Supernatural forces on the increase Spirits are increasingly making their presence felt in New Zealand, spurred on by celebrity ghost whisperers, says the Manawatu Standard (12 April). A recent ... (1266 words)

'Pet psychics' get a boost The flourishing pet psychic industry has received free publicity from an Australian article reprinted in the NZ Herald (23 January). I guess it was the silly season, that ... (1212 words)

This article is based on an address to the Skeptics Conference 2002. A condensed version has also been produced for the NZ Listener. I've just received my first bad review of A City Possessed. It was ... (3181 words)

Smile for the camera Singaporean ghostbusters are turning to hi-tech equipment as they search for paranormal phenomena, reports the Evening Post (September 9). Singapore Paranormal Investigators say ... (729 words)

That was never six months just then -- it felt much longer. Banised to the depths of New Zealand, in Tuatapere (almost as far south west as you can get in the South Island), life took on a gentler ... (517 words)

This is an abridged version of Professor Hill's presentation to the 1998 Skeptics' Conference. During the witch-hunts of the Early Modern period, a regular pattern emerged. Volumes would be written ... (3183 words)

Quack Croaks Perhaps it's a coincidence, but many experts in non-proven schemes fall on their own swords. For example, Hoxsey died of cancer, and recently a Lower Hutt clairvoyant went bankrupt (due ... (1089 words)

I have just visited another universe; it seems a much more interesting place than the dull old world we are forced to inhabit. "What is it like?" you ask eagerly, "and how did you get there?" ... (464 words)

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a candle in the dark, by Carl Sagan. Headline, $29.95. In 1656 Thomas Ady, in his book A Candle in the Dark, was one of the first to speak out against the witch ... (522 words)

This article is abridged from a paper prepared for the "Day of Contrition-Revisited Convocation," convened by The Justice Committee, Salem, Massachusetts, January 13-14, 1997. THIS TRICENTENNIAL ... (3753 words)

In a landmark case on September 30, a 59-year-old man, Bill1, was acquitted by a jury in the Auckland High Court on charges of sexually abusing three of his daughters about 20 years ago. The ... (900 words)

Late in his life, in answer to a question, Freud compared the human condition approximately to the contents of a baby's nappy. When I first heard this story, it seemed to mark a bitter old man. That ... (562 words)

There is a worldwide epidemic of satanic child abuse allegations. Are they true? Has satanic child abuse happened here in New Zealand? The most extensive child sex abuse case to be heard in a New ... (1616 words)