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{{Short description|Ghost that causes physical disturbance}}
:''For the film series, see [[Poltergeist (film series)]]. For the TV series, see: [[Poltergeist: The Legacy]]''
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Poltergeist-Therese Selles.jpg|thumb|Artist conception of poltergeist activity claimed by Thérèse Selles, a 14-year-old domestic servant of the Todescini family at Cheragas, Algeria. From the French magazine ''La Vie Mystérieuse'' in 1911.]]
In [[German folklore]] and [[ghostlore]], a '''poltergeist''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|oʊ|l|t|ər|ˌ|g|aɪ|s|t}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɒ|l|t|ər|ˌ|g|aɪ|s|t}}; {{IPA|de|ˈpɔltɐɡaɪ̯st|lang|De-Poltergeist.ogg}}; {{gloss|rumbling ghost}} or {{gloss|noisy spirit}}) is a type of [[ghost]] or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of poltergeists show them as being capable of [[pinch (action)|pinch]]ing, [[biting]], [[strike (attack)|hitting]], and tripping people. They are also depicted as capable of the movement or [[levitation (paranormal)|levitation]] of objects such as furniture and cutlery, or noises such as knocking on doors. Foul smells are also associated with poltergeist occurrences, as well as spontaneous fires and different electrical issues such as flickering lights.<ref>{{Cite web|title=poltergeist {{!}} Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained - Credo Reference|url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/chambun/poltergeist/0|access-date=2022-02-18|website=search.credoreference.com}}</ref>


These manifestations have been recorded in many cultures and countries, including Brazil, Australia, the United States, Japan and most European nations. The first recorded cases date back to the 1st century.
{{Audio|De-poltergeist.ogg|'''Poltergeist'''}} ([[German language|German]] for ''noisy [[ghost]]'') is a term for a supposed spirit or ghost that manifests by moving and influencing inanimate objects (rather than through visible presence or vocalization). Stories featuring poltergeists typically focus heavily on raps, thumps, knocks, footsteps, and bed-shaking, all without a discernible point of origin or physical reason for occurrence. Many accounts of poltergeist activity detail objects being thrown about the room, furniture being moved, and even people being levitated. A few poltergeists have even been known to speak ([[The Bell Witch]], 1817; [[Gef the Talking Mongoose]], 1931). Most classic poltergeist stories originate in [[England]], though the word itself is [[Germany|German]]. [[Fortean]]s sometimes will informally refer to poltergeists as "polts".


Skeptics explain poltergeists as juvenile tricksters fooling credulous adults.
==Research==


==Etymology==
Poltergeist phenomena are a focus of study within [[parapsychology]]. Parapsychologists define poltergeist activity as a type of uncontrolled [[psychokinesis]]. ''Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis'' (RSPK) is a phrase suggested by parapsychologist [[William G. Roll]] to denote poltergeist phenomena. The longevity and consistency between poltergeist stories (the earliest one details the raining of stones and bed shaking in ancient Egypt) has left the matter open for debate within the parapsychology community.
The word ''poltergeist'' comes from the [[German language]] words {{lang|de|poltern}} {{gloss|to make sound, to rumble}} and {{lang|de|[[Geist]]}} {{gloss|ghost, spirit}} and the term itself translates as {{gloss|noisy ghost}}, {{gloss|rumble-ghost}} or a {{gloss|loud spirit}}.


==Suggested explanations==
==Major Hypotheses==
===Hoax===
These are the major theories for poltergeist phenomena.
{{Paranormal}}Many claims have been made that poltergeist activity explains strange events (including those by modern self-styled ghost hunters), however, their evidence has so far not stood up to scrutiny.<ref>Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live. Bill Ellis. 2001</ref> Many claimed poltergeist events have been proven upon investigation to be [[hoax]]es.<ref>[[Terence Hines|Hines, Terence]]. (2003). ''Pseudoscience and the Paranormal''. Prometheus Books. p. 98. {{ISBN|978-1573929790}}</ref>


[[Psychic]]al researcher [[Frank Podmore]] proposed the 'naughty little girl' theory for poltergeist cases (many of which have seemed to centre on an adolescent, usually a girl).<ref name= "Hall 1958">[[Eric Dingwall|Dingwall, John]]; [[Trevor H. Hall|Hall, Trevor H]]. (1958). ''Four Modern Ghosts''. Duckworth. pp. 13–14</ref> He found that the centre of the disturbance was often a child who was throwing objects around to fool or scare people for attention.<ref name= "Hall 1958"/><ref>[[Arthur Goldstuck|Goldstuck, Arthur]]. ''The Ghost that Closed Down the Town: The Story of the Haunting of South Africa''. Penguin Books. p. 275. {{ISBN|978-0143025054}} "Podmore advanced a 'naughty little girl' theory, suggesting that trickery accounted for nearly all poltergeist manifestations, and that the girls and boys who so often seemed to be the victims of poltergeists were actually pulling the strings."</ref> Skeptical investigator [[Joe Nickell]] says that claimed poltergeist incidents typically originate from "an individual who is motivated to cause mischief".<ref name="Nickell2012">{{cite book|author=Joe Nickell|author-link=Joe Nickell|title=The Science of Ghosts: Searching for Spirits of the Dead|url=https://archive.org/details/scienceofghostss0000nick|url-access=registration|date=3 July 2012|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=978-1-61614-586-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/scienceofghostss0000nick/page/283 283]–}}</ref> According to Nickell:
===Poltergeist activity originates with agents===


<blockquote>In the typical poltergeist outbreak, small objects are hurled through the air by unseen forces, furniture is overturned, or other disturbances occur—usually just what could be accomplished by a juvenile trickster determined to plague credulous adults.</blockquote>
Poltergeist activity tends to occur around a single person called an agent or a focus. Foci are often, but not limited to, [[pubescent]] children. Almost seventy years of research by the [[Rhine Research Center]] in [[Raleigh-Durham]], [[North Carolina]], has led to the [[hypothesis]] among parapsychologists that the "poltergeist effect" is a form of [[psychokinesis]] generated by a living human mind (that of the agent). According to researchers at the Rhine Center, the "poltergeist effect" is the outward manifestation of psychological trauma.


Nickell writes that reports are often exaggerated by credulous witnesses.<ref name=NickellCSI>{{cite web|last=Nickell|first=Joe|author-link=Joe Nickell|title=Enfield Poltergeist, Investigative Files|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/enfield_poltergeist|work=August 2012|date=July 2012 |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|access-date=3 December 2013}}</ref>
===Separate existences===


<blockquote>Time and time again in other "poltergeist" outbreaks, witnesses have reported an object leaping from its resting place supposedly on its own, when it is likely that the perpetrator had secretly obtained the object sometime earlier and waited for an opportunity to fling it, even from outside the room—thus supposedly proving he or she was innocent.</blockquote>
Poltergeists might simply exist, like the "[[elementals]]" described by [[occultists]].


Unsubstantiated claims:
Another version posits that poltergeists originate after a person dies in a powerful rage at the time of death. According to yet another opinion, [[ghost]]s and poltergeists are "recordings." When there is a powerful emotion, sometimes at death and sometimes not, a recording is believed to be "embedded" in a place or, somehow, in the "fabric of time" itself. This recording will continue to play over and over again until the energy embedded disperses.
* [[Stockwell ghost]] (1772) - since 1825 <ref>[[William Hone|Hone, William]]. (1878 edition, originally published 1825). [https://archive.org/stream/everydaybookorgu01hone#page/30/mode/2up ''The Every Day Book'']. London: William Tegg. pp. 31-35</ref>
* [[Ballechin House]] (1876)
* The [[Enfield poltergeist claim]] (1977) - [[John Beloff]], a former president of the [[Society for Psychical Research]] and [[Anita Gregory]] concluded that the claimants were playing tricks on the investigators.<ref>Clarkson, Michael (4 February 2006). Poltergeists: Examining Mysteries of the Paranormal. Firefly Books. p. 135. ISBN 978-1554071593. "Anita Gregory, of the Society for Psychical Research, who had spent just a short time at the Hodgson home, said the mysterious men's voices were simply the result of Janet and Margaret putting bed sheets to their mouths. In addition Gregory said that a video camera had caught Janet attempting to bend spoons and an iron bar by force and 'practising' levitation by bouncing up and down on her bed."</ref>
* [[Columbus poltergeist case]] (1984)


===Psychological===
However some poltergeists have had the ability to articulate themselves and to have distinct personalities, which suggests some sort of self-awareness and intent. Practitioners of [[astral projection]] have reported the existence of unfriendly astral life forms, which [[Robert Bruce (author)|Robert Bruce]] called "negs" (whom we might also identify with elementals). If they exist, these may well have the ability to affect the physical world.
A claim of activity at [[Caledonia Mills]] (1899–1922) was investigated by [[Walter Franklin Prince]], research officer for the [[American Society for Psychical Research]] in 1922. Prince concluded that the mysterious fires and alleged poltergeist phenomena were because of a psychological state of [[Dissociation (psychology)|dissociation]].<ref>[[John Robert Colombo|Colombo, John Robert]]. (2000). ''Ghost Stories of Canada''. Dundurn. p. 43. {{ISBN|0-88882-222-7}}</ref>


[[Nandor Fodor]] investigated the [[Thornton Heath poltergeist|Thornton Heath poltergeist claim (1938)]]. His conclusion of the case were a psychoanalytical explanation and in a subsequent publication: "The poltergeist is not a ghost. It is a bundle of projected repressions,".<ref name="Timms 2012">Timms, Joanna. (2012). [http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/pah.2012.0097 ''Phantasm of Freud: Nandor Fodor and the Psychoanalytic Approach to the Supernatural in Interwar Britain'']. Psychoanalysis & History. Volume 14: 5-27. {{blockquote|claim for the recognition of a malevolent type of psycho-physiological disturbance, to which "haunted people" find themselves subjected...Nothing that is submitted in this book is believable}}</ref>
See also:
*[[Fairies#Practical beliefs|Mischievous fairies]]
*[[Undead]]


According to research in [[anomalistic psychology]], claims of poltergeist activity can be explained by psychological factors such as [[illusion]], [[Memory#Failures|memory lapses]], and [[wishful thinking]].<ref>[[Leonard Zusne|Zusne, Leonard]]; Jones, Warren H. (1989). ''Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking''. Psychology Press. p. 192. {{ISBN|978-0805805086}}</ref> A study (Lange and Houran, 1998) wrote that poltergeist experiences are [[delusion]]s "resulting from the affective and cognitive dynamics of percipients' interpretation of ambiguous stimuli".<ref>Lange, R; Houran, J. (1998). ''Delusions of the paranormal: A haunting question of perception''. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 186 (10): 637–645.</ref> Psychologist [[Donovan Rawcliffe]] has written that almost all poltergeist cases that have been investigated turned out to be based on trickery, whilst the rest are attributable to psychological factors such as [[hallucination]]s.<ref>[[Donovan Rawcliffe|Rawcliffe, Donovan]]. (1988). Occult and Supernatural Phenomena. Dover Publications. pp. 377–378. {{ISBN|0-486-25551-4}}</ref>
===Caused by physical forces===


[[Psychoanalyst]] [[Carl Gustav Jung]] was interested in the concept of poltergeists and the occult in general. Jung believed that a female cousin's [[trance]] states were responsible for a dining table splitting in two and his later discovery of a broken bread knife.<ref name="Wilson2010">{{cite book|author=Colin Wilson|title=Poltergeist: A Classic Study in Destructive Hauntings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O68ayjhr3O8C|date=8 November 2010|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide|isbn=978-0-7387-2237-5}}</ref>
Some scientists propose that all poltergeist activity that they cannot trace to fraud has an explained physical explanation such as [[electrostatics|static electricity]], [[electromagnetic]] fields, [[ultrasound|ultra-]] and [[infrasound]] and/or ionised air. In some cases such as the Rosenheim poltergeist case, the physicist F. Karger from the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik and G. Zicha from the Technical University of [[Munich]] found neither none of these effects present, and psi proponents claim that no evidence of fraud was ever found, even after a sustained investigation from the police force and CID, though criminologist Herbert Schäfer quotes an unnamed detective watching the agent pushing a lamp when she thought nobody was looking, however if this is true or not police officers did sign statements that they had witnessed the phenomena. [[John Hutchinson]] has claimed that he has created poltergeist effects in the lab. Also worth noting is that some scientists now propose that [http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn1720 poltergeists and ball lightning may be linked phenomena]. Some scientists go as far as calling them pseudo-psychic phenomena and claim that [http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/13/05/8 under some circumstances they are caused by obscure physical effects.]


Jung also believed that when a bookcase gave an explosive cracking sound during a meeting with [[Sigmund Freud]] in 1909, he correctly predicted there would be a second sound, speculating that such phenomena were caused by 'exteriorization' of his subconscious mind. Freud disagreed, and concluded there was some natural cause. Freud biographers maintain the sounds were likely caused by the wood of the bookcase contracting as it dried out.<ref name="Wilson2019">{{cite book|author=Colin Wilson|title=C.G.Jung: Lord of the Underworld|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cvaKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2|date=21 February 2019|publisher=Aeon Books|isbn=978-1-912807-53-6|pages=2–}}</ref><ref>CG Jung, ''Memories, Dreams, Reflections'', Flamingo 1983, pp 126, 179</ref>
See also:
*[[Hutchinson effect]]


===Unverified natural phenomena===
===Self-[[delusion]] and [[hoax]]es===
Attempts have also been made to scientifically explain poltergeist disturbances that have not been traced to fraud or psychological factors. Skeptic and magician [[Milbourne Christopher]] found that some cases of poltergeist activity can be attributed to unusual air currents, such as a 1957 case on [[Cape Cod]] where downdrafts from an uncovered chimney became strong enough to blow a mirror off a wall, overturn chairs and knock things off shelves.<ref>{{cite book| title=ESP, Seers & Psychics: What the Occult Really Is | first=Milbourne | last=Christopher | location=New York | publisher=Crowell | year=1970 |page=142| isbn=978-0-690-26815-7 | oclc=97063 |quote=A heavy mirror fell from the bedroom wall and an ash tray that had been resting on a table with a glass top slammed against the surface with such force that the glass was shattered.}}</ref>


In the 1950s, Guy William Lambert proposed that reported poltergeist phenomena could be explained by the movement of underground water causing stress on houses.<ref name="Wiseman 2011">{{cite book |last=Wiseman |first=Richard |date=1 April 2011 |title=Paranormality: Why We see What Isn't There |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TO67ZcZ3wUUC |publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-1743038383 |author-link=Richard Wiseman |pages=167–169}}
Skeptics think that the phenomena are hoaxes perpetrated by the agent. Indeed, many poltergeist agents have been caught by investigators in the act of throwing objects. A few of them later confessed to faking.
*Lambert, G. W. (1955). ''Poltergeists: A Physical Theory''. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 38: 49–71.</ref> He suggested that [[Turbulence|water turbulence]] could cause strange sounds or structural movement of the property, possibly causing the house to vibrate and move objects. Later researchers, such as [[Alan Gauld]] and [[Tony Cornell]], tested Lambert's hypothesis by placing specific objects in different rooms and subjecting the house to strong mechanical vibrations.<ref name="Wiseman 2011"/> They discovered that although the structure of the building had been damaged, only a few of the objects moved a very short distance. The skeptic [[Trevor H. Hall]] criticized the hypothesis claiming if it was true "the building would almost certainly fall into ruins."<ref>Dingwall, Eric; Hall, Trevor H. (1958). ''Four Modern Ghosts''. Gerald Duckworth. p. 105</ref> According to [[Richard Wiseman]] the hypothesis has not held up to scrutiny.<ref name="Wiseman 2011"/>


[[Michael Persinger]] has theorized that [[seismic activity]] could cause poltergeist phenomena.<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Houran |title=From Shaman to Scientist: Essays on Humanity's Search for Spirits |location=Lanham |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2004 |page=11 |isbn=0-8108-5054-0 }}</ref> However, Persinger's claims regarding the effects of environmental geomagnetic activity on paranormal experiences have not been independently replicated and, like his findings regarding the [[God helmet]], may simply be explained by the suggestibility of participants.<ref name="French">{{citation | title=The "Haunt" project: An attempt to build a "haunted" room by manipulating complex electromagnetic fields and infrasound | author=French, CC., Haque, U., Bunton-Stasyshyn, R., Davis, R. | journal=Cortex | volume=45 | issue=5 | pages=619–629 | year=2009 | doi=10.1016/j.cortex.2007.10.011 | pmid=18635163| s2cid=3944854 | url=http://research.gold.ac.uk/4209/2/French_et_al_Haunt_accepted.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wiseman |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Wiseman |title=The Haunted Brain |url=https://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_haunted_brain |website=Csicop.org |date=September 2011 |access-date=7 January 2019}}</ref>
Skeptics maintain that parapsychologists are especially easy to fool when they think that many occurrences are real and discount the hoax hypothesis from the start. Even after witnessing firsthand an agent throwing objects, psi-believing parapsychologists rationalize the fact away by assuming that the agents are only cheating when caught cheating, and when you do not catch them, the phenomenon is genuine. One excuse given is that the agents often fake phenomena when the investigation coincides with a period of time where there appears to be little or no 'genuine' phenomena occurring, which the agents believe makes them look foolish.


David Turner, a retired physical chemist, suggested that [[ball lightning]] might cause the "spooky movement of objects blamed on poltergeists."<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Muir |first=Hazel |title=Ball lightning scientists remain in the dark |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1720 |magazine=New Scientist |date=2001-12-20 |access-date=2011-01-15}}</ref>
==Examples==


* [[Sampford Peverell#Poltergeist claim error|Sampford Peverell]] (1810–1811) - poltergeistal noises were determined made by smugglers from behind a false wall <ref>Codd, Daniel. ''Paranormal Devon'' (2013). Amberley Publishing. p.30-34. {{ISBN|9781848681668}}.</ref>
William Roll, [[Hans Bender]] and [[Harry Price]] are perhaps three of the most famous poltergeist investigators in the annals of parapsychology. Harry Price investigated [[Borley Rectory]] which is widely regarded as "the most haunted house in England."


===Paranormal===
In the Rosenheim case, Dr. Friedbert Karger was one of two physicists from the Max Planck Institute who helped to investigate perhaps the most validated poltergeist case in recorded history. A 19 year old secretary in a law firm in Rosenheim, a small town in southern Germany, was seemingly the unwitting cause of much chaos in the the firm, including disruption of electricity and telephone lines, the rotation of a picture and swinging lamps which were captured on video (which was one of the first times any poltergeist activity has been captured on film) and strange sounds that sounded electrical in origin were recorded. Fraud was never proven despite intensive investigation by the physicists, journalists and the police. The effects moved with the young woman when she changed jobs until they finally faded out, and Friedbert Karger's whole perspective on physics changed. 'These experiments were really a challenge to physics,' Karger says today. 'What we saw in the Rosenheim case could be 100 per cent shown not to be explainable by known physics.' [http://www.uri-geller.com/books/magician-or-mystic/chapter10.htm]. The phenomena were witnessed by Hans Bender, the police force, the CID, reporters, and the physicists. The claims were aired in a documentary in 1975 in a series called "Leap in the Dark".
[[Parapsychology|Parapsychologists]] [[Nandor Fodor]] and [[William G. Roll]] suggested that poltergeist activity can be explained by [[psychokinesis]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Fodor |first=N. |year=1964 |title=Between Two Worlds |url=https://archive.org/details/betweentwoworlds00fodorich |url-access=registration |location=West Nyack, NY |publisher=Parker Publishing }}</ref><ref>Houran, James; Lange, Rense. (2007). ''Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives''. McFarland. p. 290. {{ISBN|978-0786432493}}</ref>


Historically, actual malicious spirits were blamed for apparent poltergeist-type activity, such as objects moving seemingly of their own accord.<ref>Goss, Michael. (1979). ''Poltergeists: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English, Circa 1880–1975''. Scarecrow Press. p. 92. {{ISBN|978-0810811812}}</ref> According to [[Allan Kardec]], the founder of [[Kardecist spiritism|Spiritism]], poltergeists are manifestations of disembodied spirits of low level, belonging to the sixth class of the third order. Under this explanation, they are believed to be closely associated with the [[classical element|element]]s (fire, air, water, earth).<ref>[[Allan Kardec]], ''Le Livre des Esprits''. (2000). chapter 106, Jean de Bonnot. p.46.</ref> In Finland, somewhat famous are the case of the "Mäkkylä Ghost" in 1946, which received attention in the press at the time,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20151031130541/http://www.iltasanomat.fi/asuminen/art-1445938119491.html IS: Espoon poltergeist: Mitä tapahtui Mäkkylän kummitustalossa syksyllä 1946?] (in Finnish)</ref> and the "Devils of Martin" in [[Ylöjärvi]] in the late 19th century, for which affidavits were obtained in court.<ref>Esko Mustonen: ''Poltergeist: tuntematon voima''. WSOY 1986. {{ISBN|951-0-13810-X}} (in Finnish)</ref> [[Samuli Paulaharju]] has also recorded a memoir of a typical {{nowrap|poltergeist{{tsp}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}}}the case of "Salkko-{{nowrap|Niila"{{hsp}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}}}from the south of [[Lake Inari]] in his book ''Memoirs of Lapland'' (''Lapin muisteluksia''). The story has also been published in the collection of ''Mythical Stories'' (''Myytillisiä tarinoita'') edited by Lauri Simonsuuri.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/57770/57770-8.txt|title= Paulaharju Samuli, Lapin muisteluksia – Salkko-Niila|access-date=October 9, 2020|language=fi}}</ref>
==Famous alleged poltergeist infestations==


==Famous cases==
Although poltergeist stories date back to the first century, most evidence to support the existence of poltergeists is anecdotal. Indeed, many of the stories below have several versions and/or inconsistencies.
[[File:Epworth Rectory Front View.png|thumb|[[Old Rectory, Epworth|Epworth Rectory]], supposed site of paranormal hauntings in the mid-1710s]]


* [[George Sinclair (mathematician)#Glenluce Devil|Glenluce Devil]] (1654–1656)
* An "evil spirit" threw stones and made the walls shake in a small farmhouse, this was the first recorded poltergeist case. (858)
* [[Drummer of Tedworth]] (1662)

* [[Demon drummer of Tedworth]] (1661)
* [[Mackie poltergeist]] (1695)
* [[Old Rectory, Epworth#Epworth Rectory haunting|Wesley poltergeist claim at Epworth Rectory]] (1716–1717)

* [[Hinton Ampner#Poltergeist claims|Hinton Ampner]] (1764–1771)
* The "Wizard", Livingston, West Virginia (1797)
* [[Bell Witch]] of Tennessee (1817–1872)

* [[The Bell Witch]] (1817)
* [[John Bovee Dods]] (1824)
* [[Edward Moor|Bealings Bells]] (1834)

* [[Angelique Cottin]] (ca. 1846)
* The Haunting of The [[Fox sisters]] (1848) - arguably one of the most famous, as it started the [[Spiritualism]] movement.
* [[Great Amherst Mystery]] (1878–1879)

* [[Hopfgarten]] near [[Weimar]] (1921)
* [[Gef the Talking Mongoose]] (1931)
* [[Borley Rectory]] (1937) <ref>[[Harry Price]], ''The Most Haunted House in England: Ten Years' Investigation'' (new edition, 1990)</ref>

* [[Seaford poltergeist]] (1958)
* Eleonore Zugun - The 'Poltergeist Girl' (1926)
* [[Matthew Manning]] (1960s–1970s)

* [[When the Lights Went Out#Production|The Black Monk of Pontefract]] (1960s–1970s)
* The [[Borley Rectory]] phenomena (1929)
* [[Rosenheim poltergeist claim]] (1967)<ref name=PittsburgPress>{{cite news|last=Spraggett|first=Allen|title=Pursuing the Elusive Poltergeist|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oBsfAAAAIBAJ&pg=5846,1740188&dq=rosenheim+poltergeist&hl=en|access-date=4 December 2013|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=Jan 2, 1974}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | author = Fairley, John |author2=Welfare, Simon | year = 1984 | title = Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers | publisher = Harper Collins | location = London | isbn = 0-00-216679-8 | pages = 28–31}}</ref>

* The ''[[Stambovsky v. Ackley]]'' poltergeist (1970s–1980s)
* The [[Rosenheim Poltergeist]] (1967) [http://www.geister-und-gespenster.de/spuk/spukorte/Poltergeist_Rosenheim.htm] (German, but most extensive)
* [[The Amityville Horror#Disputes over accuracy|The Amityville case]] (1975)
[http://www.trivia-library.com/b/biography-of-electric-psychokinetic-anne-marie-sch-part-1.htm] [http://perso.orange.fr/ouriel/fr/htm/poltergeist%20de%20rosenheim.htm]
* [[Enfield poltergeist]] (1977–1979)

*[[Thornton Road poltergeist claim]] (1981)
* The [[Enfield Poltergeist]] (1977)
*[[Ammons haunting case]] (2011)

* The [[George Mackenzie|Mackenzie Poltergeist]] (fairly recent) - Famed for haunting Greyfriars church yard, Edinburgh, UK

* The [[Canneto di Caronia fires]] poltergeist (fairly recent (2004 - 2005)) - Famed for defying all attempts at a scientific explanation, Sicily, Italy [http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=14726&sec=39&con=52].

*The [[Carla Moran|Entity Case]] allegedly involved a single mother of three named Carla Moran who was being repeatedly raped by an invisible [[entity]] and his two helpers over the course of several years.

* The case of [[Tina Resch]], widely reported in the media in 1984

Although some parapsychologists suggest that poltergeists could be a form of recurrent PK, there is very little evidence for PK recorded on film or witnessed by objective parties. There are famous cases where the activity was seen by objective parties and even skeptics however.

==Poltergeists in fiction==

Both the name and concept of the ''poltergeist'' became famous to modern audiences by the [[Poltergeist movies|''Poltergeist'' movies]] and the subsequent TV series ''[[Poltergeist: The Legacy]]''. The first Poltergeist movie actually gave an excellent depiction (during the first half of the film) of a "typical" poltergeist infestation, right down to the depiction of the focus as a prepubescent girl.

Poltergeist is [[Monster in My Pocket]] #117. It resembles the long-limbed yellow creature outside the hall door glimpsed briefly in the 1982 film.

There is a poltergeist named [[Peeves]] in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books.
Peeves, however, does not conform to the classic definition of a poltergeist. The fact that he manifests visually would seem to indicate that he is something similar to a ghost, though [[J. K. Rowling]] has stated that a poltergeist is not the ghost of any person who has ever lived. Perhaps she intended Peeves to be more of a literal translation of the word poltergeist, as Peeves is quite noisy and mischievous. However, it is also possible that [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry]] and other students can perceive Peeves because they are [[Wizarding world|Wizard]]s, and that he would be still invisible to [[Muggle]]s. It is also interesting to note that Peeves appears in color, where the other ghosts at the school appear as white, misty figures.

The [[Terry Pratchett]] [[Discworld]] novel ''[[A Hat Full of Sky]]'' features an "ondageist" named Oswald. This is the opposite of a poltergeist: a spirit obsessed with cleaning and tidying.

On October 20, 1942, the [[old time radio]] show [[Lights Out (radio show)|Lights Out]] featured a story called "Poltergeist" in which a trio of girls experience horrific, unexplained assaults from flying stones after one walks over a grave.

On Tuesday, November 15th, 2005, [[Supernatural]] aired a show involving a multiple haunting in the old house of Dean and Sam. The owner of the house would claim there were rats in the house, but never actually saw them, only heard scratching and rustling noises. The poltergeist in the house flung knives, opened baby cribs and fridges, and claims the hand of a repairman trying to fix the garbage disposal.

Some Castlevania games feature a few poltergeist phenomena. For example, certain furnitures may suddenly spring to life and attack (some of these furnitures are named [[Ouija|Ouija Table]]). Another case is the enemy Alastor, where a giant sword floats around in the air, wielded by an occasionally visible, invulnerable spirit. In some disputed game canon, it is said that a yet unseen character called the Poltergeist King takes charge of the [[Castlevania|Belmont]] family weapons between quests.

The popular Ju-on series of horror films in Japan and the Americanized version ''[[The Grudge]]'', feature poltergeist elements including the replaying of the tragedy, and the violent nature of the ghosts.

The 2002 novel, ''The Bishop in the West Wing'', written by Catholic priest and author [[Andrew Greeley|Andrew M. Greeley]], includes a poltergeist as a central feature of the story.


==See also==
==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}} <!-- Please respect alphabetical order -->
* [[Apparitional experience]]
* [[Ghost]]
* [[Ghost hunting]]
* [[Ghost hunting]]
* [[List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]]
* [[Haunted Hollywood]]
* [[Intelligent haunting]]
* [[Lithobolia]]
* [[Fairy#Practical beliefs|Mischievous fairies]]
* [[List of basic parapsychology topics|Parapsychology topics (list)]]
* [[Kardecist spiritism|Spiritism]]
* [[Stigmatized property]]
* [[Stigmatized property]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
*{{Cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/38223-poltergeists.html|title=Poltergeists: Noisy Spirits|last=Radford|first=Benjamin|date=July 17, 2013|website=Live Science}}

==Further reading==
* [[Milbourne Christopher|Christopher, Milbourne]] (1970). ''ESP, Seers & Psychics''. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. {{ISBN|978-0-690-26815-7}}
*[[Joe Nickell|Nickell, Joe]] (2012). ''The Science of Ghosts: Searching for Spirits of the Dead''. Prometheus Books. {{ISBN|978-1-61614-586-6}}
*[[Frank Podmore|Podmore, Frank]] (1896). [https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofsoc12soci#page/44/mode/2up ''Poltergeists'']. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 12: 45–115.
*A.R.G. Owen. (1964). ''Can We Explain the Poltergeist?'' Garrett Publications / New York
*Goss, Michael. (1979). ''Poltergeists: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English, Circa 1880–1975''. Scarecrow Press.
* {{cite book |last=Price |first=Harry |author-link= Harry Price |date=1993 |title=Poltergeist: Tales of the Supernatural |location=London |publisher=Bracken Books |isbn=1-85891-084-6}}
*[[Sacheverell Sitwell|Sitwell, Sacheverell]]. (1988, originally published in 1940). ''Poltergeists: An Introduction and Examination Followed by Chosen Instances''. Dorset Press.


==External links==
==External links==
{{wiktionary|poltergeist}}
{{cleanup-spam}}
{{EB1911 poster|Poltergeist}}
* [[Andrew Lang]], [http://www.psychanalyse-paris.com/807-The-Poltergeist-and-his.html The Poltergeist and his explainers], ''The Making of Religion'', (Appendix B), Longmans, Green, and C°, London, New York and Bombay, 1900, pp. 324-339.
* [http://www.psychanalyse-paris.com/807-The-Poltergeist-and-his.html The Poltergeist and his explainers], [[Andrew Lang]], Psychanalyse-paris.com
*[http://hauntedontario.com Haunted Ontario] - Founded in 1996 by Bob Milne, Haunted Ontario chronicles the ghosts, spirits, spooks, and poltergeists said to haunt Canada's most populated province.
* [http://www.skepdic.com/poltergeist.html Skeptic's Dictionary]
* [http://www.spiritsearchers.co.uk Spirit Searchers - the UK's leading paranormal investigators]
* [http://www.thesupernaturalworld.co.uk/index.php?s=35ef6687210fde9bcd6bef0c818cde65&code=02&file=poltergeists.php&title=Poltergeists&cat=articles Poltergeists]
* [http://www.kenpage.com/healingtechniques/dehaunting.html Dehaunting Techniques]
* [http://www.ghostfinders.co.uk/ www.GhostFinders.co.uk]
* [http://www.parapsychology.org/ International Journal of Parapsychology]
* [http://www.princeton.edu/~pear/ Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research]
* [http://skepdic.com/ghosts.html Skeptic's Dictionary]
* [http://www.harryprice.co.uk/ The Harry Price Website] Articles on Eleonore Zugun, Borley Rectory, Gef the Talking Mongoose and the Battersea Poltergeist
* [http://maxpages.com/mapit/THE_ENTITY_CASE] The Entity Case
*[http://legacyweb.com Poltergeist The Legacy]
* http://home.comcast.net/~twilight.mist/Shadow-Beings.html
* [http://www.internet-home.net/thelegacy/rpg/ Poltergeist: The Legacy RPG] P:TL RPG


{{Parapsychology|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:German loanwords]]
{{Ghosts|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:Ghosts]]
{{German folklore}}
[[Category:Spirituality]]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Psychokinesis]]


[[Category:Poltergeists| ]]
[[cs:Poltergeist]]
[[Category:German ghosts]]
[[de:Poltergeist]]
[[Category:Germanic legendary creatures]]
[[es:Poltergeist]]
[[fr:Poltergeist]]
[[Category:Telekinesis]]
[[it:Poltergeist]]
[[lt:Poltergeistas]]
[[nl:Klopgeest]]
[[ja:ポルターガイスト現象]]
[[no:Poltergeist]]
[[pl:Poltergeist]]
[[pt:Poltergeist]]
[[ru:Полтергейст]]
[[fi:Poltergeist]]
[[sv:Poltergeist]]
[[zh:騷靈現象]]

Latest revision as of 18:20, 31 December 2024

For other uses, see Poltergeist (disambiguation).
Artist conception of poltergeist activity claimed by Thérèse Selles, a 14-year-old domestic servant of the Todescini family at Cheragas, Algeria. From the French magazine La Vie Mystérieuse in 1911.

In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist (/ˈpoʊltərˌɡaɪst/ or /ˈpɒltərˌɡaɪst/; German: [ˈpɔltɐɡaɪ̯st] ⓘ; 'rumbling ghost' or 'noisy spirit') is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of poltergeists show them as being capable of pinching, biting, hitting, and tripping people. They are also depicted as capable of the movement or levitation of objects such as furniture and cutlery, or noises such as knocking on doors. Foul smells are also associated with poltergeist occurrences, as well as spontaneous fires and different electrical issues such as flickering lights.[1]

These manifestations have been recorded in many cultures and countries, including Brazil, Australia, the United States, Japan and most European nations. The first recorded cases date back to the 1st century.

Skeptics explain poltergeists as juvenile tricksters fooling credulous adults.

Etymology

[edit]

The word poltergeist comes from the German language words poltern 'to make sound, to rumble' and Geist 'ghost, spirit' and the term itself translates as 'noisy ghost', 'rumble-ghost' or a 'loud spirit'.

Suggested explanations

[edit]

Hoax

[edit]
Part of a series on the
Paranormal
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Many claims have been made that poltergeist activity explains strange events (including those by modern self-styled ghost hunters), however, their evidence has so far not stood up to scrutiny.[2] Many claimed poltergeist events have been proven upon investigation to be hoaxes.[3]

Psychical researcher Frank Podmore proposed the 'naughty little girl' theory for poltergeist cases (many of which have seemed to centre on an adolescent, usually a girl).[4] He found that the centre of the disturbance was often a child who was throwing objects around to fool or scare people for attention.[4][5] Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell says that claimed poltergeist incidents typically originate from "an individual who is motivated to cause mischief".[6] According to Nickell:

In the typical poltergeist outbreak, small objects are hurled through the air by unseen forces, furniture is overturned, or other disturbances occur—usually just what could be accomplished by a juvenile trickster determined to plague credulous adults.

Nickell writes that reports are often exaggerated by credulous witnesses.[7]

Time and time again in other "poltergeist" outbreaks, witnesses have reported an object leaping from its resting place supposedly on its own, when it is likely that the perpetrator had secretly obtained the object sometime earlier and waited for an opportunity to fling it, even from outside the room—thus supposedly proving he or she was innocent.

Unsubstantiated claims:

Psychological

[edit]

A claim of activity at Caledonia Mills (1899–1922) was investigated by Walter Franklin Prince, research officer for the American Society for Psychical Research in 1922. Prince concluded that the mysterious fires and alleged poltergeist phenomena were because of a psychological state of dissociation.[10]

Nandor Fodor investigated the Thornton Heath poltergeist claim (1938). His conclusion of the case were a psychoanalytical explanation and in a subsequent publication: "The poltergeist is not a ghost. It is a bundle of projected repressions,".[11]

According to research in anomalistic psychology, claims of poltergeist activity can be explained by psychological factors such as illusion, memory lapses, and wishful thinking.[12] A study (Lange and Houran, 1998) wrote that poltergeist experiences are delusions "resulting from the affective and cognitive dynamics of percipients' interpretation of ambiguous stimuli".[13] Psychologist Donovan Rawcliffe has written that almost all poltergeist cases that have been investigated turned out to be based on trickery, whilst the rest are attributable to psychological factors such as hallucinations.[14]

Psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung was interested in the concept of poltergeists and the occult in general. Jung believed that a female cousin's trance states were responsible for a dining table splitting in two and his later discovery of a broken bread knife.[15]

Jung also believed that when a bookcase gave an explosive cracking sound during a meeting with Sigmund Freud in 1909, he correctly predicted there would be a second sound, speculating that such phenomena were caused by 'exteriorization' of his subconscious mind. Freud disagreed, and concluded there was some natural cause. Freud biographers maintain the sounds were likely caused by the wood of the bookcase contracting as it dried out.[16][17]

Unverified natural phenomena

[edit]

Attempts have also been made to scientifically explain poltergeist disturbances that have not been traced to fraud or psychological factors. Skeptic and magician Milbourne Christopher found that some cases of poltergeist activity can be attributed to unusual air currents, such as a 1957 case on Cape Cod where downdrafts from an uncovered chimney became strong enough to blow a mirror off a wall, overturn chairs and knock things off shelves.[18]

In the 1950s, Guy William Lambert proposed that reported poltergeist phenomena could be explained by the movement of underground water causing stress on houses.[19] He suggested that water turbulence could cause strange sounds or structural movement of the property, possibly causing the house to vibrate and move objects. Later researchers, such as Alan Gauld and Tony Cornell, tested Lambert's hypothesis by placing specific objects in different rooms and subjecting the house to strong mechanical vibrations.[19] They discovered that although the structure of the building had been damaged, only a few of the objects moved a very short distance. The skeptic Trevor H. Hall criticized the hypothesis claiming if it was true "the building would almost certainly fall into ruins."[20] According to Richard Wiseman the hypothesis has not held up to scrutiny.[19]

Michael Persinger has theorized that seismic activity could cause poltergeist phenomena.[21] However, Persinger's claims regarding the effects of environmental geomagnetic activity on paranormal experiences have not been independently replicated and, like his findings regarding the God helmet, may simply be explained by the suggestibility of participants.[22][23]

David Turner, a retired physical chemist, suggested that ball lightning might cause the "spooky movement of objects blamed on poltergeists."[24]

  • Sampford Peverell (1810–1811) - poltergeistal noises were determined made by smugglers from behind a false wall [25]

Paranormal

[edit]

Parapsychologists Nandor Fodor and William G. Roll suggested that poltergeist activity can be explained by psychokinesis.[26][27]

Historically, actual malicious spirits were blamed for apparent poltergeist-type activity, such as objects moving seemingly of their own accord.[28] According to Allan Kardec, the founder of Spiritism, poltergeists are manifestations of disembodied spirits of low level, belonging to the sixth class of the third order. Under this explanation, they are believed to be closely associated with the elements (fire, air, water, earth).[29] In Finland, somewhat famous are the case of the "Mäkkylä Ghost" in 1946, which received attention in the press at the time,[30] and the "Devils of Martin" in Ylöjärvi in the late 19th century, for which affidavits were obtained in court.[31] Samuli Paulaharju has also recorded a memoir of a typical poltergeist — the case of "Salkko-Niila" — from the south of Lake Inari in his book Memoirs of Lapland (Lapin muisteluksia). The story has also been published in the collection of Mythical Stories (Myytillisiä tarinoita) edited by Lauri Simonsuuri.[32]

Famous cases

[edit]
Epworth Rectory, supposed site of paranormal hauntings in the mid-1710s

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "poltergeist | Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained - Credo Reference". search.credoreference.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  2. ^ Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live. Bill Ellis. 2001
  3. ^ Hines, Terence. (2003). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. p. 98. ISBN 978-1573929790
  4. ^ a b Dingwall, John; Hall, Trevor H. (1958). Four Modern Ghosts. Duckworth. pp. 13–14
  5. ^ Goldstuck, Arthur. The Ghost that Closed Down the Town: The Story of the Haunting of South Africa. Penguin Books. p. 275. ISBN 978-0143025054 "Podmore advanced a 'naughty little girl' theory, suggesting that trickery accounted for nearly all poltergeist manifestations, and that the girls and boys who so often seemed to be the victims of poltergeists were actually pulling the strings."
  6. ^ Joe Nickell (3 July 2012). The Science of Ghosts: Searching for Spirits of the Dead. Prometheus Books. pp. 283–. ISBN 978-1-61614-586-6.
  7. ^ Nickell, Joe (July 2012). "Enfield Poltergeist, Investigative Files". August 2012. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  8. ^ Hone, William. (1878 edition, originally published 1825). The Every Day Book. London: William Tegg. pp. 31-35
  9. ^ Clarkson, Michael (4 February 2006). Poltergeists: Examining Mysteries of the Paranormal. Firefly Books. p. 135. ISBN 978-1554071593. "Anita Gregory, of the Society for Psychical Research, who had spent just a short time at the Hodgson home, said the mysterious men's voices were simply the result of Janet and Margaret putting bed sheets to their mouths. In addition Gregory said that a video camera had caught Janet attempting to bend spoons and an iron bar by force and 'practising' levitation by bouncing up and down on her bed."
  10. ^ Colombo, John Robert. (2000). Ghost Stories of Canada. Dundurn. p. 43. ISBN 0-88882-222-7
  11. ^ Timms, Joanna. (2012). Phantasm of Freud: Nandor Fodor and the Psychoanalytic Approach to the Supernatural in Interwar Britain. Psychoanalysis & History. Volume 14: 5-27.

    claim for the recognition of a malevolent type of psycho-physiological disturbance, to which "haunted people" find themselves subjected...Nothing that is submitted in this book is believable
  12. ^ Zusne, Leonard; Jones, Warren H. (1989). Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking. Psychology Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-0805805086
  13. ^ Lange, R; Houran, J. (1998). Delusions of the paranormal: A haunting question of perception. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 186 (10): 637–645.
  14. ^ Rawcliffe, Donovan. (1988). Occult and Supernatural Phenomena. Dover Publications. pp. 377–378. ISBN 0-486-25551-4
  15. ^ Colin Wilson (8 November 2010). Poltergeist: A Classic Study in Destructive Hauntings. Llewellyn Worldwide. ISBN 978-0-7387-2237-5.
  16. ^ Colin Wilson (21 February 2019). C.G.Jung: Lord of the Underworld. Aeon Books. pp. 2–. ISBN 978-1-912807-53-6.
  17. ^ CG Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Flamingo 1983, pp 126, 179
  18. ^ Christopher, Milbourne (1970). ESP, Seers & Psychics: What the Occult Really Is. New York: Crowell. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-690-26815-7. OCLC 97063. A heavy mirror fell from the bedroom wall and an ash tray that had been resting on a table with a glass top slammed against the surface with such force that the glass was shattered.
  19. ^ a b c Wiseman, Richard (1 April 2011). Paranormality: Why We see What Isn't There. Macmillan. pp. 167–169. ISBN 978-1743038383.
    • Lambert, G. W. (1955). Poltergeists: A Physical Theory. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 38: 49–71.
  20. ^ Dingwall, Eric; Hall, Trevor H. (1958). Four Modern Ghosts. Gerald Duckworth. p. 105
  21. ^ Houran, James (2004). From Shaman to Scientist: Essays on Humanity's Search for Spirits. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. p. 11. ISBN 0-8108-5054-0.
  22. ^ French, CC., Haque, U., Bunton-Stasyshyn, R., Davis, R. (2009), "The "Haunt" project: An attempt to build a "haunted" room by manipulating complex electromagnetic fields and infrasound" (PDF), Cortex, 45 (5): 619–629, doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2007.10.011, PMID 18635163, S2CID 3944854{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Wiseman, Richard (September 2011). "The Haunted Brain". Csicop.org. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  24. ^ Muir, Hazel (2001-12-20). "Ball lightning scientists remain in the dark". New Scientist. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
  25. ^ Codd, Daniel. Paranormal Devon (2013). Amberley Publishing. p.30-34. ISBN 9781848681668.
  26. ^ Fodor, N. (1964). Between Two Worlds. West Nyack, NY: Parker Publishing.
  27. ^ Houran, James; Lange, Rense. (2007). Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. McFarland. p. 290. ISBN 978-0786432493
  28. ^ Goss, Michael. (1979). Poltergeists: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English, Circa 1880–1975. Scarecrow Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-0810811812
  29. ^ Allan Kardec, Le Livre des Esprits. (2000). chapter 106, Jean de Bonnot. p.46.
  30. ^ IS: Espoon poltergeist: Mitä tapahtui Mäkkylän kummitustalossa syksyllä 1946? (in Finnish)
  31. ^ Esko Mustonen: Poltergeist: tuntematon voima. WSOY 1986. ISBN 951-0-13810-X (in Finnish)
  32. ^ "Paulaharju Samuli, Lapin muisteluksia – Salkko-Niila" (in Finnish). Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  33. ^ Harry Price, The Most Haunted House in England: Ten Years' Investigation (new edition, 1990)
  34. ^ Spraggett, Allen (Jan 2, 1974). "Pursuing the Elusive Poltergeist". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  35. ^ Fairley, John; Welfare, Simon (1984). Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers. London: Harper Collins. pp. 28–31. ISBN 0-00-216679-8.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Christopher, Milbourne (1970). ESP, Seers & Psychics. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. ISBN 978-0-690-26815-7
  • Nickell, Joe (2012). The Science of Ghosts: Searching for Spirits of the Dead. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-61614-586-6
  • Podmore, Frank (1896). Poltergeists. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 12: 45–115.
  • A.R.G. Owen. (1964). Can We Explain the Poltergeist? Garrett Publications / New York
  • Goss, Michael. (1979). Poltergeists: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English, Circa 1880–1975. Scarecrow Press.
  • Price, Harry (1993). Poltergeist: Tales of the Supernatural. London: Bracken Books. ISBN 1-85891-084-6.
  • Sitwell, Sacheverell. (1988, originally published in 1940). Poltergeists: An Introduction and Examination Followed by Chosen Instances. Dorset Press.
[edit]
Look up poltergeist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Poltergeist".
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