Bufo’s ANOMALIT New and Notable Books of 2005

 

Welcome!

 

Yes, it’s been a year since I sent the last one out.  Well, I don’t think I’ll be accused of putting too much into your inbox.  :)  If you are getting this directly from me, it’s because you are subscribed to Bufo’s ANOMALIT Review.  See instructions at the bottom of this e-mail for how to unsubscribe.

 

There are many more items listed at Bufo’s WEIRD WORLD Books.  I intend to do a fair amount of updating by the end of the year.  Suggestions for items are always welcome. 

 

The books in this listing were released (or re-released) in 2005 and caught my eye.  I have not had the opportunity to read all of them, so I would consider this a heads-up rather than a recommendation.  I hope the brief insights I provide into the books prove useful to you.  I do get a small amount back from Amazon if you order directly through the links in this e-mail, but feel free to use alternate methods.

 

Oh, and speaking of alternate methods, I’m going to try sending this a different way.  If the links don’t work, I may need to do a re-send.

 

Hunt for the Skinwalker : Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah (paperback)

by Colm A. Kelleher, George Knapp

Paperback: 320 pages

Publisher: Paraview Pocket Books (December 6, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1416505210/bufosweirdworld

 

We’ve all heard of places where the foundation of reality seems to have cracked a bit…haunted castles, mysterious swamps, or, in this case, a ranch with such a wide variety of high strangeness that it seems straight out of Lovecraft.  The difference in this story is that it isn’t just tales of random travelers.  Robert Bigelow, a millionaire with an interest in UFOs, purchased the ranch in 1996 in order to finance an investigation of the phenomena.  George Knapp, investigative reporter for KLAS-TV, who did a lot to publicize Area 51 and Bob Lazar, and Colm Kelleher, Ph D., a biochemist and author who has spent extensive time at the ranch, report on the happenings.

 

Shadows Dancing : True Tales of Shadow People (paperback)

Paperback: 260 pages

Publisher: Atriad Press (December 1, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0974039470/bufosweirdworld

Always nice to have another weird thing: this time, it’s “shadow people” (interdimensional beings?)

 

The Black Triangle Abduction (paperback)

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Invisible College Press (November, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1931468249/bufosweirdworld

First person alien abduction account.

 

Abducted : How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens (hardcover)

By Susan Clancy

Hardcover: 162 pages

Publisher: Harvard University Press (October 1, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0674018796/bufosweirdworld

Harvard may have felt that it was important to release a well-written book by someone who would come to a conclusion that alien abductions were not “real”, in the traditional sense of being a phenomenon where the observer was less significant to what occurred than the observed.  They may have been concerned about the attention that the late John Mack brought to the university in conjunction with his books on abduction.  While Mack’s books were not from the viewpoint of scientifically supporting the “cosmic bus theory” (physical beings like ourselves get into a spaceship and fly here from another planet), he concluded that the reports were most likely not merely psychological, or represented a psychological pathology beyond that which had previously been identified.  Clancy also appears to believe that the phenomenon of the belief warrants further investigation, while remaining in the skeptical camp about weird origins for it.  Though the books may at first glance appear to be opposed, the differences may be more of attitude and degree than it seems.

 

REPRINTS

 

The Flying Saucers Are Real (hardcover)

By Donald Keyhoe

Hardcover: 252 pages

Publisher: 1st World Library (October, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1421809222/bufosweirdworld

 

This is a very early (1950) influential book on the subject.

 

Invisible Residents: The Reality of Underwater UFOs (paperback)

by Ivan T. Sanderson, David Hatcher Childress

Paperback: 248 pages

Publisher: Adventures Unlimited Press (September 15, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1931882207/bufosweirdworld

 

Ah, Ivan Sanderson…he was the introduction many people had to weird subjects.  Whether it was the Roger Patterson Bigfoot film in ARGOSY and other ABSMs (Sanderson’s coinage for Abominable Snowmen), globsters, OOPTHs (out-of-place-things), OINTs (Other Intelligences), teleporting ants (one of what Sanderson simply called “things”), or this book on USOs (Unidentified Submarine Objects), Sanderson brought a new eye and a new word to the subject.  He was a naturalist who would appear on talk shows, with a sort of Steve Irwin popularity.  He became, in a sense, the paranormal Isaac Asimov, writing knowledgeably on a wide variety of topics.  But unlike Asimov, he also had the “been-there” authenticity of Gerald Durrell.  Childress (who wrote the introduction to this edition), continues the tradition of adventure/speculation for today’s audiences.

 

The Truth About Medium: Extraordinary Experiments with the real Allison DuBois of NBC's Medium and other Remarkable Psychics (hardcover)

Gary E. Schwartz, PhD with William L. Simon

Hardcover: 149 pages

Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company (October, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1571744592/bufosweirdworld

 

Terrors of the Night (paperback)

John Robert Colombo

Paperback: 236 pages

Publisher: Dundurn Press (September 30, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1550025767/bufosweirdworld

How about this for a niche?  Colombo is the leading writer on Canadian weirdness.  Neatly written, his books show Americans that, while similar, there is something different about the way that Canadians get weird.

 

A Paranormal Casebook : Ghost Hunting in the New Millennium (paperback)

Paperback: 260 pages

Publisher: Atriad Press (September 28, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1933177047/bufosweirdworld

When you’re dealing with the unearthly, it’s nice to have someone who is grounded.  Loyd Auerbach is one of the world’s leading ghostbusters, but don’t picture Venkman, Stantz and Spengler.  Rather than coming in with proton packs blasting, this is an investigator who puts the welfare of the person claiming to have the experiences first I have some acquaintance with Loyd, and not only is he intelligent, he’s insightful, which may be more important in this field.  Famous Fortean John Keel once titled a chapter, “To H*ll With the Answer!  What’s the Question?”  Auerbach exemplifies this when he asks, “Where do ghosts buy their clothes?”  I’ve heard Loyd go from this apparently silly question to a very important observation about ghosts.  Get the straight story from one of the most original thinkers in this often uncritical arena.

 

Signs On The Earth: Deciphering The Message Of Virgin Mary Apparitions, UFO Encounters, And Crop Circles (paperback)

Paperback: 268 pages

Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company (June 30, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1571742468/bufosweirdworld

 

Unnatural Phenomena : A Guide to the Bizarre Wonders of North America (hardcover)

Jerome Clark

Hardcover: 350 pages

Publisher: ABC-CLIO (June 15, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1576074307/bufosweirdworld

Clark is one of the great encyclopedists of the weird.  In this volume, he reprints original source articles of weirdness.  Those of us who love finding old newspaper reports of all manner of weird happenings should consider this an indispensable treasure trove.

 

An American Demonology : Flying Saucers Over the White House (paperback)

Colin Bennett (Editor)

Paperback: 192 pages

Publisher: Diagonal (May 15, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1900486466/bufosweirdworld

 

Who Built the Moon? (paperback)

by Christopher Knight, Alan Butler

Paperback: 320 pages

Publisher: Duncan Baird Publishers/Watkins (October 10, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1842931636/bufosweirdworld

 

Fog (paperback)

by Rob MacGregor, Bruce Gernon

Paperback: 208 pages

Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (September 1, 2005)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0738707570/bufosweirdworld
New Bermuda Triangle theory.

 

Awakening : How Extraterrestrial Contact Can Transform Your Life (paperback)

by Mary Rodwell RN.

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0973844205/bufosweirdworld

 

FICTION:

 

Miracles - The Complete Series (DVD Boxed Set)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007N1AM2/bufosweirdworld

I don’t often note works of fiction (although I do include them sparingly on the site), but this is one I do want to recommend.  It may be the most Fortean work of fiction to date, or perhaps Keelian (as in John A. Keel) might be a better adjective.  It does a much better job of evoking the feel of the Keelian universe than THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES movie (which was also written by series creator Richard Hatem).  It’s not for everybody: you could be offended by its take on religion, as well as bothered by some scary stuff.  I certainly wish they had given the one main female character more to do.  However, I think it’s well-worth watching: my copy is making its rounds around people at my work.