Supernatural Fiction Readers discussion

Okay, so... that question is my introduction to this group.
I am a cozy paranormal mystery author. I'm a traditional author and my books are published in e-book and paperback. I write a series of cozy mysteries with a paranormal twist...there is a ghost as a main character and the ghost is treated as a real person, not as a gimmick. I do a lot of Paranormal radio guest interveiws.

So, my question to you is: Do You Believe in Ghosts?
www.ElizabethEaganCox.net

Elizabeth, glad to have you join us! Your books sound like they would definitely fit into our group's focus of interest, so don't forget to add them to our "written-by-group-members" shelf. I wish you the best of success with the series.

To answer your question just for myself, I don't personally believe in ghosts. But I keep an open mind, and recognize that the world can have some strange phenomena at times!

Hi Werner, thanks for the welcome mat and the reply. It is refreshing to hear that you are a "Scully" type of person;-) the world need believers and skeptics!

I just put the Do You Believe in Ghosts survey out and on my web site... no strings attached.

When I have time later in the week I will get my books up unto the shelf, as you advise. Thank you ;-)

I've never seen a ghost or a UFO, so I can't say that I believe in them, either. There's been far too much poor documentation both for & against that I'm afraid it's a situation where it will take a personal experience before I could believe. There is far more to this earth than we know, so I remain skeptical, but open to persuasion.

Jim, I love your comment... so very critical in life that we not shut doors to the possibility of what might be (or what not might be).

I have a survey going on my web site...no strings attached and it is about this subject, if you are interested , please take a look. www.ElizabethEaganCox.net


As an author of a cozy paranormal mystery series I often appear on Paranormal Radio as an interview guest. Contrary to what some people may think about such shows...these radio shows area always open forums for those who believe, those who do not and those who are open skeptics. They are fun and enlightening and I plan to do more this summer.

One apsect I have noticed is that women are more likely to comment or share thoughts/opinions or experiences than men...yet this little blog column (right here) is turning out to be the exception to that ;-)

I welcome more male voices on this topic!

As far as I'm concerned, since I have no direct experience & the facts are clouded, I handle ghosts & such the way I handle religion. I think this puts it best:

"I prefer rationalism to atheism. The question of God and other objects-of-faith are outside reason and play no part in rationalism, thus you don't have to waste your time in either attacking or defending."
— Isaac Asimov

I'll try to stop by & look at your survey tomorrow. I'm on dial-up right now & getting a blazing 24kbps. GR is one of the few sites that is livable under such conditions - barely.

Jim, Very intriguing thought. As a parnormal author who has quite liberally talked about paranormal experiences in the interviews I've done...I never approach religion or spiritual beliefs as a part of paranormal beliefs and I have found that most people do not interlink them. In other words, non-religious people are just as apt to believe or not believe.

Opinions...anyone?

Elizabeth, as I understand Jim's question it is not a matter of interlinking religious belief with paranormal belief as such, but merely a matter of him treating the subjects generally the same way--since they are both non-rational and, hence, beyond argumentation (cf. the Asimov quote).

I think you're right, Elizabeth, that all kinds of people tend to believe in something paranormal. Humans seem to like the idea of "something more" etc., but that, of course, is not the same as it being true;-)

Henrick is correct. In my opinion & from my experience, there are no facts supporting fairies, aliens, various gods/religions, paranormal powers or ghosts. I can't have a rational belief for or against since I have no data. Absence of data is not conclusive, it's just not there.

I don't believe our science has unraveled every mystery of the universe, but I tend to be skeptical of anything outside of it. I'm sure there is a lot that we haven't uncovered & there are extensions of things we have that have not been looked into sufficiently. In particular, parapsychology hasn't had any good, recent research that I know of. Rhine's research is suspect, not helped by the obvious cheating of MacFarland & Levy. This killed most of the funds for any modern research.

Arthur C. Clarke said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." & I believe this. By logical extension, that means what we consider 'supernatural' isn't at all, but simply things that our science has yet to figure out. We know very little about our minds & how they work. We can measure time & gravity very accurately, yet don't understand their cause.

George Carlin was joking when he said, "If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little." but he makes a good point. Odds are there is other intelligent life out there. Whether any has had contact with us or not is a separate question.

So I'm open to further data. I mostly like the stories, because, like other speculative fiction, an author can show interesting points about the human condition by simply changing one element of our current world.

I do believe in Spirts. But I believe most ghost stories are 95% imagined & 5% actual occurance. But from where? They say you get bizzare happenings around high amounts of electric charges & certain earthen minerals, like limestone? I might be wrong. So then what's that all about?
But if I did see an apparition, I most definantly would wet myself.
:)

Henrik and Jim,
RE: as I understand Jim's question it is not a matter of interlinking religious belief with paranormal belief as such, but merely a matter of him treating the subjects generally the same way--since they are both non-rational...

I did not mean to imply any other meaning to Jim's words. My point is that with people who subscribe to religion, such as myself, I am Episcopal, that even within the religious communitiy that beliefs in paranormal are not a given... I state this POV, because it is often brought up on the radio programs I have been a guest on. I find it interesitng that when it comes to paranormal, esp. ghosts, that there is often agreement between the religious community and the agnostics/atheists. It is for this reason that religion or spirituality is not a quesion on my survey.

I have met many people who are not the least bit religious and never have been, yet that have a firm belief in ghosts, based on their own personal expereince. And vice-versa.

Hey, this is turning into a lively discussion... love it!

AND to "By Always"

I know of what you speak of (minerals, high energy, etc) and I have heard the same ideas. I live smack dab on top of the largest earthquake fault in California and I have to wonder about 'quake energy', too.

Sorry for typos, when fingers fly, typos land... gotta go ;-)

www.ElizabethEaganCox.net

Elizabeth, a book that might interest you is True Irish Ghost Stories (1914) by St. John Seymour and Harry Neligan. The authors were paranormal researchers of sorts, who advertised for accounts of ghost sightings, sifted the responses, and compiled the ones they regarded as credible.

Although the book is nonfiction, I posted it to our group's read shelf, because it provides good background for supernatural fiction, and would probably interest many people who like the latter. You can check it out at that link; my review (which gives more of my own thoughts on the subject of "ghosts" or ghost-like phenomena) is also there.

Werner..Love the book suggestion... I'll look for it!

I'm reading an interesting, funny book right now, Spook Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach. It is about exactly what the title says; how science has looked at the afterlife. You won't find ghost stories, but you will find a section on ghost hunters. What some of those old mediums would do to make a fake ghost! Oh my!!!

Mary Roach writes a column every month for Reader's Digest (or did) & it's always funny. Some quirky thing she's found out about people or herself. Her look into this delicate subject is full of humor, understanding & great facts.