The Unseen - By Alexandra Sokoloff Page 0,141
from all over the world of spontaneous psi experiences, further contributing to our understanding of clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, and crisis apparitions.
In 1957, William Roll, a parapsychology researcher who studied at Berkeley and Oxford, joined the staff of the Duke parapsychology lab, and he and Dr. Rhine’s longtime assistant and researcher, J. Gaither Pratt, conducted field studies of reported poltergeist occurrences, including the famous Seaford, or “Popper” case in 1958. Roll developed the theory of “Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis,” RSPK, to explain poltergeist phenomena; that is, that the random movements, noises and breakages characteristic of a poltergeist manifestation are not the work of ghosts or spirits, but are caused by a human agent, usually a prepubescent child or a teenager, who consciously or unconsciously was projecting mental energy outward to cause the movement of the objects.
As in The Unseen, the Duke parapsychology lab did close down completely in 1965, when Dr. Rhine reached the age of mandatory retirement, and seven hundred boxes of original files from the lab really were stored in the basement of Duke’s Perkins Library on the Duke campus, and have only recently been made available for public viewing. It was the idea and the existence of those boxes that crystallized the story I wanted to tell.
However, from there my story diverges completely from reality, in more ways than one. There is no such person as Dr. Alaistair Leish, or the nefarious Dr. Richard Anton, nor are they based on anyone in real life. There is no such place as Dr. Anton’s Parapsychology Research Center.
The parapsychology lab files that exist at Perkins Library have been neatly catalogued by librarians; you will not find petrified cans of peanuts or Sen-Sen breath mints in the boxes.
North Carolinians may be able to guess the house that was my model for the Folger House; on the other hand, there are many such houses tucked away in forests in the South, houses which may or may not be haunted, but which most definitely feel as if they should be.
Finally, there was never a Folger Experiment, and certainly not ever one sanctioned by Duke University, the parapsychology lab, or any of its administration, faculty or staff, or that caused the closing of the parapsychology lab.
I based the poltergeist manifestations depicted in the book on the kinds of manifestations that have been reported over centuries, in countries all over the world. There has never—to my knowledge!—been such a concentrated attack as the one I portray in the book (despite the interesting embellishments of incidents that you can find in some supposedly factual reports), but I have tried throughout to be true to the spirit of the—well, spirit.
Reports of actual poltergeist investigations are maddening to read because there is never any real explanation. There is no restless, departed ghost who brings crucial information to a loved one or demands retribution. There may be fraud, there may not be. Inexplicable things happen and remain frustratingly inexplicable … and thus all the more seductive.
It is the very mystery of the phenomenon that enthralls.
For those interested in reading further in the field of parapsychology and on the work of the Rhine Lab, I highly recommend Dr. Sally Rhine Feather’s The Gift, an illuminating study of real-life ESP occurrences, which also details both her parents’ work in the field; and William Roll’s The Poltergeist, for detailed accounts of his poltergeist investigations while at the Duke parapsychology lab and after. Deborah Blum’s Ghost Hunters provides a fascinating historical perspective of the work of the American Society for Psychical Research and the British Society for Psychical Research to find scientific proof of ghosts and psychic phenomena, and Colin Wilson compiles some of the most entertaining poltergeist stories in his book Poltergeist! (among others). Tony Cornell’s book Investigating the Paranormal is a useful study of fieldwork.
For further information on current studies, and for an extensive bibliography of parapsychological topics, I recommend The Rhine Research Center’s Web site: [http://www.Rhine.org/] http://www.Rhine.org/.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am indebted until the end of time to:
Dr. J.B. Rhine, Dr. Louisa Rhine, and William Roll, for their groundbreaking and inspiring work in the field of parapsychology.
My editor, Marc Resnick, and Sarah Lumnah, for always making all things better.
Sally Richardson, Matthew Shear, Harriett Seltzer, Ellis Trevor, Talia Ross, Mike Berry, Matt Baldacci and the entire St. Martin’s team. I especially owe Jennifer Enderlin for pointing me toward this one!
Scott Miller—not just a great agent but a great guy.
Frank Wuliger and Sarah Self, for doing the Hollywood thing in a non-Hollywood way.
My partner, Michael Bradshaw, the least likely person to keep me sane, and yet …
The awesome Sheila English and Michael Miller at Circle of Seven Productions for the trailers, and double thanks to Sheila, for her constant support and advice.
Adam Auerbach for his mindblowing cover art.
Beth Tindall, webmistress extraordinaire.
My family, Alexander, Barbara, Elaine, and Michael, for constant support and inspiration.
Kimball Greenough, for his encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of parapsychology and the paranormal.
Michael Bradshaw, for airport shuttle services.
Margaret Maron, Diane Chamberlain, Katy Munger, Brenda Witchger, Mary Kay Andrews, and Nancy Olson, for their friendship, writing support, political comradeship, and hilarious spooky times in the “Folger House.”
Nancy and Jim Olson and the entire staff of Quail Ridge Books for being a home away from home.
The Weymouth Center Writers Retreat.
Michael Bradshaw, keeper of the cats.
Martin and Sue Hatcher, for their stories.
Susan Bradshaw, for everything.
The Rhine Research Center and Dr. Sally Rhine Feather.
Stan, Phil, Neisha, and the Bodhi Tree Bookstore for such a comprehensive education on all things paranormal.
Heather Graham, Dennis Pozz, and all the Pozzessores for being the best gypsy traveling players second family I could ever ask for.
Sarah Langan and Sarah Pinborough—my dark sisters and personal muses.
The Coven, for the magic.
The wild extended family of Murderati .com for being there, 24/7.
Doris Ann Norris, Mary Boone, Elaine Paquette, Kathy East, Robert Lambert, Clare Bass, Linda Adams, and Karen Kiley. Librarians rock!
The authors, officers and staffs of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America and the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers for those incredible communities and for taking care of all of my cross-genre, multiple-personality needs.
Michael Palmer, Heather Graham, F. Paul Wilson, and Ken Bruen: idols, inspirations, and friends.
Ira Levin, forever a shining light in this dark field.
Table of Contents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Afterword
Acknowledgments