Does the giant Yeti roam the mountain ranges of Tibet? Does a real-life Shangri La lie waiting to be discovered in a Himalayan valley? Do transmissions from lost civilizations beam messages of salvation to humankind? What lost creatures lurk in the murky depths of Scotland's brooding Loch Ness? And who - or what - is responsible for the implacable monoliths which tower over Easter Island? The obsession that so many now have with the uncanny and the unnatural is in itself a mystery. It prompts serious questions which could have remarkable answers. Drinking deep from the wells of esoteric knowledge, Greg Reece undertakes a heroic quest for solutions. Braving the darkest recesses of cult belief, he stalks the twilight borderlands of contemporary culture, where, at the outer edges of mainstream thought, things become downright freaky and outlandish. Taking his life in both hands, the author explores a subterranean cavern reputed to be the home of elusive blue-skinned troglodytes; goes hiking in the backwoods for a glimpse of Bigfoot; investigates the truth of Alternative Archaeology in search of Atlantis; and tests for himself the time-travel and anti-gravity theories of famed inventor Nikola Tesla. Unashamedly revelling in the unexplained, Weird Science and Bizarre Beliefs is both a penetrating analysis of the hidden underbelly of science, pseudo-science and religion as well as an unforgettable journey into the innermost depths of the fantastic, the extraordinary and the peculiar.

From the curse of the lottery winners to the good feng shui of a local restaurant, this quirky, wacky, weird, and wonderful collection of superstitions uncovers the truth about some of our most familiar beliefs, as well as others that are much stranger. It turns out that everywhere in the world, people still put their trust in luck, magic, and mystery. By the end of this look at the bizarre world of illogic it’s clear: superstition is alive and well...and really spellbinding!

"This sparkling book romps over the range of science and anti-science." --Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel Revised and Expanded Edition. In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely new chapter, "Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things," Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science. Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Strange Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.

Vampires and werewolves; phantoms and phantasms: looming out of the fog leaps the menacing spectre of the lycanthrope, ghoul or blood-crazed zombie. Intrigued by some of the most sinister, yet at the same time most compelling, legends of western civilization, Gregory L Reece dusts down his stake and crucifix, loads his silver bullets and takes off into the wilds in search of answers and fresh adventures. Rummaging around in crumbling tombs and cobwebbed sarcophagi, his latest quest leads him into the haunted realm of the dead and the undead: of those carnivorous, nocturnal hunters that might perhaps better be left undisturbed. Why, he asks, is our culture obsessed by the eerie and the macabre? Why, despite its horrors, does the 'dark side' of the supernatural - its seances and ghost-hunting, demonic possession and the occult - call to us with such dangerous allure? Whether tracking night-stalking werewolves, chanting black magic mantras with Satanists, or interviewing a funereal modern-day Count Dracula, Reece is determined to uncover the truth. A wry exploration of a secret and secretive subculture, "Creatures of the Night" is at the same time a bold and startling journey into a wraithlike world that has so often seemed to lie beyond the limits of rational comprehension - until now.

Midwestern Strange chronicles B.J. Hollars's exploration of the mythic, lesser-known oddities of flyover country. The mysteries, ranging from bipedal wolf sightings to run-ins with pancake-flipping space aliens to a lumberjack-inspired "Hodag hoax," make this book a little bit X-Files, a little bit Ghostbusters, and a whole lot of Sherlock Holmes. Hollars's quest is not to confirm or debunk these mysteries but rather to seek out these unexplained phenomena to understand how they complicate our worldview and to discover what truths might be gleaned by reexamining the facts in our "post-truth" era. Part memoir and part journalism, Midwestern Strange offers a fascinating, funny, and quirky account of flyover folklore that also contends with the ways such oddities retain cultural footholds. Hollars shows how grappling with such subjects might fortify us against the glut of misinformation now inundating our lives. By confronting monsters, Martians, and a cabinet of curiosities, we challenge ourselves to look beyond our presumptions and acknowledge that just because something is weird, doesn't mean it is wrong.

The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction attempts to descry the historical and cultural contours of SF in the wake of technoculture studies. Rather than treating the genre as an isolated aesthetic formation, it examines SF's many lines of cross-pollination with technocultural realities since itsinception in the nineteenth century, showing how SF's unique history and subcultural identity has been constructed in ongoing dialogue with popular discourses of science and technology.The volume consists of four broadly themed sections, each divided into eleven chapters. Section I, "Science Fiction as Genre," considers the internal history of SF literature, examining its characteristic aesthetic and ideological modalities, its animating social and commercial institutions, and itsrelationship to other fantastic genres. Section II, "Science Fiction as Medium," presents a more diverse and ramified understanding of what constitutes the field as a mode of artistic and pop-cultural expression, canvassing extra-literary manifestations of SF ranging from film and television tovideogames and hypertext to music and theme parks. Section III, "Science Fiction as Culture," examines the genre in relation to cultural issues and contexts that have influenced it and been influenced by it in turn, the goal being to see how SF has helped to constitute and define important(sub)cultural groupings, social movements, and historical developments during the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. Finally, Section IV, "Science Fiction as Worldview," explores SF as a mode of thought and its intersection with other philosophies and large-scale perspectives on theworld, from the Enlightenment to the present day.

The first academic study of this subject is an entertaining look at the search for Sasquatch which considers not just the nature of monsters and monster hunting in the late 20th century, but the more important relationship between the professional scientists and amateur naturalists who hunt them—and their place in the history of science.

This entertaining compendium of bite-sized articles reveals the stranger-than-sci-fi world of strange science. From the oddest theories to the most astounding discoveries to the biggest blunders, Strange Science has all the facts your professors didn't teach you in science class. It's packed with earth-shattering eurekas, outlandish inventions, silly “scientific” studies, and the stories behind the weirdos who made it all happen. Put on your lab coat and get ready to discover . . . One dentist's quest to clone John Lennon How to hypnotize a chicken Real-life time travelers (or so they claim) The seven-year-long study that found earthquakes are not caused by catfish waving their tails . . . and other breakthrough findings Plus you’ll discover unbelievable inventions; the freakiest franken-foods scientists have created; some of Hollywood’s worst on-screen science blunders; and more! This amazing volume from the Bathroom Readers’ Institute contains the strangest short science articles from dozens of Bathroom Readers, along with fifty all-new pages.

Fortune telling, psychic detectives, astrology, ghosts, hypnosis, coincidence, dowsing, fire walking, the Loch Ness monster are some of the subjects coverered in this text.

John Hodgman—bestselling author, The Daily Show's "Resident Expert," minor television celebrity, and deranged millionaire—brings us the third and final installment in his trilogy of Complete World Knowledge. In 2005, Dutton published The Areas of My Expertise, a handy little book of Complete World Knowledge, marked by the distinction that all of the fascinating trivia and amazing true facts were completely made up by its author, John Hodgman. At the time, Hodgman was merely a former literary agent and occasional scribbler of fake trivia. In short: a nobody. But during an interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, an incredible transformation occurred. He became a famous minor television personality. You may ask: During his whirlwind tornado ride through the high ether of minor fame and outrageous fortune, did John Hodgman forget how to write books of fake trivia? The answer is: Yes. Briefly. But soon, he remembered! And so he returned, crashing his Kansas farmhouse down upon the wicked witch of ignorance with More Information Than You Require, a New York Times bestseller containing even more mesmerizing and essential fake trivia, including seven hundred mole-man names (and their occupations). And now, John Hodgman completes his vision with That Is All, the last book in a trilogy of Complete World Knowledge. Like its predecessors, That Is All compiles incredibly handy made-up facts into brief articles, overlong lists, and beguiling narratives on new and familiar themes. It picks up exactly where More Information left off—specifically, at page 596—and finally completes COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE. Look out for John Hodgman's latest book, Vacationland, available from Viking in Fall 2017.