SLIGHTLY OUT OF TUNE

Melvyn J Willin. Music and the Paranormal; an Encyclopedic Dictionary. McFarland, 2022.

Music probably developed in human culture via the paranormal, with its origins in religious rituals and as a way of entering alternate states of consciousness. From ritual chants and rhythmic drumming, to tuneful hymns or Baroque masses, most religious observation has been accompanied by music.

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THE OBJECT IS THE SUBJECT

Theresa Bane. Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects. McFarland, 2020.

This book, as the rather overused cliché puts it, does “what it says on the tin”. It is the latest in a series of serviceable reference volumes from Ms Bane on topics such as ‘Demons’, ‘Beast and Monsters’ and ‘Giants and Humanoids, amongst others. 

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DISCOMFORTING CREATURES

Theresa Bane. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. McFarland, 2016.

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Theresa Bane. Encyclopedia of Giants and Humanoids in Myth, Legend and Folklore. McFarland, 2016.

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Theresa Bane. Encyclopedia of Spirits and Ghosts in World Mythology. McFarland, 2016.

To use a tired old phrase, these three books do exactly what it says on the tin. They are comprehensive alphabetical encyclopedias of creatures of vision and belief, taken from an extraordinary range of societies and historical periods.
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PSI, ESP, UFO, A-Z

Matt Cardin (editor). Ghosts, Spirits and Psychics: The Paranormal From Alchemy to Zombies. ABC-CLIO, 2015.

There have been various attempts to compile an encyclopaedia or quasi encyclopaedia of what might loosely be called the 'paranormal' over the years. It is not to an easy task to say the least. Compiling encyclopaedias where there is at the least a consensus that the topic exists is hard enough, especially where there are differing interpretations and outlooks.
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IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TONIGHT

Brian D. Parsons. Handbook for the Amateur Cryptozoologist. Lulu, 2015. (Second edition)

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Michael Newton. Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology: A Global Guide. McFarland, 2015. (Reprint.)

Brian Parsons in an accomplished investigator who has been involved with a range of anomalous phenomena for twenty years. In Handbook for the Amateur Cryptozoologist he explains the techniques of investigation and warns how to avoid the pitfalls involved in such work.
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MONSTROUS DEMONS

Asa Simon Mittman with Peter J Dendle (Eds.) The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous. Ashgate, 2012.

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Theresa Bane. Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures McFarland, 2012.

The monstrous and demonic haunt our imaginations, both being symbols of the primordial chaos of the wilderness which threats to overwhelm the ordered society of habitat. The massive 500-plus page compilation edited by Mittman and Dendle tackles monsters from a wide variety of times and cultures, though it does not address in any great detail the monsters of the modern west, such as those tackled by cryptozoology and ufology.
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TWO CLASSIC MONSTERS

S. T. Joshi (editor). Encyclopedia of the Vampire; The Living Dead in Myth, Legend and Popular Culture. Greenwood, 2011.

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Bob Curran. Man-Made Monsters: A Field Guide to Golems, Patchwork Soldiers, Homunculi and Other Created Creatures. New Page 2010.

Well, you wait ages for one gigantic encyclopaedia about vampires, and then two turn up! Following on from J. Gordon Melton's 900 page tome (LINK) we get a mere 450 pages in this volume, and the total weight is 1.1 kg. as against Melton's 1.5 kg. However in terms of content it is hard to decide which is the weightier.

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EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT VAMPIRES

J. Gordon Melton. The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead. Visible Ink Press, 2010.

Gordon Melton is probably best know to Magonia readers as the author of numerous books and papers on religious cults, particularly in the USA, and has written specifically on 'UFO Religions' such as the Raelians. An encyclopedia of vampires may seem a little out of his field, but it is clear from this book that vampire fandom has a great deal in common with the cultic milieu, 

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