The Getting Spooked Reading List #4

Five stellar paranormal and parapolitical newsletters/blogs that keep you eager for more

Reading lists #1, #2, and #3.

While any visitor to the Getting Spooked homepage can see the Substack publications that I recommend, I want to draw special attention to a few that I find myself constantly returning to, plus a couple of sites outside of the platform that are worth a read. Ever the hypocrite, I am more of a physical book reader than someone who reads internet publications, but I make an exception for several that have done stellar work—all containing the seeds for possible future book-length works that I would love to see. These authors constantly bring the goods with their articles, a range of paranormal or parapolitical explorations being released on a consistent basis. I highly recommend you give them a visit to see for yourself.

High to Kolob’s From Kolob in Peace (Link)

A criminally underrated look into the niche world of Mormon parapolitics, metaphysics, and ufology, From Kolob in Peace focuses on Cold War hijinks in the LDS Church. Their defining series, and a definite good place to start, is the articles on the Eyring Research Institute, an organization started by Brigham Young University to develop military weaponry and communications systems. Somewhat of a Mormon version of the Stanford Research Institute, ERI has had a hand in more military research than one would expect from an enterprise that few have heard of. The group at one point even investigated PK abilities, covered in High to Kolob’s article “(Alleged) Psychokinetic Research at BYU (ERI pt. 5)”—note the appearance spooky kook Bob Beck, who was interested in subliminal messages and ELF waves.¹ The publication also covers more traditional ufology or Mormon cosmology, which in Utah never strays far afield of the military establishment. After all, connecting to my own research, “a friend in the CIA” told the Bledsoe family that the NSA had a supercomputer in Utah dubbed “The Beast” that was sentient and could take over the world.² While I doubt that Skynet is already here, the Utah Data Center, as it’s called, is suspected of housing data from the mass surveillance of U.S. citizens and verifiably holds NSA data from other sources. Its location in Utah is no coincidence, the NSA has utilized multilingual Mormon missionaries as analysts to translate intel at another NSA base of operations in the state.³ High to Kolob is aware of this intertwined relationship between the military, the LDS Church, and woo, and their engaging writing style expounds upon those intersections beautifully and thoroughly.

Dr. Jerrold Coe’s Paperbacks of the Gods (Link)

The venerable Dr. Coe, represented by a suave portrait of paranormal author Brad Steiger, offers readers a trip back to the pulpy wonderland of post-1945 newsstand paperbacks. While I thought my apartment was full of them, I am no match for Dr. Coe, who covers old paranormal cottage industry offerings and the lurid horror, science fiction, and action novels that came in similar packaging. Posts range from explorations into weirdo fiction offerings like Arthur Herzog’s Orca (a Jaws ripoff with a revenge-obsessed marine mammal) to spooky Fortean non-fiction like the aforementioned Brad Steiger’s Ghosts, Ghouls and Other Peculiar People (one of easily hundreds of similar Steiger offerings). All posts include ample images of the beautiful covers, contents, and text samples, giving readers a taste of what the books have in store. The good doctor also reviews them earnestly, often humorously, noting how stories are frequently recycled—even though they may never get old. Coe is incredibly knowledgeable of this expansive, but often underexamined, literary debris field and each post builds on the other, illustrating the strange community of idiosyncratic authors that produced these lovable tomes. Paperbacks of the Gods is an excellently curated blog for anyone with an interest in the wacky, the sensational, and the exploitative. The author also adds incredible fringe VHS rips on YouTube which I would also encourage readers to check out. I’m a particular fan of the ultra-schlocky UFO “documentary” Overlords of the UFO from 1976 that can be found on his channel.

Various authors, The Observer (Link)

One of the best publications of true Fortean character, The Observer contains articles covering a broad spectrum of paranormal occurrences, unsolved mysteries, folklore, and the interesting characters within the unexplaine. Where else can you find articles about a slew of strange occurrences on the Azores archipelago, a chat with paranormal researcher Ray Boeche, and an account of turn-of-the-century devil worship and murder all in the same place? In a prior reading list, I had used the phrase “chicken soup for the Fortean soul” to describe Simon Young’s The Fairy Census. The Observer is similar but more along the lines of Fortean comfort food. The publication contains writings reminiscent of the Fortean Times, a constant in my life for years and years, but everything published by the Observer staff is freely available. They also regularly release a physical zine, collecting several articles and stories from the online version, that is a welcome throwback to the paranormal zine days of old. The writing that got me hooked, which also serves as a good introduction to the newsletter, was “Wandering Windows & Disappearing Doorways”, an excellent exploration into purported portals or window areas. Go check them out and don’t forget that the paranormal subject calls for some cheerfulness at times. The Observer, bless them, has in large part kept me from a form of paranormal doomerism.

Jeffrey S. Kaye’s Hidden Histories (Link)

Jeffrey S. Kaye is the author of Cover-up at Guantanamo: The NCIS Investigation into the “Suicides” of Mohammed Al Hanashi and Abdul Rahman Al Amri, an incomparable study of the use of enhanced interrogation and psychological torture at the infamous military base. I was first introduced to Kaye in his appearance on Programmed to Chill, an excellent primer on his area of research. This specific episode delving into biological warfare in the Korean War. Similar subject matter is covered on his Substack publication Hidden Histories. There, readers can find heavily researched articles on MKULTRA, biological warfare, and illicit torture from a well-informed psychologist’s perspective. My first read from the newsletter was along similar lines to Kaye’s Programmed to Chill appearance: A piece discussing allegations of brainwashing conducted by the North Koreans and Chinese during the Korean War and how this led directly to programs like Project Artichoke and MKULTRA. Further, Kaye examines how the largely bunk troop brainwashing distraction sidestepped the major issue of the U.S. unleashing germ warfare against the Korean populace. Kaye is extremely well-spoken as he dispels numerous persistent myths about the “forgotten” war and holds the U.S. military establishment accountable for contemptible actions of the past and present. Recent articles have expanded the scope of topics and delved further into the parapolitical, with a deep dive on a CIA-connected psychiatrist who helped to advise the Warren Commission and another on the ramifications of the U.S.S.R.’s forced conversion to market capitalism. It is all extraordinarily good research and—often an undervalued quality in this field—immensely readable.

Erica Lukes, Jack Brewer, and Barry Greenwood’s Expanding Frontiers Research (Link)

This recommendation is slightly unusual, because it is so much more than a blog or typical text publication. In addition to articles with excellent analysis, Expanding Frontiers Research is a foundation that includes streams of interviews with insightful guests (yours truly was honored to appear back in January). It also serves as a repository for FOIA receipt records and other UFO archives. With Erica Lukes as the Executive Director, EFR is the top of the line in terms of modern-day ufology, having little in the way of comparison. Whether one is looking for interesting articles on IC action within the UFO community or trying to view key documentation for their own research into a variety of fringe subjects, Expanding Frontiers has you covered. The livestreams are also a great place to engage with a community of like-minded skeptics who come at the subject from a slightly different angle, all having a stake in ufological history. It is a gift to both hardened researchers and those with a casual interest in the paranormal. Honorable mention goes to Jack Brewer’s now dormant The UFO Trail which has been referenced in Getting Spooked articles numerous times and served as an important touchstone for my development as a researcher. Luckily, his talents have been brought to EFR and readers can find his unique insights into ufology and its military or political dimensions.

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1. Beck was also involved with Andrija Puharich. Noted in the biography of the latter, they collaborated on the possible utility of magnetic wave devices on the human body. They purported to discover that it could “not only (…) it be used to mess up radio communication, but also as a global magnetic mind control weapon, and to control the forces of nature.” (Hermans, H.G.M. Memories of a Maverick: Andrija Puharich M.D., LL.D. Pi Publications, 1998. Page 142.)

2. Bledsoe, Ryan. “Episode 7: What If?” Bledsoe Said So, 1 September 2021, link.

3. Berkes, Howard. “Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm.” NPR. 10 June 2013. https://www.stlpr.org/2013-06-10/amid-data-controversy-nsa-builds-its-biggest-data-farm.