The Secret History of Poltergeists and Haunted Houses
by Lecouteux, Claude; Graham, Jon E.Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2012-04-26
Publisher(s): Inner Traditions
List Price: $20.28
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Summary
Stories of poltergeists and their mischievous and sometimes violent actions-knocking, stone or chair throwing, moving objects with invisible hands, and slamming or opening doors-are a constant through the ages. What changes is how we interpret this activity. For our pagan ancestors poltergeists were seen as helper spirits whose negative manifestations revealed their unhappiness with a household. The medieval Christian church demonized these once helpful spirits and held exorcisms to expel them from the houses they haunted-which proved effective less than half the time. The Age of Enlightenment cast these incidents as clever hoaxes, and many still believe this today. But poltergeist manifestations continue to appear and often defy attempts to debunk them as pranks. What then is behind this phenomenon?
Author Biography
Claude Lecouteux is a former professor of medieval literature and civilization at the Sorbonne. He is the author of numerous books on afterlife beliefs, including The Return of the Dead and The Secret History of Vampires. He lives in Paris.
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. vii |
| Introduction: Things That Go Bump in the Night | p. 1 |
| What Is a Poltergeist? | p. 8 |
| A Smidgeon of Objectivity | p. 26 |
| Mischief-Making Spirits of the Middle Ages | p. 41 |
| The Knocking and Noise-Making Dead | p. 61 |
| Deviltry, Magic, Sorcery, and Poltergeists | p. 84 |
| Brownies and Poltergeists | p. 119 |
| Two Striking Tales | p. 134 |
| Singular Manifestations | p. 156 |
| Conclusion | p. 178 |
| Appendices | p. 185 |
| Notes | p. 205 |
| Bibliography | p. 224 |
| Index | p. 239 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
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