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Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch
One scientist's account of the poltergeist case that made headlines across the country -- and the riveting examination of a child's mysterious murder. When she was just fourteen years old, Tina Resch became the center of the best-documented case of poltergeist activity of the twentieth century. During the spring of 1984, Tina's home in Ohio was thrown into appliances turned themselves on without electric current, objects flew through the air, furniture scooted across the floor. Censured endlessly by her adoptive family and thrust into the eye of a media twister thanks to one reporter's photographic evidence of a flying phone, Tina was propelled into a downward spiral that led to an abusive marriage, a divorce, and the birth of a child -- all before her twentieth birthday. Three years later she was charged with that child's murder, and she is currently serving a life sentence for a crime as controversial, mysterious, and complex as the accused herself -- a crime she maintains she did not commit. Unleashed is Tina's story as told by a parapsychologist who witnessed striking paranormal phenomena in Tina's presence. Examining the destructive powers of thwarted emotions from a scientific perspective, William Roll sheds remarkable light on the case of Tina Resch -- and boldly confronts our cultural responses to events that cannot be easily explained.
- GenresParanormalNonfiction
331 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 18, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 28, 2013
Boy, talk about a book where it is hard to separate the author, and the events, from the book.
As a book, the writing is bland and mediocre.
The subject matter kind of blows my mind.
On the surface this is about a 14 year old girl, Tina, who manifested spontaneous psychokinesis in the 1980s, and who later went on to allow her boyfriend to sexually assault and physically abuse her own daughter, causing her death. The author believes in Tina's innocence. While he doesn't go as far as to say "the force" did it, he does state that the "damaged psyche" that arose from the occurrences led Tina to make poor choices.
I don't see PK. I see a child with learning difficulties and sensory processing issues placed in a horribly abusive situation, who dealt with sexual, physical, and emotional abuse with really predictable coping strategies. And she then continued the cycle of abuse with her own child. It's all so devastatingly sad. And nothing to do with the paranormal.
Roll annoys me because he minimizes the sexual abuse so much, using the word "molest" (p. 229), and giving it a throwaway 'oh by the way, I later found out Tina was dealing with nightly sexual abuse, although she didn't tell anyone for years, and when she did she was blamed for making up such terrible stories, and everyone in the family knew this when I investigated, but didn't tell me' (paraphrasing). He annoys me because he investigated the family for the paranormal, but never seems to have put them in touch with counselors or psychologists who could have helped deal with the real problems.
Sad sad. No poltergeists though.
As a book, the writing is bland and mediocre.
The subject matter kind of blows my mind.
On the surface this is about a 14 year old girl, Tina, who manifested spontaneous psychokinesis in the 1980s, and who later went on to allow her boyfriend to sexually assault and physically abuse her own daughter, causing her death. The author believes in Tina's innocence. While he doesn't go as far as to say "the force" did it, he does state that the "damaged psyche" that arose from the occurrences led Tina to make poor choices.
I don't see PK. I see a child with learning difficulties and sensory processing issues placed in a horribly abusive situation, who dealt with sexual, physical, and emotional abuse with really predictable coping strategies. And she then continued the cycle of abuse with her own child. It's all so devastatingly sad. And nothing to do with the paranormal.
Roll annoys me because he minimizes the sexual abuse so much, using the word "molest" (p. 229), and giving it a throwaway 'oh by the way, I later found out Tina was dealing with nightly sexual abuse, although she didn't tell anyone for years, and when she did she was blamed for making up such terrible stories, and everyone in the family knew this when I investigated, but didn't tell me' (paraphrasing). He annoys me because he investigated the family for the paranormal, but never seems to have put them in touch with counselors or psychologists who could have helped deal with the real problems.
Sad sad. No poltergeists though.
June 14, 2013
Tina Resch made headlines in 1984 when her home began to be plagued by so-called poltergeist activity. William Roll was the parapsychologist brought in to investigate, and his book, Unleashed, is an account of the events leading up to his arrival, the ones that occurred during the week he spent at the Resch residence, his later research with Tina on her psychokinesis abilities, and the later controversy surrounding the death of her three-year-old daughter.
The Resch case was a highly documented, multi-witness poltergeist case. Dozens of witnesses observed household items flying through the air (often striking Tina in the back of the head or elsewhere on her body), heavy furniture moving on its own, objects disappearing or changing their location, as well as loud sounds. While Roll admits that Tina could have staged some of these events for attention (a camera crew caught her pulling down a lamp after they had unsuccessfully waited hours to see 'the force' in action), all the witnesses admit to observing phenomena that Tina could NOT have staged. The Resch house became uninhabitable, with glasses breaking, food flying around the kitchen, and appliances going haywire (even when unplugged). A local news photographer even got a photograph of a telephone in mid-flight while he had been observing Tina. The strangest events (to me, at least) were those involving flying objects that had to turn corners to reach their landing place, eggs that came through the fridge door before flying into walls, and objects that flew very fast through the air, only to land gently and precisely, stopping abruptly.
What fascinates me the most (aside from the high strangeness of the events in question) is Roll's insightful analysis. Despite others' suspicions of possession or evil spirits, Roll, due to his previous research in RSPK (random spontaneous psychokinesis, AKA poltergeist activity), points out that most poltergeist cases involve young people, often with intense emotional disturbances. And as the book shows, Tina had a traumatic life. I'd even call it one long string of bad luck. (Interestingly, Dr. Richard Broughton, who did some unsuccessful PK experiments with Tina, discusses the possible relationship between luck and ESP/PK in his book "Parapsychology: The Controversial Science".)
Tina had been psychologically, physically, and sexually abused (by her adopted mother, father, and step-brother, respectively), and seems to have had an eating disorder (her parents forced her to eat large portions of food, yet her mother would make disparaging comments about her weight while denying her to eat smaller portions). A psychological investigation showed that she did not make a clear distinction between herself and her environment (she was also clumsy), and was prone to dissociation (probably due to the abuse she had lived through), as well as signs of ADD and mild Tourette's. Roll has seen such correlations in his research. The involuntary misfirings or 'discharges' in the brains of people with epilepsy-like disorders often show up in people with RSPK. They events also seem to occur with sympathetic nervous system functioning (not parasympathetic, e.g., when they are asleep). Roll thinks there is a connection between this faulty brain 'wiring' and RSPK, that somehow the emotional state builds up and discharges, and communicates this information to inanimate objects, modifying their information in turn (e.g., gravitational information, electrical, kinetic, etc.). The phenomenon also seems to fall off with distance.
The events often mirrored Tina's (subconscious) emotional state. For example, events in the house mirrored a fateful encounter she had with her father just before the strangeness started, when he chased her in a circle on the first floor of their house with the intention of beating her. The phenomena was often playful around people who gave Tina much-needed attention (like Roll, her brother Craig, and the electrician Bruce), but violent towards her parents' possessions, and against herself. Tina was torn between anger towards her parents, the guilt that brought up, and her identification with her parents' criticisms (she was no good), possibly triggering the many events where objects would strike her with force -- a form of self-punishment. It was as if Tina's PK was a way of communicating what she could not say, a release for emotions that had been bottled up and whose only release was some kind of spontaneous 'short-circuit' with the physical environment. There were also some symbolic events, such as phone problems (Tina had no 'real connection' with people) and events occurring while she was on the 'love seat' (she did not feel loved by her family).
Sadly, at the time of the book, Tina was serving life in prison for a murder she clearly did not commit. Just one more example of extremely bad luck (and bad choices). After a series of abusive relationships, she came home one night to find her daughter severely beaten (she later died in the hospital). It turns out that her boyfriend at the time had sodomized and beaten the small child (he admitted to this). But both Tina and he were arrested. Tina spent over two years in prison awaiting trial, after being assigned a great lawyer who couldn't care less about presenting a good case in her defense. Eventually, he persuaded her to enter a plea bargain. It's really a sad story how it all turned out, and quite amazing to see how events in Tina's life seemed to work against her. I wonder if there is not an element of self-fulfilling prophecy to her story, akin to her RSPK events, but instead having to do with the events of her everyday life.
Roll and Storey's "Unleashed" (****) is a great account of a classic poltergeist case, a tragic true crime account, and an insightful psychological study. I couldn't put it down. It also includes a chapter showing what a blowhard and charlatan James Randi is, which is always a plus.
The Resch case was a highly documented, multi-witness poltergeist case. Dozens of witnesses observed household items flying through the air (often striking Tina in the back of the head or elsewhere on her body), heavy furniture moving on its own, objects disappearing or changing their location, as well as loud sounds. While Roll admits that Tina could have staged some of these events for attention (a camera crew caught her pulling down a lamp after they had unsuccessfully waited hours to see 'the force' in action), all the witnesses admit to observing phenomena that Tina could NOT have staged. The Resch house became uninhabitable, with glasses breaking, food flying around the kitchen, and appliances going haywire (even when unplugged). A local news photographer even got a photograph of a telephone in mid-flight while he had been observing Tina. The strangest events (to me, at least) were those involving flying objects that had to turn corners to reach their landing place, eggs that came through the fridge door before flying into walls, and objects that flew very fast through the air, only to land gently and precisely, stopping abruptly.
What fascinates me the most (aside from the high strangeness of the events in question) is Roll's insightful analysis. Despite others' suspicions of possession or evil spirits, Roll, due to his previous research in RSPK (random spontaneous psychokinesis, AKA poltergeist activity), points out that most poltergeist cases involve young people, often with intense emotional disturbances. And as the book shows, Tina had a traumatic life. I'd even call it one long string of bad luck. (Interestingly, Dr. Richard Broughton, who did some unsuccessful PK experiments with Tina, discusses the possible relationship between luck and ESP/PK in his book "Parapsychology: The Controversial Science".)
Tina had been psychologically, physically, and sexually abused (by her adopted mother, father, and step-brother, respectively), and seems to have had an eating disorder (her parents forced her to eat large portions of food, yet her mother would make disparaging comments about her weight while denying her to eat smaller portions). A psychological investigation showed that she did not make a clear distinction between herself and her environment (she was also clumsy), and was prone to dissociation (probably due to the abuse she had lived through), as well as signs of ADD and mild Tourette's. Roll has seen such correlations in his research. The involuntary misfirings or 'discharges' in the brains of people with epilepsy-like disorders often show up in people with RSPK. They events also seem to occur with sympathetic nervous system functioning (not parasympathetic, e.g., when they are asleep). Roll thinks there is a connection between this faulty brain 'wiring' and RSPK, that somehow the emotional state builds up and discharges, and communicates this information to inanimate objects, modifying their information in turn (e.g., gravitational information, electrical, kinetic, etc.). The phenomenon also seems to fall off with distance.
The events often mirrored Tina's (subconscious) emotional state. For example, events in the house mirrored a fateful encounter she had with her father just before the strangeness started, when he chased her in a circle on the first floor of their house with the intention of beating her. The phenomena was often playful around people who gave Tina much-needed attention (like Roll, her brother Craig, and the electrician Bruce), but violent towards her parents' possessions, and against herself. Tina was torn between anger towards her parents, the guilt that brought up, and her identification with her parents' criticisms (she was no good), possibly triggering the many events where objects would strike her with force -- a form of self-punishment. It was as if Tina's PK was a way of communicating what she could not say, a release for emotions that had been bottled up and whose only release was some kind of spontaneous 'short-circuit' with the physical environment. There were also some symbolic events, such as phone problems (Tina had no 'real connection' with people) and events occurring while she was on the 'love seat' (she did not feel loved by her family).
Sadly, at the time of the book, Tina was serving life in prison for a murder she clearly did not commit. Just one more example of extremely bad luck (and bad choices). After a series of abusive relationships, she came home one night to find her daughter severely beaten (she later died in the hospital). It turns out that her boyfriend at the time had sodomized and beaten the small child (he admitted to this). But both Tina and he were arrested. Tina spent over two years in prison awaiting trial, after being assigned a great lawyer who couldn't care less about presenting a good case in her defense. Eventually, he persuaded her to enter a plea bargain. It's really a sad story how it all turned out, and quite amazing to see how events in Tina's life seemed to work against her. I wonder if there is not an element of self-fulfilling prophecy to her story, akin to her RSPK events, but instead having to do with the events of her everyday life.
Roll and Storey's "Unleashed" (****) is a great account of a classic poltergeist case, a tragic true crime account, and an insightful psychological study. I couldn't put it down. It also includes a chapter showing what a blowhard and charlatan James Randi is, which is always a plus.
June 15, 2011
When I searched for this book on goodreads by its title (in order to add it to my book list) a rather long list of romance novels, followed by monster novels, came up well before this book...which should be a clue to the reader of this review as to just what sort of book this is. And by that I don't mean that this is a romance novel (it's not) or that it is a monster novel (although it does have ghosts) but rather that it is the sort of trashy reading that basically mimics watching reality TV or rubbernecking a really good bar fight.
Except it's the best kind of trashy because it was written by a PhD and therefore you can appear to the outside world as though you are reading a very serious and intellectual book - when in reality you are reading a true crime novel - with poltergeists. Which basically describes the very book I've been dreaming about reading my entire life but couldn't dare let myself hope really existed - which explains why when I saw this book at the library I checked it out immediately.
Finished it - an entertaining read for sure.
Except it's the best kind of trashy because it was written by a PhD and therefore you can appear to the outside world as though you are reading a very serious and intellectual book - when in reality you are reading a true crime novel - with poltergeists. Which basically describes the very book I've been dreaming about reading my entire life but couldn't dare let myself hope really existed - which explains why when I saw this book at the library I checked it out immediately.
Finished it - an entertaining read for sure.
November 4, 2015
Tina Resch was just a teenager when she found herself in the spotlight due to odd circumstances. When she was present objects in her home seemed to have a life of their own taking flight around corners, and crashing into people or the floors. Needless to say her parents were not too pleased, but a group of paranormal researchers became extremely interested in the events taking place in the Resch home. This interest lead to a lifelong friendship between the author, and Tina herself but really did little to explain why the odd events occurred or how they stopped. This story was more or less just a log of the author's research, and then a quick wrap up at the end with the murder and subsequent trial of Tina's daughter.
June 10, 2024
I think Roll and his writer for hire (?) here did their best, but the main problem is that the person Tina Resch is just not interesting enough to be the center of such a long book. If it had been boiled down to an extended case summary + analysis in a book including other poltergeist cases, I think it would be fine. But it quickly devolves into a soap opera on print kinda situation - a drama constantly circulating around Tina and how fairly she is untreated. Sometimes it even sinks to teenage drama novel quality level. Add to this that it is repetitive and thoroughly unexciting to constantly read about this or that object flying, where it came from, and if Tina could or could not hypthetically have done it etc. It really tests ones patience, but unfortunately not with a particularly big reward at the end. The last 10-15% of the book isnt bad though. Although mostly about Roll's perspective on Tina's struggles to get a fair trial after her murder accusal, it is a fairly engrossing read. But maybe it's just because the rest of the book lacks so much.
September 26, 2011
Written by William Roll, PhD and Valerie Storey, this novel is the first-hand account of Dr. Roll and his interaction and the interaction of others with Tina Resch and her family during the 80's and beyond. You might remember the photos of Tina back in the 80's or the appearance of her and her family on TV's Unsolved Mysteries. The photos were supposed to inconclusively show that there was some force beyond the norm in the Resch household however, subsequent photos showed Tina being the 'force'. Tina was originally labeled the genuine article (telekinetic) and then later a fraud. Dr. Roll explores the force behind the movement of furniture and objects within the Resch household and then further studies Tina outside of her home with both parapsychologists and psychologists. He offers the conclusions he reached during this time in a very frank, easy to read manner.
Dr. Roll takes the reader with him in the attempt to understand Ms. Resch's abilities. He presents the observations of himself and others in an engaging, though factual way. He definitely provides an interesting picture of Ms. Resch, a teenage girl with probable telekinetic powers.
Ms. Resch's story takes a downward plunge when she is later accused of murdering her child, Amber. Dr. Roll's attempts to provide solace and assistance to Tina during this time show an endearing compassion as well as a possible reason (or many of them) as to why Ms. Resch should be considered innocent of the murder.
A fascinating read, this work could provide excellent study material into the cases involving poltergeist action as well as telekinesis.
Dr. Roll takes the reader with him in the attempt to understand Ms. Resch's abilities. He presents the observations of himself and others in an engaging, though factual way. He definitely provides an interesting picture of Ms. Resch, a teenage girl with probable telekinetic powers.
Ms. Resch's story takes a downward plunge when she is later accused of murdering her child, Amber. Dr. Roll's attempts to provide solace and assistance to Tina during this time show an endearing compassion as well as a possible reason (or many of them) as to why Ms. Resch should be considered innocent of the murder.
A fascinating read, this work could provide excellent study material into the cases involving poltergeist action as well as telekinesis.
February 29, 2008
This is the story behind that famous newsphoto of the girl in a chair with a telephone flying across her lap, widely considered definitive photographic "proof" of supernatural forces. Overall, the story as told by a scientist was interesting, but failed to reach any defininitive conclusions, or even mention if/when the mysterious "force" stopped in Tina's life. The narrative went into a strong theory, but failed to even tell us Tina's reaction to this theory (if it was even shared with her at all). It also got very bogged down in too many details (at 8:03pm, x happened. at 5:14pm, y happened)many of which ended up being repetetive. I believe the author intended to illustrate his use of his own documented extensive notes during the case. Instead, it almost put me to sleep in some spots. Anyway, it also ended up as a succinct yet interesting look into a completely unrelated court case (involving the same girl) where justice may or may not have been served. All in all, her life is portrayed as directionless and sad. Depressingly, that is what will stay with you after your read is done.
January 24, 2016
Unleashed is the true story of a young woman, Tina Resch, who has the uncanny ability to move objects without touching them. Parapsychologist, Dr. William Roll, comes to the Resch home to observe the phenomenon. Dr. Roll gives a detailed account and analysis of all the events that take place. The murder aspect of the story comes near the end of the book when Tina is accused of murdering her daughter.
Particularly fascinating is Dr. Roll's scientific explaination of telekinesis, which has to do with neurology and physics. It provides good insight to this interesting phenomenon.
Unleashed is a gripping story that's hard to put down. If you enjoy reading about unusual psychic phenomenon, you will enjoy this book.
Particularly fascinating is Dr. Roll's scientific explaination of telekinesis, which has to do with neurology and physics. It provides good insight to this interesting phenomenon.
Unleashed is a gripping story that's hard to put down. If you enjoy reading about unusual psychic phenomenon, you will enjoy this book.
July 23, 2014
This book was a practical and scientific investigation into the poltergeist phenomenon.It supports that a poltergeist isn't the paranormal "noisy spirit" as oft reported,but rather a result of RSPK and other (un)natural occurrences in the brain.
It is also an expose of the accepted abuse that occurred within the "average" family home.
A compelling read which begins and culminates with the tragic murder of a three year old by the young mother's (Tina Resch) boyfriend.Another case of the judicial system failing an innocent and troubled soul as the mother was incarcerated for a crime that she didn't commit.
It is also an expose of the accepted abuse that occurred within the "average" family home.
A compelling read which begins and culminates with the tragic murder of a three year old by the young mother's (Tina Resch) boyfriend.Another case of the judicial system failing an innocent and troubled soul as the mother was incarcerated for a crime that she didn't commit.
August 4, 2012
Great book!
Read
October 2, 2012Eh, it was ok. Like the poltergeist stuff, not too bg on her afterlife with the murder.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2009
A famous poltergeist investigation on Tina Resch.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews