Would You Believe It?: Mysterious Tales From People You'd Least Expect

by Karen Stollznow (Editor & Contributor), James Randi (Foreword), Matthew Baxter (Contributor)

Has anything mysterious ever happened to you? Experiences of this kind are more common than you think. And they happen to people you’d least expect, even notable scientists and skeptics. This collection features personal stories and experiences of the mysterious, as told by Banachek, Susan Blackmore, Joe Nickell, Eugenie Scott, Chris French, Ken Feder, George Hrab, Brian Regal, Steve Cuno, Ray Hyman, and many others, with a foreword by James Randi and an afterword by James Alcock. These are tales about a wide range of extraordinary experiences, including ghost and UFO sightings, alien abduction, Bigfoot encounters, faith healing, séances, superstitions, coincidences, demonic possession, out-of-body-experiences, past lives, episodes of missing time and one case where time stood still. You will read about a poltergeist in a bakery, a genius baby, a haunted concert hall, a stone carving that vanishes and reappears mysteriously, a one-time palm reader, and a former Mormon missionary who once believed he healed a woman of a brain tumor. Sometimes the authors have explanations for their strange experiences. Sometimes they don’t. Whether you believe or not, sit back and enjoy reading this collection of mysterious tales from people you’d least expect…

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, Science

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Dr. Karen Stollznow is a linguist, author, and broadcaster whose work bridges scholarship and public engagement. Her books include Beyond Words: How We Learn, Use, and Lose Language; Bitch: The Journey of a Word; On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present; Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility; God Bless America; Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic; and Haunting America. She is also the author of the short fiction collection Fisher’s Ghost and Other Stories.

She co-hosts the award-winning science podcast Monster Talk, contributes regularly to Psychology Today, Cambridge Core, and The Conversation, and has spent many years investigating anomalous claims through the lens of skepticism and science.

Karen holds a PhD in Linguistics and has taught at universities in both the United States and Australia. She previously worked as a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Born in Sydney, Australia, Karen now lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and their son.

Reviews

[Christina Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghost stories! We all love them! Sasquatch! Night demons! Mysterious applause in an empty room! As George Hrab said: it's easy to scare people in the dark. It's something else to make them shit their pants on a sunny afternoon.

This is a collection of first-person stories, most explained, some not. All are people known for their expertise, scepticism, and writing skills. Pick it up and have a good time!

[David Waldron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found was a very fun anthology with a lot of wry humour and great personal insights. Its a collection that does wonders to humanize the skeptic's community.

Personally speaking my favorite was the Amazing Randi's family encounter with the King of Denmark. Almost fairy tale worthy in its profundity.

[Gene Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of us experience the inexplicable, so it's comforting to know that others, many of whom are in the profession of seeking out the inexplicable, are experiencing the same. Stollznow has put together a fun and interesting compilation of such first-hand stories. Recommended reading for that dark night when the thunder is booming and the lightning is crackling outside!