The Encyclopedia of Superstitions

by Richard Webster

Have you ever rubbed a frog on your freckles? Trivia fans and fun fact fanatics will adore this fascinating, flickable encyclopedia of superstitions! Richard Webster presents over five hundred of the most obscure, curious, and just-plain-freaky superstitions of the Western world. Discover batty beliefs about baldness, beans, and the Bermuda Triangle, and peculiar practices regarding hiccups, hearses, and hunchbacks. From modern myths to centuries-old lore, The Encyclopedia of Superstitions offers a wealth of wonderfully weird beliefs on just about every topic you can
"[T]his reference makes for compulsive browsing."― Publishers Weekly

Genres: Nonfiction, Folklore

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Richard Webster is an author, ghostwriter, mentalist, hypnotist and magician.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive and arranged in dictionary format but seems to have been deliberately designed to withhold most source materials and cultural references. So a bit frustrating if you want to study further. One example, walnut trees are said to be a safe haven for witches, but no cultural or textual examples are given. Overall, a lot of interesting material. And damn, we are a superstitious species!

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with interesting information about the superstitions listed. This book is a good quick reference because it is organized alphabetically, and not broken into sections.

[Emilija]

amazing

[Amy Cornwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has really great information on a wide variety of superstitions. Goes into some fun details and tries to cover the origin if possible.

[Elyse Barrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally read this book on 2 days!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well written and contains a lot of information, but it’s hard to read because of course it’s an encyclopedia and not one that’s easy to read cover to cover.

[Lady Brainsample · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I am not a superstitious person at all (except regards theater) this was a very entertaining book. Good source for my paper...