Brad Steiger has compiled more than 150 books on paranormal phenomena, spirituality, UFO research and, slightly out of line, accounts of true crimes. His wife, as well as joining him in many of these, has also compiled books on alternative medicine and healing processes. They are, therefore, amply qualified to jam together yet another book on ghosts and phantoms, mysteries of the mind, yetis, bigfoots and other unknown creatures, strange superstitions, customs, taboos, urban legends, invaders from outer space, and recent sightings of Elvis Presley.
This Encyclopedia, rather than being in the usual alphabetical order, is structured in 14 chapters under broad headings such as Afterlife mysteries; Mediums and mystics; Religious phenomena; Objects of mystery and power; Secret societies, etc. Each chapter has an overview and then a long string of topic and subtopic entries, followed by a list of references. I am not at all sure of the point of publishing all this in three hardback volumes. Voluminous amounts of this sort of material can be found free on the Internet. In fact quite a number of entries here do include printed copies taken from free Web pages, as well as references to free Internet‐based services. There are occasional tiny patches of serious information, on phobias, on hallucinations, or on hypnotism, for example, but nothing that is not widely and often freely available elsewhere. There is, of course, an enormous popular interest in this type of material, but catering for it seems to me to be the ultimate trahison des clercs. Gale’s accountants will, no doubt, approve of their publishing this volume, but I cannot recommend it to any library.
