EHE Book Reviews

Spontaneous Psi Phenomena Record Type: Review ID: 1317
Chinese Ghosts and ESP: A Study of Paranormal Beliefs and Experiences Emmons, Charles F.
This book by a sociologist at Gettysburg College is based on 3,600 interviews, questionnaires, and observations on paranormal beliefs and experiences made in Hong Kong from June 1980 through January 1981. The largest batch of data presented was gathered by means of a telephone survey. The questions asked were designed to provide a cross-cultural comparison by replicating a 1978 Gallup poll of paranormal beliefs in the U.S. The data have been analyzed from a sociological and anthropological point of view. The author was also interested in ascertaining if he could shed light on the question of whether or not there is a universal experience of ghosts that is unaffected by cultural differences and that fits the theories of parapsychologists. The experiences are described in several categories, e.g., hauntings and poltergeists, spirit possession and exorcism, spirit mediumship, ESP, fortune-telling, and others. No attempt was made to corroborate or verify the accounts. In a concluding chapter Emmons contrasts the results of the Chinese sample with those of the American survey.
Publisher Information:	Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1982. 297p. Bibliography: 277-285; Chapter notes; 1 figure; Glossary: 286-288; 13 illustrations; Index: 289-297; 3 tables

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Chinese Ghosts and ESP: A Study of Paranormal Beliefs and Experiences