Paranormal Magazine

Certificate: 15
Directed By: Various, 2007
Reviewed By: Lee Griffiths
Price: £29.99

(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)

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As a young boy, Ned discovered that he was able to bring people back to life with one touch, though if they’re revived for more than a minute, someone dies in their place! Now, many years later, Ned has teamed up with a private investigator to tackle a series of seemingly unsolvable crimes. It was unfortunate that Pushing Daisies was doomed to a fate on ITV, where it was broadcast after ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and gradually lost viewers with each passing episode. Imagine Amelie being shoved through Warner Brother’s TV grinder together with ‘CSI’, and you’ll have an idea of the kind of show Pushing Daisies is. Great stuff.

Certificate: 15
Directed By: Various, 2007
Reviewed By: Jordan brown
Price: £34.99

(4 votes, average: 2.75 out of 5)

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You’ve got to feel sorry for creator Tim Kring and the rest of the gang behind hit superhero show Heroes. After wowing the world with a blinder of a fledgling season, the US writer’s strike meant the second year was trimmed down by half to only 11. It’s four months after the incident at Kirby Plaza and The Company rears it’s ugly head, threatening to unleash a virus that will suppress the heroes’ extraordinary abilities. Even Kring himself has admitted the start of Season 2 isn’t as good as Season 1, but at least the strike has given them time to regroup and hopefully come roaring back with Season 3. In short – prepare to be disappointed by Season 2.

Certificate: 15
Directed By: Sion Sono, 2007
Reviewed By: Jordan Brown
Price: £19.99

(1 votes, average: 1 out of 5)

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Never let it be said that the Japanese play it safe when it comes to cranking out horror flicks. Never a genre to shy away from unconventional themes, J-Horror takes another crazy turn with this tale of evil hair. EXTE: Hair Extensions tells the tale of trainee hairdresser Yuko. Applying hair extensions that have been harvested from the corpse of a dead girl, Yuko is surprised when they begin avenging the death of their previous owner by wreaking bloody havoc on their new owners. A crazy slice of follicular fear, EXTE unfortunately never manages to get the balance right between scaring the crap out of you and making you laugh.

Certificate: 15
Directed By: Juan Antonio Bayona, 2007
Reviewed By: Lee Griffiths
Price: £19.99

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Laura (Belen Rueda) returns to the orphanage where she grew up with the intention of restoring and reopening the long-abandoned building as a home for disabled children. However, as Laura and her husband prepare for a new life, their young son, Simon, disappears, and Laura is convinced there are supernatural forces at work. Despite merely serving as producer on the project, the stylistic hand of Guillermo Del Toro (The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth) is certainly felt in The Orphanage, though with a fine balance of beautifully crafted storytelling and back to basics scares, J.A. Bayona delivers a far more enjoyable and affecting experience than anything Del Toro has so far managed.

Certificate: 15
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis
Directed By: Various, 1993-1999
Reviewed By: Tom Leins
Price: £19.99

(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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Chris Carter’s seminal X-Files TV series may have been overtaken in the public’s affections by new-fangled mystery shows like ‘Lost’, but the unexpected arrival of a long-rumoured new movie has definitely set tongues wagging and reignited interest in the long-dormant franchise. This two-disc package features eight episodes that have been handpicked by creator Carter and producer Frank Spotnitz.

Condensing the magic of a show like the X-Files into just eight episodes is a tough call for anyone. It kicks off with the dated but undeniably absorbing ‘Pilot’ episode, offering a chance to trace the show right back to its roots when Scully first met ‘spooky’ Mulder. Next up is ‘Beyond The Sea’ (Series 1, Episode 13) which sees Scully tangle with Luther Lee Boggs, a death row inmate who claims that he is psychic. ‘The Host’ (Series 2, Episode 2) was penned by Carter himself and concerns a decomposing corpse inhabited by a deadly parasite! Disc one is rounded off with ‘Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose’ (Series 3, Episode 4) an Emmy-winning episode which ‘TV Guide’ proclaimed “the 10th greatest episode in TV history”!

The second batch of episodes begins with ‘Memento Mori’ (Season 4, Episode 14), which probes Scully’s ailing health. Carter’s black and white ‘The Post-Modern Prometheus’ (Series 5, Episode 5) retells the story of Frankenstein’s monster in a small mid-western town, while ‘Bad Blood’ (Series 5, Episode 12) sees Mulder kill a Texan teenager whom he mistakes for a vampire. The final episode is ‘Milagro’ (Series 6, Episode 18), which concerns a writer who becomes the prime suspect in a grisly murder case. The arrival of X-Files Essentials offers a timely reminder of the show’s remarkable gifts, and as such is well worth checking out.

Author: Kevan Manwaring
Publisher: Heart of Albion
Price: Paperback £14.95

(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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Bard, professional storyteller and keen island-hopper Kevan Manwaring has combined his passions in an evocative guide to the legendary islands of the world, exploring not only their mythic geography but also their true meaning in our collective psyche.

Atlantis, Avalon, Hi Brasil, the Western Isles: such utopias haunt the Western imagination. Some are not even islands, like the magical village of Brigadoon where time stands still, but all are grist to Manwaring’s insightful mill.

In an era of climate change and global uncertainty, myths of lost islands are more poignant today than ever before. Manwaring charts the demise of islands such as the Isles of Scilly and Easter Island – ‘lost’ either by partial inundation of the sea or because of severe ecological changes.

If we don’t learn from these myths and take note of what is happening in the real world – will ‘this island Earth’ of ours go the way of Atlantis?

Author: Richard Jones
Publisher: New Holland
Price: Paperback £12.99

(4 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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We’re very lucky to live in such a beautiful and historic set of islands – and ones so wonderfully and fearfully haunted.

Richard Jones has added to a growing roster of large format books on the supernatural in Britain with perhaps his most attractive yet. A significant part of the appeal of Haunted Castles is John Mason’s stylish and atmospheric photographs, in both colour and spookily manipulated black and white, which are a highlight of every page.

Castles are evocative enough in themselves without the added bonus of being haunted: this lavish guide should kindle a sense of Gothic romance into every ghost-hunter’s heart.

Richard provides plenty of background information on the history of his chosen castles before embarking on the fascinating tales of the ghosts said to haunt them. Legends involving fairies, witches and dragons are also included.

Like Holy Wells, this is a book to keep in the car for days outs and holidays.

Author: Janet Bord
Publisher: Heart of Albion
Price: Paperback £14.95

(5 votes, average: 3.4 out of 5)

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Holy Wells in Britain has been a real labour of love for Janet Bord and is the result of decades worth of exploring out-of-the-way corners of the British Isles in search of these often beautiful but always evocative sacred sites.

Since writing her first book on the subject, Sacred Waters, with husband Colin in 1985, Janet Bord has continued her research. This resulted in a book about the beliefs and rituals associated with wells, Cures and Curses, published last year by Heart of Albion, and now this up-to-date and comprehensive Guide.

In the 20-plus years since Sacred Waters was published, Janet has been delighted to find that holy wells have become more cherished: cleaned up and restored. Holy Wells in Britain provides a detailed and engaging, lavishly illustrated guide to hundreds worth visiting, all clearly arranged by county and with full instructions for finding them.

Many rewarding days out will begin with this book.

Author: Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe and Billy Roberts
Publisher: Apex
Price: Hardback £9.99

(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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The Great Paranormal Clash presents not only a series of essays by a practising medium and a parapsychologist but also dialogues between them.

Opinions between those convinced of a spirit world and those prepared to consider only a scientific model of the universe are not only polarised but often hostile. It is therefore refreshing to find two reasonable members of each community respecting each other’s point of view.

Roberts impresses with his openness to the idea his gift may be telepathic rather than mediumistic and with his concern that mediums may do as much harm as they do good. O’Keefe, on the other hand, fails to tackle Roberts’ insistence that some detailed communications can only be explained through contact with spirits.

But this is not O’Keefe’s fault – rather the lack of a structured approach to important questions and their given answers, which would have made Paranormal Clash more useful read.

Author: Jason Karl
Publisher: New Holland
Price: Hardback £19.99

(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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In contrast to the in-depth treatment of Westwood’s and Simpson’s ghost book, Jason Karl’s Haunted World is intended as no more than a bright, readable introduction to the world of spooks. As such, it succeeds perfectly well.

Haunted World provides a basic overview of ghosts, poltergeists and, rather surprisingly given the title, witchcraft. The many illustrations are well-chosen. The majority will be fairly familiar to long-term readers of the subject but I confess that one or two were new to me, including one I felt I ought to be more familiar with: the photograph of Lord Combermere’s chair, with its ghostly occupant.

Karl also provides an interesting biography section of prominent ghost hunters and commentators.

An Illustrated History of the Haunted World will be an attractive starting point for anyone first developing an interest in the supernatural. It would make a welcome gift for an inquiring youngster, for example.

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