A presentation from Parapsychology Research and Education (also known as ParaMOOC2023).

Abstract: Today, the term poltergeist is well-known, but you’ve probably never heard of the English writer who first brought the phenomena to mainstream attention. Catherine Crowe not only compiled a staggering collection of ghost stories and other paranormal claims but laid the foundation for future psychical research in her ground-breaking book The Night-Side of Nature.

This presentation will showcase this largely forgotten trailblazer’s contributions and share some colorful stories from her life and work.

Biography: Allison Jornlin developed Milwaukee’s first haunted history tour in 2008. Since then, she has presented at paranormal conferences across the U.S. and contributed essays and research to several popular books. Allison currently works as a professional weirdo, researching and writing for AmericanGhostWalks.com. She also runs a fledgling YouTube channel called “Paranormal Women,” devoted to educating the public about female contributions to psychical research. Subscribe at https://youtube.com/paranormalwomen

Links:

Tom Prasil’s “Certain Nocturnal Disturbances: Ghost Hunting Before the Victorians.” Available here: https://brombonesbooks.com/catalog/historical-ghostlore/certain-nocturnal-disturbances/

The “Ghost Hunter Hall of Fame”: https://brombonesbooks.com/for-fun/ghost-hunter-hall-of-fame/

Society for Psychical Research “Psi Encyclopedia”: https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/

Catherine Crowe’s “Night Side of Nature (1847)”:

On Gutenberg, free ebook: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/54532/54532-h/54532-h.htm

On Wikipedia, biography, list of publications: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Crowe

Catherine Crowe’s works on BookDepository.com: https://www.bookdepository.com/author/Catherine-Crowe

American Ghost Walks: https://www.americanghostwalks.com/

Published on March 23, 2023