THE SCOTTISH CONNECTION

Malcolm Robinson. UFO Case Files of Scotland: Amazing Real Life Alien Encounters. Healings of Atlantis, 2009.

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Brian Allan. Heretics Past and Present: Can We Now Explain the Unexplainable? O Books. 2010.

The Scottish UFO group Strange Phenomena Investigators was rather controversial back in the 1990s, with its promotion of hypnotic regression to investigate alleged UFO abductions, and its rather, how shall we put it, unorthodox, methods of investigation. Of the two books produced by former members, Malcolm Robinson's is not without interest, and is fairly transparent as to various issues.
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MYSTERY CARNIVORES

Chad Arment. Varmints: Mystery Carnivores of North America. Coachwhip Publications, 2010.

This book by cryptozoologist Chad Arment, follows the pattern of his earlier books The Historical Bigfoot and Boss Snakes, in presenting full transcriptions of original newspaper accounts up to 1963, and thereafter presenting summaries for copyright reasons.
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SALEM - THEN AND NOW

Diane E. Foulds. Death in Salem: The Private Lives Behind the 1692 Witch Hunt. Globe Pequot Press, 2010.

This book by a descendent of one of the accused in the Salem witchcraft trials, differs from the numerous other books on the outbreak in that it concentrates of the personalities involved. These are presented in a series of short biographies, arranged alphabetically, in separate sequences for accusers, victims, clergy, judges, political and social elite.

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WEEPING STATUES

Wendy Grossman and Christopher French (editors). Why Statues Weep: The Best of 'Skeptic'. Philosophy Press, 2010.

It’s always difficult to review an anthology, as the quality of contributions can vary greatly and the reviewer’s interest in different topics can vary. I think the only way you can judge a compilation such as this by how well it reflects the overall contents of the magazine. 🔻

LISTEN TO THE RAINBOW

Jamie Ward. The Frog Who Croaked Blue: Synesthesia and the Mixing of the Senses. Routledge, 2009

In this fascinating book, psychologist Jamie Ward takes us on a tour of synesthesia, the confusion of senses which allows some people to see sounds, experience numbers and letters as having colours, hear lights and taste thunder. There are several areas in which this should be of interest to Magonians. 

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SCIENCE & SUPERSTITION

Gregory L. Reece. Weird Science and Bizarre Beliefs. I. B. Tauris, 200

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Robert L. Park. Superstition: Belief in an Age of Science. Princeton UP, 2010,

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Macello Gleiser. A Tear at the Edge of Creation: A Radical New Vision for Life in an Imperfect Universe. Free Press, 2010.

The liminal zone between reality and fantasy is a strange haunted place, as a boy back in 1977 Gregory Reece had an experience - or dream or fantasy - in which he and a friend saw a great bird circling in the holiday summer sky. As the boyhood world in which dream and reality intermingled faded into the adult world of daylight reason and common sense, he labelled this experience a fantasy. It had fallen off the liminal tightrope into the world of labels. 

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MAGONIA 20, AUGUST 1985

H. Michael Simmons article Once Upon a Time in the West examined the reports of the 1897 airship in America's Mid West, with particular reference to how the stories were handled by the local newspapers in the region. Although some writers have suggested that the airship panic was helped on its way by William Randolph Hurst to promote an 'invasion panic'
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MORE AMERICAN CONSPIRACIES

Jesse Ventura, with Dick Russell. American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies and More Dirty Lies that the Government Tells Us. Constable, 2010.

Jesse Ventura, former navy SEAL and pro-wrestler. was once the only third-party governor in the United States, elected in Minnesota on the ticket of the libertarian faction of Ross Perot's Reform Party. 
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