GHOSTS IN IRISH HOUSES by James Reynolds

New year, more new (old) books! And another entry in the see-through ghost gals cover gallery, along with a somber blurb that skeptics will either be petrified or fully converted by the stories within ... which is a bit beside the point as the 22 tales within don't offer themselves as anything other than folklore. Perhaps this 1968 reprint by the Paperback Library was trying to fit in among the then-current crop of scientific ghost books which promised hard evidence and PROOF of the other side. Not to say there aren't some real corkers here, selected by author James Reynolds out of over 200 (!) stories he catalogued from the Emerald Isle. This title has enjoyed frequent reprints through the years, a testament to the evocative stories from those "richly imaginative" Irish!

Available to read and download at archive dot org.

Paperback Library, 1968 (original pub. 1947)

IMPOSSIBLE YET IT HAPPENED! by R. DeWitt Miller

Charming old collection of Forteana makes no bones about its scattershot structure, flitting from mystery to mystery and never overstaying its welcome. Interesting to see the state of General Weirdness just a few years before the Bermuda Triangle, Bigfoot, and the UFO explosion. Miller writes with a light touch, leveling things with a wry sense of humor whether the subject is sea serpents or seances. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there concerning Miller, besides his published works and the fact that he died at the age of 48 in 1958. Going by the past tense of his author description, this paperback was published at some point after that. 

The excellent UFO blog The Saucers That Time Forgot has a a very thorough article on this book and its early flying saucer influence under its original title, Forgotten Mysteries.

Available to read and download at archive dot org.

Ace Books, circa 1960 (original pub. 1947)