportion and astronomy were inter-related in cultures all over the world to express the ideals of divine wisdom. The book not only demonstrates these processes with photos and diagrams but also shows why this ‘science’ is important and must not be lost.

More Sex, Better Zen, Faster Bullets

The Encyclopedia of Hong Kong Film

Stefan Hammond & Mike Wilkins, eds

Headpress, 2020

Pb, 343pp, £22.99. ISBN 9781909394643

This must be the most comprehensive encyclopaedia of the modern Chinese (mainly Hong Kong) cinema yet, compiled and expanded from previous books by the 11 contributors; some of them worked in that industry, but all are united in their love of this dynamic and creative genre with its technical innovations and martial arts skills. Eighteen chapters cover the major types of movies, from historical dramas to crime and sex to the heroic fantasy settings and, of course, there’s a focus on the skills of the stuntmen. Attention is given to an extensive list of actors, writers and directors and their studios, with memorials to many of the now deceased. The authors plot the history of the Chinese movie industry as its wares (and Hollywood remakes) spread out into the wider world from post-WWII Chinese communities in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The individual movie discussions eschew academic seriousness for a joyful celebration of the sheer daftness of it all (including plots that make no sense, the untranslatable cultural milieu, and (most loved of all) the famous outrageously and unintentionally funny English dubbing. Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh provide forewords. A must-have for Chinese film buffs.

Paranormal Wales

Mark Rees

Amberley 2020

Pb, 96pp, £14.99. ISBN 9781445697161

At FT, we treasure the output of small presses, especially as sources of local history and lore. Local author Mar Rees gives us a tour, as he says, “from the peak of Snowdonia to the depths of the abandoned mines”. As you’d expect, this includes castles, ghosts, witches and magicians from the mediaeval times to the distant Celtic past. There are more modern tales here too.

Britain’s Haunted Heritage

John West

DB Publishing, 2019

Pb, 192pp, £12.99. ISBN: 9781780916033

Yet another personal selection of (apparently random) ghost tales, written (from the looks of it) for the Most Haunted audience. The cover claims — upon no comparative evidence at all — that “Britain is the most haunted place on Earth”. The 20 cases are certainly an interesting and varied selection of locations and events, but the breathless prose is off-putting. The introduction by Uri Geller adds nothing to the book, which is a good read but useless as a reference.