Yearly Archives: 2012

In which the Author talks about poltergeists on YouTube…

 

To mark the fact that I’ve got two books on poltergeists coming out, a series of interviews with the humble if prolix author have been posted on that there YouTube.

The interviews concentrate on both the ebook What is a Poltergeist? – Understanding Poltergeist Activity and the conventional book Poltergeist Over Scotland. For the former, which will be available for download soon, I discuss the nine different theories/beliefs that have been put forward over the centuries to explain poltergeists:

  1. Demons
  2. Witchcraft
  3. Ghosts
  4. Fairies
  5. Vampires
  6. Psychokinesis (powers of the mind)
  7. Tulpas (thoughtforms)
  8. Hoaxes
  9. Natural forces (electromagnetism, geomagnetism, earth movements etc.)

These are illustrated with cases from throughout the world, including America, Europe and Asia.

When discussing Poltergeist over Scotland I talk about some of the 134 cases I’ve uncovered over the past 400 years. This is the first ever history of Scottish poltergeists.

The interview clips are being released in 16 parts over the next week or so, both on this website here and on YouTube. Collect the set!

In which the Author appears on ‘Behind the Paranormal’ with Paul & Ben Eno…

 

This coming Sunday (December 10) I have a return engagement with those fine gentlemen of the airwaves, Paul and Ben Eno on their ‘Behind the Paranormal’ radio show.

I’ll be discussing my forthcoming ebook What is a Poltergeist?, which explores the nine theories or beliefs that have been put forward to explain poltergeist activity, from demons, witchcraft and ghosts to psychokinesis, tulpas, hoaxes and natural forces. And if we have time we’ll get onto my other next next book, Poltergeist over Scotland, the first history of Scottish polts..

The show goes out live between midnight Sunday and 1a.m. Monday UK time (GMT), which is 7-8pm Eastern Standard Time in the USA. Here’s how you can listen in live, or time-shifted thereafter via the electric internet all you crazy kids are always going on about:

Behind the Paranormal will be a live broadcast on CBS New Sky Radio: Detroit on WOMC 104.3 HD3, Boston on WBMX 98.5 HD3, Pittsburgh on WDSY 107.9 HD3, and Seattle on KMPS 94.1 or 96.5. The show also streams online at NewSkyRadio.com (USA only), the AOL Radio player (radio.aol.com) and Yahoo LAUNCHcast  (new.music.yahoo.com/launchcast). Listeners may call in to ask a question by calling (248) 545-SOUL (7685) or, if they are listening online, may send an instant message via the Instant Feedback box located on the NewSkyRadio.com home page. Free podcasts are available later at the show site www.BehindTheParanormal.com, www.NewSkyRadio.com and on iTunes.

Ben and Paul state that the show’s combined live, Internet and podcast audience has been estimated as three million worldwide.

 
 

In which the Author appears in Tesco…

 

When you’re an author, people send you things – books, music, invitations, that sort of thing. Which is nice. Something new arrived the other day – what might be called my first example of a ‘book sighting’. “I was very surprised,” wrote my literary correspondent, “when I was shopping in Tesco in Dundee and came across the name Geoff Holder in the book section.” So surprised, indeed, that she took a photo on her mobile and sent it to me. Thank you, Sarah – this is the first time a reader has done that.

Three of my books on sale in Tesco. All this and points too.

Other photos of my books in situ welcome.

 
 

In which the author bloodies up Blackwell’s Bookshop in Edinburgh…

 

Battles. Massacres. Murders and assassinations. Beheadings and hangings. Fire and plague. Religious strife and clan enmities. Urban warfare and suicide squads. Pirates and riots. Bodysnatching and heads on spikes. Gunpowder plots. Sea battles inside Leith harbour. Witchcraft burnings on Castlehill. Breaking on the wheel. Drowning alive in a coffin in the Nor’ Loch.

 

Edinburgh hasn’t always been the Light in the North. Its past is a blood-splattered horrorshow of dark deeds, and on Tuesday 6 November I’ll be launching my new book The Bloody History of Scotland: Edinburgh with an illustrated talk at the famous Blackwells Bookshop on South Bridge, Edinburgh. This saunter through the sanguinary excesses of the city’s unsavoury history will cover everything from brothel creepers to the location of a cannibal’s oven – not to mention a mysterious medieval knight who turned out to be a woman.