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The Guardian
6 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Chasing the Dark by Ben Machell review
My first and only experience with a Ouija board occurred when I was 11, at a friend's house. It was good, spooky fun until it wasn't. I recall movement and the start of a message before we recoiled from the board. Later that evening, I learned that my grandfather had died. While I realise now that a boy with a terminally ill relative and a lurid imagination was not the most reliable witness, I remember wanting to believe that I'd had a brush with the uncanny. When Times journalist Ben Machell's dying grandmother bequeathed him a crystal ball, he began idly searching for mediums and happened across the work of a man named Tony Cornell. Between 1952 and 2004, Cornell worked (unpaid and to the detriment of two marriages) for the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Weeding out deception and delusion from accounts of paranormal activity to find out what, if anything, remained, Britain's most diligent parapsychologist was more claims adjuster than ghostbuster. His answering machine filled up with pleas to investigate strange happenings around the country: a trawlerman mauled by an invisible hound, a house that bled water, a rural bungalow plagued by fires and expiring pets. Machell has honoured Cornell with an entrancing biography. Drawing on boxes of tapes and documents, an unpublished memoir and interviews with relatives and contemporaries, he hears 'the steady voice of a rational man methodically tapping the wall between reality and something else'. Cornell's approach was approvingly described as 'probing-doubt': curious without being credulous, sensitive yet rigorous. In 1977, he clashed with two SPR colleagues over the infamous Enfield poltergeist: a hoax, he decided, but they got a bestselling book out of it while Cornell's work, Machell writes, was largely 'unheralded, unrewarded and appreciated only by a small group of people'. Machell's elegantly thrilling yarn encompasses the broad history of paranormal research in the UK. In the middle of the 19th century, the tension between science and religion inspired a craze for 'proof' of life after death in the form of spiritualism – seances, clairvoyants, automatic writing – and a subsequent desire to assess its veracity. The SPR was founded in 1882, in a 'spirit of exact and unimpassioned inquiry'. Its members, including Lewis Carroll, future prime minister Arthur Balfour and psychologist William James, pioneered concepts such as telepathy and ectoplasm while exposing fraudulent mediums and 'spirit photographers'. The SPR proved so adept at debunking charlatans that Arthur Conan Doyle led a mass exodus of aggrieved spiritualists in 1930. The author's nemesis was the American researcher JB Rhine, whose new field of parapsychology focused on psychic phenomena rather than the spirit realm. A poltergeist, for example, might actually be 'recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis' – the violent discharge of mental energy by the living. Rhine's secular approach appealed to Soviet materialists, who explored telepathy as a potential cold war weapon. The physiologist Leonid Vasiliev, whom Tony Cornell visited in Leningrad in 1962, possibly at the behest of MI6, claimed that explaining extrasensory perception would be as significant as discovering atomic energy. The more concepts such as telekinesis excited the public, though, the more uneasy the group's rationalist wing became. In the 1970s, the decade of Uri Geller and Stephen King's Carrie, Cornell's mentor Eric Dingwall snapped and repudiated parapsychology for feeding a 'new occultism'. Yet Cornell persisted. Even as he exposed numerous instances of mischief, attention-seeking and hallucination, he personally encountered a handful of phenomena that defied rational explanation. It was a mind-boggling experience in postwar India, too good to spoil here, that set him on this path in the first place. He still sought answers. During the 1990s, to his surprise, Cornell's answering machine fell silent. He wondered whether conspiracy theories had supplanted the paranormal in the public imagination, or perhaps digital distractions had dulled our receptivity to psychic disturbances. But had he not died in 2010, he would have seen a new generation of ghost hunters do a roaring trade on YouTube, where there is no financial incentive for his brand of cautious analysis. As Dingwall feared, entertainment has trumped genuine investigation. Like many a biographer, Machell falls half in love with his subject. Cornell was respected within the SPR for his diplomacy and his 'consistent willingness to be wrong'. Parapsychology may not be widely accepted as a branch of science, but Cornell had a true scientist's commitment to doubt and impartiality. At a time when beliefs leave facts in the dust, it's easy to share Machell's admiration for a man who was willing to say: 'I don't know.' Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion Chasing the Dark: Encounters with the Supernatural by Ben Machell is published by Abacus (£22). To support the Guardian order your copy from Delivery charges may apply.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Chasing the Dark by Ben Machell review
My first and only experience with a Ouija board occurred when I was 11, at a friend's house. It was good, spooky fun until it wasn't. I recall movement and the start of a message before we recoiled from the board. Later that evening, I learned that my grandfather had died. While I realise now that a boy with a terminally ill relative and a lurid imagination was not the most reliable witness, I remember wanting to believe that I'd had a brush with the uncanny. When Times journalist Ben Machell's dying grandmother bequeathed him a crystal ball, he began idly searching for mediums and happened across the work of a man named Tony Cornell. Between 1952 and 2004, Cornell worked (unpaid and to the detriment of two marriages) for the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Weeding out deception and delusion from accounts of paranormal activity to find out what, if anything, remained, Britain's most diligent parapsychologist was more claims adjuster than ghostbuster. His answering machine filled up with pleas to investigate strange happenings around the country: a trawlerman mauled by an invisible hound, a house that bled water, a rural bungalow plagued by fires and expiring pets. Machell has honoured Cornell with an entrancing biography. Drawing on boxes of tapes and documents, an unpublished memoir and interviews with relatives and contemporaries, he hears 'the steady voice of a rational man methodically tapping the wall between reality and something else'. Cornell's approach was approvingly described as 'probing-doubt': curious without being credulous, sensitive yet rigorous. In 1977, he clashed with two SPR colleagues over the infamous Enfield poltergeist: a hoax, he decided, but they got a bestselling book out of it while Cornell's work, Machell writes, was largely 'unheralded, unrewarded and appreciated only by a small group of people'. Machell's elegantly thrilling yarn encompasses the broad history of paranormal research in the UK. In the middle of the 19th century, the tension between science and religion inspired a craze for 'proof' of life after death in the form of spiritualism – seances, clairvoyants, automatic writing – and a subsequent desire to assess its veracity. The SPR was founded in 1882, in a 'spirit of exact and unimpassioned inquiry'. Its members, including Lewis Carroll, future prime minister Arthur Balfour and psychologist William James, pioneered concepts such as telepathy and ectoplasm while exposing fraudulent mediums and 'spirit photographers'. The SPR proved so adept at debunking charlatans that Arthur Conan Doyle led a mass exodus of aggrieved spiritualists in 1930. The author's nemesis was the American researcher JB Rhine, whose new field of parapsychology focused on psychic phenomena rather than the spirit realm. A poltergeist, for example, might actually be 'recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis' – the violent discharge of mental energy by the living. Rhine's secular approach appealed to Soviet materialists, who explored telepathy as a potential cold war weapon. The physiologist Leonid Vasiliev, whom Tony Cornell visited in Leningrad in 1962, possibly at the behest of MI6, claimed that explaining extrasensory perception would be as significant as discovering atomic energy. The more concepts such as telekinesis excited the public, though, the more uneasy the group's rationalist wing became. In the 1970s, the decade of Uri Geller and Stephen King's Carrie, Cornell's mentor Eric Dingwall snapped and repudiated parapsychology for feeding a 'new occultism'. Yet Cornell persisted. Even as he exposed numerous instances of mischief, attention-seeking and hallucination, he personally encountered a handful of phenomena that defied rational explanation. It was a mind-boggling experience in postwar India, too good to spoil here, that set him on this path in the first place. He still sought answers. During the 1990s, to his surprise, Cornell's answering machine fell silent. He wondered whether conspiracy theories had supplanted the paranormal in the public imagination, or perhaps digital distractions had dulled our receptivity to psychic disturbances. But had he not died in 2010, he would have seen a new generation of ghost hunters do a roaring trade on YouTube, where there is no financial incentive for his brand of cautious analysis. As Dingwall feared, entertainment has trumped genuine investigation. Like many a biographer, Machell falls half in love with his subject. Cornell was respected within the SPR for his diplomacy and his 'consistent willingness to be wrong'. Parapsychology may not be widely accepted as a branch of science, but Cornell had a true scientist's commitment to doubt and impartiality. At a time when beliefs leave facts in the dust, it's easy to share Machell's admiration for a man who was willing to say: 'I don't know.' Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion Chasing the Dark: Encounters with the Supernatural by Ben Machell is published by Abacus (£22). To support the Guardian order your copy from Delivery charges may apply.
The Herald Scotland
05-06-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Fallon expecting big performance from Desert Flower
An unbeaten daughter of Night Of Thunder, Desert Flower has left Fallon spellbound. He said: 'If the filly was running in the Derby I would think she would be very competitive, I would be wanting to back her. Kieren Fallon expects Desert Flower will take all the beating in the Oaks (David Davies for The Jockey Club) 'I think the Oaks is a foregone conclusion and she ticks all the boxes. She settles and will switch off nicely and she will be fine over the trip and she will go on any ground. 'She's the nicest filly I've seen in a long time and I thought she would maybe even be good enough to beat the colts.' Few have ridden Epsom better than Fallon, who has the likes of Oath (Derby, 1995) and Kris Kin (Derby, 2003) on his roll of honour, while in 2004 he did the Epsom double by landing the Oaks on Ed Dunlop's Ouija Board before following up 24 hours later aboard Sir Michael Stoute's North Light in the Derby. This is an achievement that awaits Appleby and Godolphin's number one pilot William Buick should both Desert Flower and his Derby mount, 2000 Guineas hero Ruling Court, succeed this weekend. However, while Fallon is steadfast in his belief in Desert Flower, he is wary of the challenge Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle team presents to the Classic-winning son of Justify in Epsom's showpiece event as he puts his stamina to the test. Like Desert Flower, Ruling Court is bidding for a Classic double after winning the 2000 Guineas (David Davies for The Jockey Club) 'I think the Derby is an open race really,' added Fallon. 'Maybe it's best to stick with Ryan Moore and the draw for Delacroix (in 14) doesn't really matter if the horse is good enough. 'Ruling Court has lots of speed and won the best trial, but will he stay? I think Delacroix is guaranteed to stay whereas Ruling Court isn't. He's a horse with a lot of speed, but if there is a bit of cut in the ground it might not be ideal. 'Aidan has a great record in the race and you have to respect that, but it would be a very nice double if Charlie could do it.'
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jimmy Barnes says his 'troubled' sister became possessed after playing with a Ouija board: 'She was frothing at the mouth'
Jimmy Barnes has lifted the lid on a terrifying incident that happened when he was child. The Cold Chisel frontman, 69, candidly opened up about the inspiration for his latest project - a horror novel - and how it is based on a real life experience he had while growing up in South Australia. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he revealed that his 13-year-old sister Linda and her friends were fooling around with an Ouija board in the room next to his when she became 'possessed', displaying odd and violent behaviour. 'She ran at the wall and smashed her head and face, blood and everything,' he recalled of the horrifying moment in a chat with the publication. 'She picked herself up and was running in to the other wall and mum, who's pretty tough, came running in and held her down and Linda was pretty well frothing at the mouth. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'She was talking weird stuff that didn't even sound like her voice,' he added. In the wake of the incident, Jimmy's parents enlisted the help of doctors and spiritualists, however he maintains that his sister was 'troubled' right up until her death in 2022. The story, while a traumatising one for the singer, gave him the idea to start his novel which is loosely based on his life, taking place in Port Adelaide. Jimmy already has a large catalogue of books behind his name - six to be exact - including Working Class Boy, Working Class Man and Highways and Byways. However, his health has seen a dip in recent months, taking time away from his writing and performing. In February, Barnes was hit with yet another medical blow, following three separate surgeries in the past year and a half. The Never Tear Us Apart hitmaker has been in and out of hospital since late 2023, receiving two hip operations and open heart surgery. The musician underwent another operation on his hip just six months after he was forced to get urgent 'remedial' hip surgery in August last year. In a video shared to Instagram, Jimmy could be seen using a walking frame to aid him as he hobbled down a hallway in the hospital just 24 hours after surgery. Garbed in a patient gown, Jimmy appeared to be in good spirits as he took a stroll through the building wearing compression socks and foot pumps. 'I'm walking, day one. Woohoo! I'll be jogging by tomorrow. Dancing by Friday,' he joked. Jimmy was forced to cancel two months' worth of gigs last August after noticing an ache in his side while performing in New Zealand, which led to an urgent 'remedial' hip operation. He previously underwent open-heart surgery to fend off a staph infection, which then returned and attacked his hip, leading to surgery and a six-week recovery. The rock star made a triumphant return to stage in October after his health struggles as he performed with his band Cold Chisel at The Entertainment Quarter. The Cold Chisel 50th anniversary tour, dubbed The Big Five-0, sold over 150,000 tickets across 16 shows, making it one of the most highly-anticipated Aussie tours of the year.
News18
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Tusshar Kapoor Admits Trying Ouija Board To Talk To Ghosts As A Child: 'I Won't...'
Last Updated: Tusshar Kapoor returns to the big screen with the horror-comedy Kapkapiii. Actor Tusshar Kapoor is gearing up for his return to the big screen with the horror-comedy film Kapkapiii. The movie revolves around a group of friends who use a Ouija board to connect with spirits from the other world. During a recent press conference for the film, attended by Tusshar Kapoor, Sonia Rathee, and Siddhi Idnani, Tusshar opened up about his personal experience with the Ouija board. Speaking with ANI, Tusshar revealed that he had tried the Ouija board in his childhood purely for fun but has since decided to stay away from it. 'These are not my true events. People have done these things about which I don't know much. I did it in my childhood for fun, but I didn't try to extensively pursue it neither, want to do in future. It would be better if it is limited to films," he said. He also cautioned against disturbing the other world without proper knowledge. 'And why disturb the other world or the unknown about which we don't have much knowledge except those people who have an understanding of that world. They should also do it with safety. I am inquisitive and curious only till a point where people can watch horror film and get entertained with such stories," Tusshar added. Tusshar suggested that activities like using the Ouija board should remain confined to movies. He said, 'But, trying to experiment (Ouija Board) with it, is something I won't do. I would say that we should be in peace and let them also be rest in peace," wrapping up his thoughts on the matter. Directed by the late Sangeeth Sivan, the film is a tribute to his legacy of wild comedies and whacky worlds. It has been produced by Bravo Entertainment along with Zee Studios, this one's got major spooky-slapstick energy. First Published: May 20, 2025, 10:50 IST
