DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.COMP2
Journal of Anomalistics 25-2 as PDF (4.1 MB)
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 5–14
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.201
Editorial
Editorial: GHOSTS Without Ghosts, or the Problem with „Nonempirical Phenomena and Experiences”
Editorial: „Geister“ ohne Geister, oder das Problem mit „nicht-empirischen Phänomenen und Erfahrungen“
Main Articles
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 212–241
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.212
Spukhäuser, Geisterbahnen, Schlachtfelder: Begriffliche und konzeptionelle Probleme von Dark Tourism
[Haunted houses, ghost trains, battlefields Conceptual and theoretical problems of dark tourism]
Benedikt Grimmler
Abstract
In 1996, British researchers Malcom Foley and John Lennon invented the term “Dark Tourism” to describe a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon: While tourism is typically defined as traveling to places in leisure time for pleasure or recreation, a considerably large group of people prefer to visit locations associated with – often massive – violence and death such as concentration camps, battlefields, sites of terrorist attacks, or places devastated by natural or human-made catastrophes. The new term was widely accepted in the scientific community, which concentrated mostly on investigating the attraction of the so-called Dark Sites and the motivations of their visitors. This led to an enhancement of and attempts to more clarify the older term and also to the incorporation of more fields like crime scenes, Lost Places and haunted places. This development went along with critical remarks: The term itself seemed to get more and more blurred, and the field it tried to describe lost its clarity while incorporating more and more subcategories. This will be discussed in this article as well as the strong cleavage that built between the scientific term Dark Tourism and its media-induced popular variant, which focuses more on the excentric motivations of the Dark Tourists. In the general view, this cleavage has grown even more – with paradoxical consequences. Taking a deeper look into so-called Paranormal Tourism, a branch that concentrates on mysterious and haunted places and sites of apparitions, the possible motivations for this subcategory of Dark Tourism are investigated and some explanations presented, which are afterwards applied and analyzed by regarding two examples of Dark Sites in Franconia (Bavaria).
Keywords
dark tourism, death and violence, lost places, haunted houses, paranormal tourism, prophecies, contemporary witch hunt
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 242–281
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.242
What the Deceased Communicate, What we Learn About Their State of Mind, and how this Impacts Grief
Mixed Methods Analysis of a Multilingual Case Collection of Spontaneous After-death Communications (ADCs)
Evelyn Elsaesser, Chris A. Roe, Callum E. Cooper, Sophie Morrison, David Lorimer
PDF German full text (only online)
Abstract
A spontaneous and direct After-Death Communication (ADC) occurs when a person unexpectedly perceives a deceased person. These contacts, which appear to be initiated by the deceased, are perceived through the senses of sight, hearing, touch, or smell. Often, the experient simply senses the presence of the deceased. ADCs occur while awake, asleep or falling asleep (in a hypnagogic state of consciousness) or waking up (in a hypnopompic state of consciousness).
Since 2018, the authors have been conducting a long-term international research project on the circumstances, phenomenology and impact of spontaneous and direct ADCs. To date, they have conducted a mixed-methods survey in six languages, which has resulted in 1,311 completed questionnaires. In 2022, the authors published a paper in the Journal of Anomalistics (JAnom), presenting some of the findings from their initial surveys in English, French, and Spanish with 1,004 participants (Elsaesser et al., 2022, pp. 36–71). The current complementary analysis includes data from a German language version of the survey, conducted from August 2022 to March 2023, which produced 235 responses. The current analysis, which combines quantitative and qualitative data, pays particular attention to the state of mind of the deceased as perceived by the participants and the impact of these perceptions on the grieving process.
Among the participants who were able to sense the state of mind of the deceased, the vast majority reported positive moods. The contact was centered on them, and the deceased had conveyed their intention to assist and support them. The minority of participants who perceived the deceased’s state of mind as (rather) negative reported that the contact was focused on the deceased and the difficulties they appeared to be facing. These contacts did not seem to serve to comfort the participants. This type of contact is difficult for partners, family and friends and can complicate the grieving process.
The positive effects of ADCs on the grieving process are discussed, which can be attributed, among other elements, to: 1) the unexpected and unsolicited perception of the deceased and the experients’ conviction that the experience was real; 2) the resulting belief that the connection to the deceased continues and has survived the death of the body; and 3) the perceived messages.
Keywords
After-death communication (ADC), ADC, Phenomenology, Impact of ADC, Bereavement, Grief, Coping with grief, State of mind of perceived deceased, Emotional state of perceived deceased
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 282–305
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.282
Johann Caspar Lavater and the 18th-century Roots of Anomalistics
Karl Baier
Abstract
This article delves into the discourses surrounding anomalistic topics during the late Enlightenment, with a particular emphasis on Lavater’s connections to this field. After outlining the theological and philosophical background that fueled his interest in paranormal phenomena, the main section explores the most significant cases
Lavater investigated, detailing his methods of inquiry. Finally, the conclusion revisits the article’s introduction, aiming to shed more light on the relationship between Lavater’s anomalistics and the intellectual landscape of the late Enlightenment.
Keywords
history of parapsychology/anomalistics, Lavater, late Enlightenment, methods of early anomalistics, Charles Bonnet, Johann Joseph Gaßner, exorcism, Alessandro Cagliostro, initiatic societies, Ecole du Nord
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 306–389
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.306
The Use of Psychics in Police Investigations of Missing Persons
Sybo S. Schouten
Abstract
Anecdotal cases about successful contributions of psychics to police investigations continue to appear, but most lack evidential value. This paper examines whether psychics are actually useful in solving crimes or locating missing persons. Questionnaire and experimental studies show that about one in three police departments in Germany, Holland, and the USA has experience with psychics, though reported usefulness ranges only from 0% to 21%. Quantitative parapsychological research in which psychics attempted to obtain unknown information has occasionally produced significant but very modest results. Experimental studies where psychics tried to solve crimes – often by handling crime-related objects – showed no positive outcomes, though most tests occurred under highly artificial conditions, limiting real-life applicability. Studies comparing predictions about perpetrators under more realistic conditions found psychics scored lowest, though overall accuracy differences between groups were small.
Part II analyzes psychic contributions in two Dutch missing-girl cases and finds them entirely useless. Many contributors did not consider themselves psychics but felt emotionally compelled to share impressions they believed had been correct in past cases. As a group, psychics’ predictions were no more accurate than scientific profiling, possibly because the perpetrators fit common stereotypes.
Part III compares missing-person investigations with and without psychic involvement. Psychics participated in about 15% of 418 cases, usually when families feared the missing person was dead. In four years, three cases were solved following psychic advice. Overall, about 10% of psychics contribute something useful, and roughly 3% offer correct solutions, though even correct information may not lead to locating the person.
Most relatives later felt positive about involving psychics, valuing psychological support and the sense of having explored all options, despite recognizing limited investigative value. The study suggests that local experience and knowledge, not paranormal ability, likely explain occasional successes. Systematic research into missing-person cases may enable trained officers to outperform psychics. The final part offers recommendations for how police and the public should handle psychic involvement.
Keywords
crime investigations, criminal telepathy, missing persons, police investigations, psychics
Book Reviews
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 390–394
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.390
Donna Maria Thomas (2023). Unerklärliche Erfahrungen von Kindern
Wenn Kinder Ungewöhnliches berichten – Ein spiritueller Zugang
Review and interview by: Marc Wittmann
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 395–401
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.395
Jeremy Stolow (2025). Picturing Aura: A Visual Biography
Reviewed by: Gerhard Mayer
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 402–411
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.402
Richard Raiswell, Michelle D. Brock & David R. Winter (2025). The Routledge History of the Devil in the Western Tradition
Reviewed by: Meret Fehlmann
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 412–416
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.412
Nigel Watson (2024). Portraits of Alien Encounters Revisited High Strangeness British UFO Cases
Reviewed by: Ulrich Magin
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 417–419
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.417
Wolfgang Stölzle, Günter Roth (Hrsg.)(2025). Mut zum Widerspruch. Dissidenten der Alternativlosigkeit berichten
Reviewed by: Florian Mildenberger
Journal of Anomalistics 25 (2025), No. 2, pp. 420–426
DOI: 10.23793/zfa.2025.420
Abstracts-Dienst / Literaturspiegel
Frauke Schmitz-Gropengießer, Gerhard Mayer