Curses, Coincidences & Malign Influence: A Parapsychological Perspective

by Peter A McCue

When strange things happen to people, or when they experience bad luck, they may come to believe that they've been cursed. In this well-researched and well-referenced book, Dr Peter McCue looks at curses or alleged curses from an evidential and parapsychological perspective. He also examines what appear to be strange coincidences. He presents a wide array of cases, and asks how strange coincidences arise and how curses might work.
Dr McCue is a retired clinical psychologist with a longstanding interest in anomalous phenomena (apparitions, hauntings, UFO sightings, etc.). He has personally investigated many cases, and he has written numerous articles on paranormal and UFO-related matters. He is the author of three previous books covering these fields.

202 pages, Paperback

Published November 24, 2021

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book from McCue. He discusses different types of supposed curses, and examines multiple purported instances of curses throughout history and modern times.

McCue is very clear when sources are unclear or doubtful, though he also seems to want to be sure not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as it were, by completely ignoring all facets of a case just because of some uncertainty. He seems willing to accept that folklore can contain grains of truth.

That said, he is also not utterly credulous. He also takes care to point out the powers of coincidence and statistics: a ring of bad luck does not a curse make.

Overall, a more serious look at potential curses than many books on the subject, and well done.