Status Updates From The World's Greatest Unsolv...

Almost...done...

Apparently the way to make magic happen, or to deal with the supernatural in general is to really, really want it to happen. Because nobody ever sees what they want to when they desperately want something like that to happen.

It is the apparent absence of such a link in magical events that makes scientists sceptical of them. The occultist responds to such scepticism by claiming that scientists refuse, or are unable, to spread their net of inquiry wide enough to encompass strange events. What is beyond dispute is that such events do occur.

The section on magic, psi, and hypnotism has thrown all sense of impartiality out the window.

Loch Ness Monster chapter, and the author is sounding awfully defensive, as opposed to the usual rational stance. Touchy subject?

'The ship had just taken in her cargo of slaves, ivory and gold dust, and the men were heaving up anchor, when suddenly a monstrous cuttlefish appeared on top of the water and slung its arms about two of the masts.'

Perhaps, then, the most frightening monster of all is man himself.

I think we just stepped through...

One mother told Zora Hurston about her son who had died and been buried. ...I would totally read a Zora Hurston collection of zombie sightings.

Haiti is the home of the zombie and the island abounds with stories of people who have died, been buried and reappeared as a walking corpse, sometimes years later. One of the most famous cases, first recorded by American writer Zora Hurston in 1938, is still recounted in Haiti today.

Their Eyes Were Watching God would have been so much more interesting if Tea Cake came back as a zombie.

In reaching their verdict the court had to decide whether Roulet was a werewolf, as he claimed, or a lycanthrope, which is related but different. A werewolf is a living person who has the power to change into a wolf... A lycanthrope is someone suffering from a mental illness that makes him believe he is transformed into a wolf.

Werewolf stories just got even more hilarious.

Time for the monster section! First up are vampires. I read an entire book about the history of "vampire" sightings last year...let's see if this chapter has anything new to offer.

This book is so much fun! It's basically a collection of cases, with no judgment from the editor on what the causes of these events were.

Ah, the Money Pit. I remember that one. My dad was obsessed with it - figured if he could just afford to go to Nova Scotia, he'd be able to find the treasure...sighs.

The writing is more rational than I expected it to be. Rather than relying on sensationalism, the editor's actually using documented cases, and facts. Color me impressed!

I blame my recent Ghost Adventures watching spree.