Author Archives: Christopher Laursen

About Christopher Laursen

I am a historian and writer. I curate three blogs: Extraordinarium (studies and experiences of extraordinary things), Sound Addictions (uplifting music every day), and with Kristofir, I co-curate Vegiterra (my personal blog on travel, food, and culture). I also have a website about my research, blog, and work.
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Interview: Hannah Gilbert and Madeleine Castro on Exploring the Extraordinary

Exploring the Extraordinary is an annual conference that recognizes and discusses the extraordinary things – a wide range of them – that occur in people’s everyday lives. Christopher Laursen speaks with its co-founders about the upcoming conference.      

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Interview: Hannah Gilbert and Madeleine Castro on Exploring the Extraordinary

Exploring the Extraordinary is an annual conference that recognizes and discusses the extraordinary things – a wide range of them – that occur in people’s everyday lives. Christopher Laursen speaks with its co-founders about the upcoming conference.      

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Interview: John Savoie on the Making of the Blue Ghost Tunnel

A historic Canadian railway tunnel, in disuse since the 1930s, suddenly becomes an Internet-driven, ghost hunting sensation. What was it that sparked such intense interest around this site? Christopher Laursen deconstructs the legend with author John Savoie.        

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Interview: John Savoie on the Making of the Blue Ghost Tunnel

A historic Canadian railway tunnel, in disuse since the 1930s, suddenly becomes an Internet-driven, ghost hunting sensation. What was it that sparked such intense interest around this site? Christopher Laursen deconstructs the legend with author John Savoie.        

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Spiritual Housekeeping

Author and Reiki Master Cat Wheeler shares a variety of extraordinary experiences from her time living in Singapore and Bali over the past two decades. She talks about how she learned to clear spaces of unwanted energies and achieve fearlessness.

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Spiritual Housekeeping

Author and Reiki Master Cat Wheeler shares a variety of extraordinary experiences from her time living in Singapore and Bali over the past two decades. She talks about how she learned to clear spaces of unwanted energies and achieve fearlessness.

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Interview: Ingrid Kloosterman and Wim Kramer on Dutch psychical research

Two historians are tracing the origins and development of psychical research in the Netherlands, which otherwise has been seldom discussed in English language studies. They show how historically, Dutch parapsychology has been a significant part of the discipline of psychology.

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Interview: Ingrid Kloosterman and Wim Kramer on Dutch psychical research

Two historians are tracing the origins and development of psychical research in the Netherlands, which otherwise has been seldom discussed in English language studies. They show how historically, Dutch parapsychology has been a significant part of the discipline of psychology.

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Pulsating Orb in the November Night Sky

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1990. The sighting of a glowing red orb in the November night sky ignited Sue Demeter St-Clair’s inquiring mind. Finding “thoughtful and intelligent people who were looking into these extraordinary experiences without prejudice” shaped her investigative mandate.

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Pulsating Orb in the November Night Sky

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1990. The sighting of a glowing red orb in the November night sky ignited Sue Demeter St-Clair’s inquiring mind. Finding “thoughtful and intelligent people who were looking into these extraordinary experiences without prejudice” shaped her investigative mandate.

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Did you experience objects that repeatedly moved on their own with no apparent explanation?

If so, historian Christopher Laursen would like to hear from you.  This research focuses on these types of experiences that occurred between 1945 and 1990.  The movement of objects on their own should have taken place repeated over a period

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Did you experience objects that repeatedly moved on their own with no apparent explanation?

If so, historian Christopher Laursen would like to hear from you.  This research focuses on these types of experiences that occurred between 1945 and 1990.  The movement of objects on their own should have taken place repeated over a period

Featured
animals

Why Not An Animal Afterlife?

Christopher Laursen shares the experiences of a friend and his mother that suggest that animals survive death. In one, a ghostly cat, in the other signs from beloved pets. A thorough bibliography shows how many people are reporting such experiences.

animals

Why Not An Animal Afterlife?

Christopher Laursen shares the experiences of a friend and his mother that suggest that animals survive death. In one, a ghostly cat, in the other signs from beloved pets. A thorough bibliography shows how many people are reporting such experiences.

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Shadows from the Multiverse & the Kuntilanak

Christopher Laursen reviews the uncanny experiences recorded by an expatriate living in Bali: strange shadows that beckon to another dimension; and the kuntilanak, an apparition of a girl with long black hair, similar to the one in The Ring.   

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Shadows from the Multiverse & the Kuntilanak

Christopher Laursen reviews the uncanny experiences recorded by an expatriate living in Bali: strange shadows that beckon to another dimension; and the kuntilanak, an apparition of a girl with long black hair, similar to the one in The Ring.   

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The Ramifications of the Reading Horrors

Christopher Laursen reveals the intersection of a ghost tale and a grisly crime. In the late 19th-century England, the infamous baby farmer Amelia Dyer was arrested for multiple infanticides. Her spectre was sighted by a prison warder after her execution.

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The Ramifications of the Reading Horrors

Christopher Laursen reveals the intersection of a ghost tale and a grisly crime. In the late 19th-century England, the infamous baby farmer Amelia Dyer was arrested for multiple infanticides. Her spectre was sighted by a prison warder after her execution.

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The Spirit That Moves Me: Transformative Snakes, Transcending Mortality

One may argue that life in itself is extraordinary. Both the process of daily living and the very existence of living things. Christopher Laursen shares some personal experiences in two articles written for the wonderful blog The Spirit That Moves Me.

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The Spirit That Moves Me: Transformative Snakes, Transcending Mortality

One may argue that life in itself is extraordinary. Both the process of daily living and the very existence of living things. Christopher Laursen shares some personal experiences in two articles written for the wonderful blog The Spirit That Moves Me.

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Surveying Hong Kong’s Abundant Spirits

Polls of paranormal encounters have provided insightful data into the diversity of such experiences. As Christopher Laursen writes, in the 1980s, one such study was published by Gettysburg College sociologist Charles Emmons, and he is currently looking to revise it.

hongkong 009

Surveying Hong Kong’s Abundant Spirits

Polls of paranormal encounters have provided insightful data into the diversity of such experiences. As Christopher Laursen writes, in the 1980s, one such study was published by Gettysburg College sociologist Charles Emmons, and he is currently looking to revise it.

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Edmonton’s McKay Avenue School

Reflecting on the first article he wrote about ghosts and hauntings in 1992, Christopher Laursen takes us to a historic school and drive-in restaurant in downtown Edmonton, Canada. He writes, “I can definitely respect that there is something odd there.”

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Edmonton’s McKay Avenue School

Reflecting on the first article he wrote about ghosts and hauntings in 1992, Christopher Laursen takes us to a historic school and drive-in restaurant in downtown Edmonton, Canada. He writes, “I can definitely respect that there is something odd there.”

dreamscover

Japanese Yokai On-Screen: Pom Poko, The Great Yokai War & Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams

Three fantastical Japanese films introduce viewers to the culture’s rich variety of kwaidan and yokai – ghosts, some of them shapeshifting, others animal hybrids, and some of them radically defying the conventions of the Western imagination.        

dreamscover

Japanese Yokai On-Screen: Pom Poko, The Great Yokai War & Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams

Three fantastical Japanese films introduce viewers to the culture’s rich variety of kwaidan and yokai – ghosts, some of them shapeshifting, others animal hybrids, and some of them radically defying the conventions of the Western imagination.        

gilimeno

The Ghosts of Gili Meno

With its beautiful turquoise waters, pathways absent of motor vehicles, and view over the dry mountains of Lombok, Gili Meno is the perfect island getaway. But by night, as Christopher Laursen experienced, you may not feel alone in the dark.

gilimeno

The Ghosts of Gili Meno

With its beautiful turquoise waters, pathways absent of motor vehicles, and view over the dry mountains of Lombok, Gili Meno is the perfect island getaway. But by night, as Christopher Laursen experienced, you may not feel alone in the dark.

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Supernatural Songcraft: Pulsallama, “The Devil Lives In My Husband’s Body” (1982)

Christopher Laursen seeks the roots of a 1980s hidden gem, “The Devil Lives in My Husband’s Body” by Pulsallama. He finds out from band member Staceyjoy Elkin that pulp fiction not early modern witch trials served as the inspiration.  

pulsallama

Supernatural Songcraft: Pulsallama, “The Devil Lives In My Husband’s Body” (1982)

Christopher Laursen seeks the roots of a 1980s hidden gem, “The Devil Lives in My Husband’s Body” by Pulsallama. He finds out from band member Staceyjoy Elkin that pulp fiction not early modern witch trials served as the inspiration.