YOURS SINCERELY, CHARLES FORT

Chris Aubeck (Editor). Letters of the Damned; the Forgotten Investigations of Charles Fort. Aubeck, 2024.

We are all familiar with the four 'canonical' texts of Charles Fort, and mostly aware of, if not familiar with, his earlier literary works such as The Outcast Manufacturers and the lively short stories depicting working-class New York tenement life, which were published in magazines and newspapers.

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HOW CHARLES FORT CONQUERED THE WORLD

Tanner F. Boyle. The Fortean Influence on Science Fiction; Charles Fort and the Evolution of the Genre. McFarland, 2021.

The Fortean influence on science fiction goes back to the time of the original publication of Fort's quadrology. The early SF magazine Astounding Stories serialised his third book, Lo! In 1934. just two years after his death. The birth of the 'pulp' SF magazine is exactly contemporary with Fort's work, Astounding being first publishes in 1919, the same year as the publication of The Book of the Damned.

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THE SCEPTICAL FORTEAN

Martin Shough, with Wim van Utrecht. Redemption of the Damned, Volume 2: Sea and Space Phenomena. Anomalist Books, 2021.

Redemption of the Damned seems an odd title for a book that subjects the strange incidents recorded in the books of Charles Fort to a detailed, scientific re-examination. What exactly is being ‘redeemed’ here? In his Forward to this volume, bibliographer and Fortean researcher George Eberhart says that “Charles Fort has not aged well”

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DAMNED FINE RESEARCH

Martin Shough with Wim Van Utrecht. Redemption of the Damned, A Centennial Re-Evaluation of Charles Fort's 'Book of The Damned'. Anomalist Books, 2019.

I suppose the first thing to ask about this book is why has it taken a hundred years for the data in Charles Fort's Book of the Damned to be re-evaluated? I think the main reason is that Fort makes it clear on the opening pages of the Book of the Damned that he does not want them re-evaluated.
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AMATEUR HOUR

Sharon A. Hill. Scientifical Americans; The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers. McFarland, 2017.

Sharon Hill opens the introduction to this book with a question that sceptical researchers of anomalies are often asked: if we are sceptical about such phenomena, why are we researching and writing about them? Hill’s answer is that she loves the ‘idea’ of such things, even if she does not accept their reality.
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SNIFFING OUT A MYSTERY

Joshua Cutchin. The Brimstone Deceit: An In-Depth Examination of Supernatural Scents, Otherworldly Odors and Monstrous Miasmas. Anomalist Books, 2016.

This book might have been titled or subtitled “By your nose ye shall know them” and, while there have been numerous books on supernatural sights and sounds this is almost certainly the first on supernatural smells. Cutchin notes that strange odours are associated with a variety of anomalous experiences., and here he concentrates on tales of UFOs, ghosts and Bigfoot.
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FORTEAN FICTION AND FICTIONAL FORTEANA

Andrew May. Pseudoscience and Science Fiction. Springer, 2017.

In this book Andrew May, known for his articles in Fortean Times, examines the influence that 'pseudoscience', i.e. Fortean phenomena and the paranormal, have had on science fiction and vice versa. As the book is aimed at an academic readership in a series entitled 'Science and Science Fiction' it adopts a suitably sceptical tone.
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FADING FORTEANA

The ability we now have to search back issues of local newspapers on-line is allowing researchers to unearth intriguing little nuggets of forteana. Here are two items which Peter Rogerson has uncovered in his latest trawl through the haunted wing of the newspaper archives.

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Dundee Courier, September 22, 1926.

VISITORS FROM MARS

In a short time the planet Mars and the earth will be in opposition. This will be the inevitable signal for a revival of the time-worn question: Is communication between two worlds possible? Scientist and layman alike demand.  Can man visit Mars?" Is Mars inhabited " Can the Martians visit us?"

A GOOD GUIDE TO STRANGE STUFF

Roy Bainton. The Mammoth Book of Unexplained Phenomena. Constable and Robinson, 2013.

This is yet another of those monster books from Constable and Robinson that try to cover as much as possible, with the inevitable result that some parts are better than others. For me the best part of this book was the one dealing with sea mysteries, because it is clear that this is a topic that Bainton, a former merchant seaman with multiple family connections to the fishing industry, knows and cares about.

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LIGHT IN THE DARK

Greg Taylor (ed.) Dark Lore VI. Daily Grail Publishing, 2011.

Every issue of Dark Lore is eagerly anticipated, and the sixth is no disappointment. The twelve essays cover a huge range of the paranormal, the anomalous, and just simply the weird, and all are written with authority.

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HIDDEN REALMS

Jerome Clark. Hidden Realms, Lost Civilizations, and Beings from Other Worlds. Visible Ink, 2010.

In compiling his various encyclopaedias Jerome Clark must have read more UFO and UFO-related books and magazines, and other general weirdness, than anyone on Earth, with the possible exception of Hilary Evans. This latest book is further evidence of that achievement.

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SERIOUS RESEARCH

You may have noticed that I've added Mike Dash's CFI Blog to the list of recommended reading down the side of this page. This is essential reading for all Magonians and Forteans. I would particularly like to draw your attention to his most recent postings about the Marpingen Apparitions. In his introduction he comments: