So this weekend I went down the rabbit hole with Mr Guy Lyon Playfair.
Does the name ring a bell?
It should.
Playfair was the main investigator of the very famous Enfield Poltergeist case in England from 1977 to 1979 involving two sisters who started to exhibit very strange phenomena.
Guy Lyon Playfair (born 5 April 1935) was a British writer, best known for his books about parapsychology.
Some interesting stuff about him from Wikipedia (the repository of all knowledge):
" For two years, Guy Playfair worked with IBPP, Brazil's first and only serious psychical research organisation. He has been a member of the British Society for Psychical Research since 1973 and was elected to its Council in 2004. He has contributed several articles and book reviews to its journal and newsletter.
Guy Playfair was a consultant for the infamous BBC production "Ghostwatch" which aired on Halloween night 1992 on BBC One in the United Kingdom. In the end credits of the program he is credited as "Psychic Consultant".
He wrote a study of time cycles in connection with paranormal phenomena in The Cycles of Heaven (1978). With Maurice Grosse he investigated the Enfield Poltergeist over one year, as recorded in This House is Haunted (1980).
His book "If This Be Magic", an inquiry into hypnotism, was published in 1985. He then collaborated with Uri Geller on The Geller Effect (1986)."
I have been very interested in the Enfield Poltergeist case and most of you have probably seen the latest BBC production by the same name that aired here in Australia not that long ago.
I have been reading about the story for a number of years, looking at it from the angle of it being a true story and also an alleged hoax, and have written about it in my own book "Newcastle Ghost Stories" and a number of other articles over the years.
The Enfield Poltergeist was a case that was very well documented and oft thought of as something that the young girls at the centre of the case conjured up to get attention and then having gotten the attention they sought , got very much out of hand.
This weekend I listened to "THE BIG SEANCE PODCAST" with Patrick Keller (a brilliant podcast that was recommended to me by a great friend and now I am making my way through the 100+ episodes) and the special guest was none other than the amazing Mr Playfair himself, who graced the listeners with a bucket load of detail about his time on the case plus other research that he has undertaken.
This was such a delight.
To listen to the man at the centre of the case speaking about it in his own words!
My goodness so many things were made so clear.
Now if you really want to get into the case from the research side of things please find a copy of "This House is Haunted" by Guy Lyon Playfair.
It is available and worth the long read if you wish to use it as a case study on how to thoroughly investigate a haunting.
Now, I do warn you - it has no sensational dialogue.
No embellishment to make it scarier or spookier than it actually was.
It it the factual account of the case.
And this brings me to the focus of this blog post.
What a lot of crap these TV shows and productions are!
Playfair speaks about it during the podcast. His disappointment with what his idea of 'based on the book' was and what it really turned out to be.
I don't really want to repeat whats on the podcast - I would really like you to listen to it.
Actors from the Enfield Poltergeist - BBC Production
In a nutshell - Why let the truth stand in the way of a good story!
The only thing that was close to the truth was how some of the actors played the main characters ( Playfair thought that the actor playing him was 'rather a nice chap') and the name of the production.
Beyond that, according to Playfair it was a load of over-sensationalized crap.
Does Playfair believe in Poltergeists?
Yes he sure does.
He spent years working in Brazil following up on stories and researching cases and and will tell you that yes, for sure, poltergeist activity does exist in his experience. He has witnessed to many things to say otherwise.
He is rather not fond of people like James Randy and scientists in general who will not explore the possibilities of paranormal experiences and is very sad about the lack of funding available to continue the study of these subjects.
He is still as passionate as ever and is currently involved in studying mental telepathy between twins.
It is important not to flip off the grand ladies and gentlemen of the paranormal.
Its important for our research and learning to take in the articles and books written by the seniors in the field and make ourselves familiar with their work.
They have something to say to us - they have a wealth of knowledge and years of experience.
They were in the field before all the gadgets doing the hard yards by sitting and waiting patiently.
Its not just about the new talent that has been around over the last few years.
Advancement and experimentation is very important but what has come before is also valuable to study.
It pays to seek out the names that have made a mark and read, read and read more.
It's a marvelous grounding in the field of paranormal investigation.
Check out some of these:
Harry Price
William Seabrook
Joseph Banks Rhine
Sir William Crooks
Montague Summers
Hans Holzer
More recent names -
Loyd Auerbach
Troy Taylor
http://listverse.com/2015/09/23/10-notable-paranormal-researchers-from-history/
there are many more!!
The list is far more than 10!
ALSO - Check out this link http://whitecrowbooks.com/guylyonplayfair/
You will find all of Playfair's books here at Whitecrow books plus more interesting stuff.
This should get you started in the right direction.
and by the way,
How many years should you study the paranormal before you know it all?
Let's just say - you will never know it all.
So you better start now - and have fun.
I sure am!
Does the name ring a bell?
It should.
Playfair was the main investigator of the very famous Enfield Poltergeist case in England from 1977 to 1979 involving two sisters who started to exhibit very strange phenomena.
Guy Lyon Playfair (born 5 April 1935) was a British writer, best known for his books about parapsychology.
Some interesting stuff about him from Wikipedia (the repository of all knowledge):
" For two years, Guy Playfair worked with IBPP, Brazil's first and only serious psychical research organisation. He has been a member of the British Society for Psychical Research since 1973 and was elected to its Council in 2004. He has contributed several articles and book reviews to its journal and newsletter.
Guy Playfair was a consultant for the infamous BBC production "Ghostwatch" which aired on Halloween night 1992 on BBC One in the United Kingdom. In the end credits of the program he is credited as "Psychic Consultant".
He wrote a study of time cycles in connection with paranormal phenomena in The Cycles of Heaven (1978). With Maurice Grosse he investigated the Enfield Poltergeist over one year, as recorded in This House is Haunted (1980).
His book "If This Be Magic", an inquiry into hypnotism, was published in 1985. He then collaborated with Uri Geller on The Geller Effect (1986)."
I have been very interested in the Enfield Poltergeist case and most of you have probably seen the latest BBC production by the same name that aired here in Australia not that long ago.
I have been reading about the story for a number of years, looking at it from the angle of it being a true story and also an alleged hoax, and have written about it in my own book "Newcastle Ghost Stories" and a number of other articles over the years.
The Enfield Poltergeist was a case that was very well documented and oft thought of as something that the young girls at the centre of the case conjured up to get attention and then having gotten the attention they sought , got very much out of hand.
This weekend I listened to "THE BIG SEANCE PODCAST" with Patrick Keller (a brilliant podcast that was recommended to me by a great friend and now I am making my way through the 100+ episodes) and the special guest was none other than the amazing Mr Playfair himself, who graced the listeners with a bucket load of detail about his time on the case plus other research that he has undertaken.
This was such a delight.
To listen to the man at the centre of the case speaking about it in his own words!
My goodness so many things were made so clear.
Now if you really want to get into the case from the research side of things please find a copy of "This House is Haunted" by Guy Lyon Playfair.
It is available and worth the long read if you wish to use it as a case study on how to thoroughly investigate a haunting.
Now, I do warn you - it has no sensational dialogue.
No embellishment to make it scarier or spookier than it actually was.
It it the factual account of the case.
And this brings me to the focus of this blog post.
What a lot of crap these TV shows and productions are!
Playfair speaks about it during the podcast. His disappointment with what his idea of 'based on the book' was and what it really turned out to be.
I don't really want to repeat whats on the podcast - I would really like you to listen to it.
In a nutshell - Why let the truth stand in the way of a good story!
The only thing that was close to the truth was how some of the actors played the main characters ( Playfair thought that the actor playing him was 'rather a nice chap') and the name of the production.
Beyond that, according to Playfair it was a load of over-sensationalized crap.
Does Playfair believe in Poltergeists?
Yes he sure does.
He spent years working in Brazil following up on stories and researching cases and and will tell you that yes, for sure, poltergeist activity does exist in his experience. He has witnessed to many things to say otherwise.
He is rather not fond of people like James Randy and scientists in general who will not explore the possibilities of paranormal experiences and is very sad about the lack of funding available to continue the study of these subjects.
He is still as passionate as ever and is currently involved in studying mental telepathy between twins.
It is important not to flip off the grand ladies and gentlemen of the paranormal.
Its important for our research and learning to take in the articles and books written by the seniors in the field and make ourselves familiar with their work.
They have something to say to us - they have a wealth of knowledge and years of experience.
They were in the field before all the gadgets doing the hard yards by sitting and waiting patiently.
Its not just about the new talent that has been around over the last few years.
Advancement and experimentation is very important but what has come before is also valuable to study.
It pays to seek out the names that have made a mark and read, read and read more.
It's a marvelous grounding in the field of paranormal investigation.
Check out some of these:
Harry Price
William Seabrook
Joseph Banks Rhine
Sir William Crooks
Montague Summers
Hans Holzer
More recent names -
Loyd Auerbach
Troy Taylor
http://listverse.com/2015/09/23/10-notable-paranormal-researchers-from-history/
there are many more!!
The list is far more than 10!
ALSO - Check out this link http://whitecrowbooks.com/guylyonplayfair/
You will find all of Playfair's books here at Whitecrow books plus more interesting stuff.
This should get you started in the right direction.
and by the way,
How many years should you study the paranormal before you know it all?
Let's just say - you will never know it all.
So you better start now - and have fun.
I sure am!
Fantastic! I hope more and more paranormal enthusiasts start turning to books instead of Zak Bagans and other like shows for inspiration. While it is not the same as picking up and reading (and smelling) an actual old book, a lot of these authors have their works published online so there is really no excuse! There is a wealth of information out there, you just have to look.
ReplyDeleteThankyou great article Renata!