Mysteries of the Unexplained

by Reader's Digest Association

Follow hundreds of accounts of mysterious events across the world from earliest historical accounts up to the 1970's. Stories of monsters, raining frogs or stones, spontaneous human combustion, unexplained miracles, and, of course, aliens from outer space. Opening statement titled The Endless Search For Answers. Chapter titles Beyond the Walls of Time, Unearthly Fates, Monsters and More, The Unquiet Sky, and In the Realm of Miracles. A must-read for anyone with a sense for the mysterious.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, History, Reference, Mystery, Supernatural, Science

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.

The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.

Reviews

[Lucian Poll]

This is essential reading for all self-respecting fans of the strange, the bizarre and the unexplained. Say what you want about Reader's Digest, but this book is flat-out brilliant.

I'll reel off a list of the sections to give you a flavour of what to expect:

Prophecies
Anomalies
Coincidences
Spontaneous Human Combustion
Inexplicable Crimes and Assaults
Appearances and Disappearances
Monsters
Spectral Incursions
Strange Things From Above
Unidentified Flying Objects
Atmospheric and Astronomical Oddities
Cures and Immunities
Signs and Wonders

Yup. That’s most boxes ticked. The stories and accounts in the 300+ pages of this book are well-written, nearly always interesting, and, in some cases, downright creepy! The account of the moving waxwork of Monsieur Léopold-Lépide still sends shivers down my spine.

The parents got this book years ago when I was still in school and I was delighted to find it still knocking around the house. Needless to say it's now occupying real estate in my bookshelf!

In short, if you see this book for sale on eBay you could do a lot worse than to buy it. Heartily recommended to fans of the unusual.

[Kassandra Gilbert]

One of the best books on the paranormal, in a simple layout. Each section of this book us broken up into separate subjects, and is further broken up into when the incident happened. Every case is in a simple paragraph format and has the location of the original material at the end of each case. The book also has great pictures relating to the cases in the book. Now and then there are more in depth studies on the phenomena and people mentioned in the book worthwhile mentioning, like strange things found in rocks, or when more famous or royal people are involved. I recommend this book to anyone with a fascination with the unexplained.

[Kala]

My mom and I found this book in an abandoned old house when I was a kid. Creepy, right? So far, it has been my favorite book on the paranormal. I've lost count on how many times I've read it, and my friends loved reading it as well. This is a must-have for anyone interested in the world of all things weird!

[Jackie]

This was the source of many nightmares when I was little.


And I still love it.

[Tristan Searle]

A lot of information to take in but full of interesting stories on well-organized topics related to unexplained mysteries throughout history.

[Paperclippe]

This is really enjoyable if you want to take a trip back to the 70s and get neck deep into some weird, in a "clearly none of this was fact-checked" kind of way. It's nothing that half an hour on r/UnresolvedMysteries or r/TrueCreepy won't net you, but it's cute and charming in its dated, factually inaccurate, pre-internet way. If you were a fan of the corniest of the corny X-Files episodes, give this a once-over.

[Erika]

My dad would read this to me and my brother during bedtime when we were little. My favorites were of Nessie and Ogopogo, spontaneous human combustion and voodoo stories. Eventually I picked up the book for my own reading pleasure, re-reading favorites and rediscovering more gems along the way.

[Nicholas]

My parents had this book when I was a kid and I would read it all the time. Recently bought it and can confirm it is still a really fun and interesting read.

[James]

This was a very interesting book, apart from the parts I skipped, which were basically the same event happening in a different location. This book got a star removed because of its religious repetitiveness, about half of it had something to do with religion, and usually the religious parts were the same type of thing. The others parts of this giant book were very interesting and entertaining, however. I absolutely loved the section about mysterious disappearances and spontaneous combustion, although I don’t believe any disappearances are supernatural (I believe that spontaneous combustion is also a natural occurrence). The book was pretty outdated, but I can’t take anything away from it because of that because I knew it would be in the first place. 4 stars for a great read!

[Zachary Elson]

This book is great and really fun to read. It is jam-packed with crazy stories that are sure to leave you with nightmares. In this book, it tells crazy stories of things from strange things from above to spontaneous human combustion. In this book filled with stories mine most favorable and craziest to me is where workers left a 5-ton steel wrecking ball 200 feet in the air. And the next day came back to see the ball gone. This book is a great read if you are bored or want to have a cool but chilling story to read I would recommend this to people who are fond of thrilling stories and mysteries.

[Michelle]

I read this book in its entirety when I was in fourth grade. Skipped right over Tolkien and jumped into real world mysteries. This book inspired my passion for the unknown, angels, demons and ultimately science. It's a hallmark of my childhood and my continuing tenacity. I still own the copy I read as a child and from time to time glance at the epic artwork in the cover.

[Tiana]

one of the best books I have ever read

my favorite story in the book was the one where a little girl was murdered by 2 men and she haunted them until they were hung I figure that I would do something like that only just to people I don't like in general like some boys at my school who bully me. They already regret it because of what I have done to them.

[Judy Tarver]

This book was fascinating and I read it several times. Some of the stories are really truly unexplainable and will leave one wondering how in the world certain things happen. Is it just coincidence or is something else at play?

[P.S. Winn]

Looking for answers? Head inside this book which takes readers into the unknown and the mystery of the unexplained in an amazing way.

[Dan]

Long time favourite, very interesting read- even if slightly outdated.

[Jessica Venegas]

This book scared me SO BAD as a kid!!! But that didn't stop me from reading it over and over again :)

[Sariga S]

Good

[Jim Erekson]

My brother Eric (yes, Eric Erekson) had a book like this when we were kids. He got it for Christmas one year, and I think I must have read it cover to cover a dozen times. I found this one at Nancy's house not long after we were married, and Karen finally gave it to me in 1993 after seeing me read it so much. It's like an encyclopedia of paranormal events, written in a kind of reportage style. Each text chunk stands on its own, so you can read as little as a fifty-word item about a horned lizard found in a block of stone, or as much as the full-page two-column ghost story of Major Stewardt of Ballechin House.

I know my reviews don't usually tip toward the educational application of books (I prefer to focus on my aesthetic experience), but this is the kind of book needed badly for readers striving to make gains as readers between grades 3-8. These brief 'text shots' are highly engaging and motivating, can stand up to multiple re-readings, but without avoiding difficult vocabulary. Kids who need a breakthrough can 'piece' their way through a small text like this without getting frustrated, and re-readings only increase their confidence and competence.

Also, Lu Benke and I have had several conversations about how these books are cataloged in libraries as non-fiction, and how the writers generally tend to use all the sourcing and text features (index, bibliography, dates, names) we would expect of a journalistic work. The book's intent is to inform--to gather and present reports of incidents as they appeared in historical source material. For many of the items, relevant photos add to this informational tone. These are key rhetorical moves, and when found in bulk in a huge volume like this the effect is to say "these things are real". The book makes no pretense of being science or historiography, but its format is that of a 'fact book'. This, despite the editors' note at the beginning disclaiming it as a simple compendium of reports for which the scientific community has no answers. This is a genre usually gaining wide circulation among young readers, but mostly unaccounted for in discussions of children's book genres.

[Marie Silk]

I really enjoy the stories and pictures in this book. The book is divided up into different sections and events are listed in chronological order for easy reference. My favorite is the "monsters" section which includes sightings of Nessie, Sasquatch, and many other strange creatures. There are additionally some interesting finds on dinosaurs that defy modern day explanation. Throughout the book are stories that are just plain amazing or coincidental, as well as utterly unexplainable accounts (bodies that never decompose, nuns that are found hovering in the air). Some scarier parts of the book include spirit possession and haunted type experiences. If you like paranormal, this book is excessively gratifying as a thorough presentation of many things unexplained.

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo]

My parents owned this large-sized, hardcover book and I remember being completely obsessed with it when I was little. I would sneak it from the bookcase into my room at night and read it after lights out because my mom wouldn't let me read it by myself. I loved it - even the scary parts.

To this day I attribute my fascination with weird, unexplained things to the influence of this book in my formative years, along with shows like In Search Of... and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. With so little of the planet left to explore - only the deepest oceans, maybe parts of the ice caps - it's like going to a magic show but knowing how all the tricks are done. All we have left to wonder about are the topics covered in books like these. I'll always love them.

[Amber]

I love this book - my grandmother had a copy and my sister and would scour over it over and over again until it nearly fell apart. I was so excited when I found a copy of it at a yard sale. :) It is full of short stories about the supernatural (ghosts, aliens, unexplained happenings) and 'real life' photos and illustrations.

[Sarca]

My sister got this book for x-mas a long time ago, and I was fascinated by the stories it told, particularly ghost stories, spontaneous human combustion and others. The stories and pictures would frighten me, but I'd continue reading. I have since acquired my sister's copy and pull it off the shelf from time to time.

[Nandini]

This is a MUST read book, definitely one of the gems of my collection. It will not only baffle you but surprise you in so many levels. Since this book has true events and stories, it is simply exhilarating to read. I don't want to give away any spoilers but take my word for it that you won't be disappointed!

[Pywicks]

Are you an alien enthusiast? A budding paranormal invesitgator? Have you had a brush with the unexplained? Did you see Bigfoot behind your shed yesterday?

This one's for you.

It's a fun read, but not to be taken seriously.

[Julie]

This is a very good book! It is very interesting book, and makes you think a lot about the world. I recommend it to people with open minds, or even to those who aren't open-minded..it may change your view on your beliefs and life in general!

[Luru]

(I own a Finnish translation.)

I used to read this when I was younger, immersed in the mysteries, even copying them at one point.

Old, but definitely the book for anyone interested in paranormal.

[Chuck]

I first read this book while in high school. It was the first reference that caused me to consider that everything in the world may not actually be as it appears, and certainly not as I had been previously told. This book is permanently in my rotation.

[Naveen S]

This is an amazing book. Full of strange and interesting happenings. Narration can be more animated because reading it gives you a feel of reading a log book.
However a must read for mystery enthusiast.

[Pisces]

I was 12 years old when I read this. It was my first glance into the unknown and things considered paranormal. It was one of the first books that inspired me to keep an open mind which led me down certain forks in the road all throughout my life. I guess I owe appreciation for that.

[Renzi]

This is one of the many books I had read as a kid, learned tidbits from, and hung on even to this day. I loved it, so much so that I'd give it the once-over from time to time and never tire of it. @}–>––[]