Joe Nickell

Ghost accounts share many common elements, from mysterious lights to strange sounds. But are such phenomena really without explanation? Not according to Joe Nickell. In the following selection, Nickell reviews several themes common to ghostly occurrences and suggests more ordinary explanations for them. Nickell has been a stage magician, private investigator, and technical writing teacher. He has also written several books on mysterious topics and frequently conducts investigations for the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.

Whether they are the result of imagination or of other causes, ghostly phenomena are often related in terms of particularly striking motifs (or story elements). Some may involve illusions of various kinds, even outright hoaxes. Of course these may be augmented by individual or collective belief to produce vivid spectral phenomena. Motifs discussed here include the ghost at the bedside, strange...