Strange World

by Frank Edwards

Describes unexplained incidents of premonitions, UFO sightings, apparitions, ghost lights, family curses, cloudless rain, miracle cures, blackouts, reincarnation, disappearances, and poltergeists

Genres: Paranormal, Nonfiction, Occult, Mystery

289 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the series. This one came out after Stranger Than Science, but contains largely the same type accounts.

Ahh, memories from my youth and the mystery of the unknown. In the mid-twentieth century, Edwards was the apparent inheritor of Charles Fort's crown.

So...are you being stalked by sinister men in black? Have you ever slipped into an alternate dimension while sailing through the Bermuda Triangle? Does the Sasquatch live in a wooded lot near your home? Or do you have a treasured photo of the Loch Ness Creature (don't you think Nessy would hate it if she/he knew we called him/her a monster?)?

Well whether you do or don't...this is an enjoyable book...really, it is.

This ("these" if you include all Edwards' books) was considered THE book for paranormal investigators (or at least "beginning" paranormal investigators) in it's day and it (they) is (are) still very popular and I've seen it touted as such. (I believe that's still in Amazon's blurb). And...I won't nay-say, at least for many who are looking for such. It is touted as "a carefully authenticated compendium of strange, true events...so fantastic they baffle the most brilliant minds". Sounds good, and let's make no mistake, I loved these books.

Let's also make no mistake that all the "authentication" and "documentation" isn't the same as you'll find in the labs at the Smithsonian... Some of the stories are indeed fairly well documented (as well as eyewitness accounts of "strange but true" events can be). They come from newspaper accounts, well reported anecdotes, and some official files. Some other stories come from the pages of Fate magazine and other "popular publicans.

My attention was drawn back to "these" recently and I do remember how I enjoyed them at the time (and of course believed them without question...I mean what's the fun if you don't?). So okay are there things out there that aren't explained, of course. So..get set to shiver, sleep with the lights on, spend a lot of time looking over your shoulder...and enjoy.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read several Edwards books as a kid and had been fascinated by his accounts of, ah, the paranormal. Finding this at a friend's home in Manhattan invited a trip down memory lane.

Edwards, a radio personality, was a sensationalist on a roll with his "Strange" and "Flying Saucers" books. His material should not be taken very seriously, but his accounts are fun.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when I was in junior high school...I was into
flying saucers, psychic phenomena and so forth...while at
the same time into leftwing politics..

[Sabrina Rutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this is an old book it is still a very enjoyable one because the mysteries within will always be mysteries! I had so much fun reading this book!

[no elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

lite forteana is good for the soul..

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting compendium of strange phenomena, though Edwards as usual doesn't cite his sources for many of his reports. He does for some of the more interesting, however. This, his penultimate book, shows his growing obsessions with "flying saucers" and other extraterrestrial phenomena, ending with a coda about 3 such mysteries that occurred as the book was going to press. On the whole this is as enjoyable as any Frank Edwards compendium, though there was a trifle too much Forteana for my taste. He also recycles the hoax that the toilet was invented by John Crapper. But there is a lot of very interesting things here.

[Maurean · Rating 2 out of 5]

From UFO's to Sasquatch sightings, poltergeists to dreams that foretell the future; cytology experiments, mud showers and things that go bump in the night...a little bit of all the strange (but, purportedly true) phenomenon you can possibly imagine are touched on, in this entertaining little book. Fun food for thought.