Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf

“Nothing in my formal training prepared me for the events described in this book.  What I discovered defied everything I knew about treating patients suffering from grief and trauma, and it took me into an unfamiliar realm of human experience.  I and about 200 other trained psychotherapists have induced thousands of after death communications.  It appears to work with nearly everyone, nearly all of the time.” – Dr. Allan L. Botkin, author of Induced After Death Communication

What if communication with the dead was no longer a spontaneous occurrence but rather something anyone could access any time they liked?  In 1995, Dr. Allan Botkin chanced upon a treatment for grief and loss that appeared to deliver exactly that.  Botkin’s method is called “Induced After Death Communication” – and it is currently being practiced all over the world.  But is it true communication with the spirits of the dead -- or something else entirely?
Richard grapples with this question as he reads Dr. Botkin’s book in the aftermath of his mother’s death.  How does one process grief when the relationship being grieved is “complicated” at best?  And how can you trust a supernatural event that can be accessed as easily as a visit to a therapist’s office?
Links:

Support RHPB on Patreon here! https://patreon.com/RichardHatem?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

Celebrate 2026 with 26% off all RHPB merch with offer code RHPB26! CLICK HERE and the discount is pre-applied! https://richardhatem-shop.fourthwall.com/promo/RHPB26

Need help with your personal writing projects?  Richard is here to help!  Get 20% off when you mention RHPB!  https://www.richardhatem.com/

Buy Dr. Allan Botkin’s Induced After Death Communication here https://bookshop.org/p/books/induced-after-death-communication-a-miraculous-therapy-for-grief-and-loss-allan-l-botkin-psyd/7d367a8ec38ec68c?ean=9781571747129&next=t

“It was Christmas time.  It was supposed to be a time of happiness, but we had funerals in town.  We couldn’t put off the funerals until after Christmas.  They said later, they found a hairline crack in an eyebolt, and once one part went down, the whole bridge went down.” – from the book Bridging The Tragedy by Bill & Jaci Kousoulas
When the Silver Bridge collapsed on December 15, 1967, the tragedy touched the lives of everyone in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.  In the months leading up to the disaster, hundreds of people in the Ohio River Valley reported UFO sightings, psychic events, poltergeist activity, Men in Black and encounters with a flying humanoid that became known as Mothman.  What happens to a community that undergoes this kind of trauma?  Bill & Jaci Kousoulas decided to find out.
Richard was fortunate enough to meet Bill & Jaci at the 2025 Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant.  In this interview, Richard talks with them about their initial interest in the case (sparked by the movie The Mothman Prophecies), their paranormal investigations, the concept of “Post Traumatic Growth”, and the people they met in Point Pleasant – many of them first-hand witnesses to the bridge collapse and the Mothman himself – all of which led to the publication of their book Bridging the Tragedy -- Silver Linings In The Mysterious Ohio River Valley.     
LINKS:  

Buy Bill & Jaci’s book “Bridging the Tragedy” here https://www.amazon.com/Bridging-Tragedy-Silver-Linings-Mysterious/dp/B0CGKK5KTC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2UISTYHW9O71R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JGFkN_m1TGe7bsB-M4g1NV0X-SsmyxkAfqfydVAkI4z6qQIdI1EhVVj1HxqXLrXm.elAVktCytqkj6YX87VPcYvE9F4C_LnqmyBHd4r6AhBI&dib_tag=se&keywords=bridging+the+tragedy&qid=1769029017&s=books&sprefix=bridging+the+tragedy%2Cstripbooks%2C168&sr=1-1

“He was seen with this guy… Two days later a neighbor said his lawn sprinkler had been running continuously. They called the police.  A lieutenant was sent out – they found the back door ajar.  So he went through and discovered Scott -- slain in a pool of blood.”  -- parapsychologist Dr. Callum Cooper on the death of D. Scott Rogo.
Today I’m thrilled to be talking with Dr. Callum Cooper about his personal research into the life and tragic death of fellow parapsychologist D. Scott Rogo.  Rogo was the driving force behind one of the strangest and most fascinating books ever written – Phone Calls From The Dead.  Cooper followed up on this research and published his own book 30 years later: Telephone Calls From The Dead.

In our conversation, Cooper discusses his investigation into the murder of D. Scott Rogo, his role in getting Phone Calls From The Dead republished in a new affordable volume – and his ongoing fascination with electronic communication with the dead.
LINKS:
Learn more about Dr. Callum Cooper and purchase his books at his personal website https://www.callumecooper.com/

Buy a brand new – and affordable! – copy of D. Scott Rogo and Raymond Bayless’s classic book Phone Calls From The Dead here https://bookshop.org/p/books/phone-calls-from-the-dead-the-results-of-a-two-year-investigation-into-an-incredible-phenomenon-d-scott-rogo/27684604309b6445?ean=9781786772725&next=t

Watch this amazing vintage theatrical promo trailer for the movie Poltergeist -- featuring D. Scott Rogo himself!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIQDw3mJlAg

“I became a journalist because of Carl Kolchak. He was my idea of what a journalist was and should be, and he remains that to this day.” -- Mark Dawidziak, author of The Night Stalker Companion

Today’s episode is a Christmas gift to myself: a visit with my friend Mark Dawidziak, who just happens to be the world’s leading authority on Carl Kolchak and all things Night Stalker – the movies, the TV series, the original novel by Jeff Rice and the many sequel novels, one of which was written by Mark himself!

The Night Stalker, a TV-movie starring Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland and Barry Atwater, was about an intrepid reporter named Carl Kolchak covering a series of bizarre murders in Las Vegas – murders he becomes increasingly convinced are being committed by an actual, real-life vampire.  It premiered on January 11, 1972 to blockbuster ratings and for decades was the highest rated TV-movie of all time.  It led to a sequel, The Night Strangler, and eventually to a 20-episode TV series that premiered on September 13, 1974. It’s the TV show that most people my age remember – a weekly trip into horror that at the time had no equal. Chris Carter often cites his love for The Night Stalker as the inspiration for creating his hit series The X-Files. And of course, listeners of this podcast know about my affection for the show and how formative it was for me as a young kid.

Join Mark and me as we talk about Darren McGavin, Dan Curtis, David Chase, our favorite Night Stalker episodes, the history of the American vampire, the 3rd (unproduced) Night Stalker movie, how Darren McGavin finally gave up on the show (but not the character) – and the upcoming 2026 release of the all-new, definitive edition of The Night Stalker Companion!

Mark Dawidziak is the author or editor of 25 books, including three acclaimed studies of landmark television series: The Columbo Phile, The Night Stalker Companion and Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone. He also is an internationally recognized Mark Twain scholar, and five of his books are about the iconic American writer. His most recent book,  A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe, was published by St. Martin’s Press in February 2023.

Keep up with Mark Dawidziak and buy his books at his personal website here https://www.markdawidziak.com/

Buy The Night Stalker TV series on DVD here https://kinolorber.com/product/kolchak-the-night-stalker-the-complete-series-blu-ray?gad_campaignid=21604535012

Buy the novel The Night Stalker here https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=jeff%20rice&ref_=search_f_hp&sts=t&tn=night%20stalker

“It was ten feet away, slick dark-brown hair. And it’s going up this ridge. The cop in me kicks in and I decide I’m going to follow it. I just wanted to see it again. In retrospect it’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It was totally unsafe. I do not recommend it to anybody who’s listening.” – Bigfoot researcher Brian King-Sharp

What is it like to come face-to-furry-face with Bigfoot?  Today you’ll find out.  My friend Brian King-Sharp, host of the popular Sasquatch Odyssey podcast has been on the trail of Bigfoot for forty years.  And he’s here to answer our questions -- and spill his secrets: Why haven’t we ever found a Bigfoot body?  Is the Patterson-Gimlin film a hoax?  Why do hunters never seem to shoot a Bigfoot?  What is the best evidence we have that Bigfoot exists?  And what does it feel like to finally encounter one up close?  

LINKS & NOTES

Support RHPB on Patreon here! https://patreon.com/RichardHatem?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink 

Get RHPB merch here!

https://richardhatem-shop.fourthwall.com/? 

Listen to Brian King-Sharps podcast Sasquatch Odyssey here:  https://pod.link/1552990311 

Buy all of Brian’s books here:

https://paranormalworldproductions.com/store

Find out more about Sasquatch Research at the Olympic Project here: https://www.olympicproject.com/

"Get your tickets to 'Merry Queerness' -- the cabaret show Susan's producing -- here!

https://lalgbtcenter.org/event/merry-queerness-a-wildly-inappropriate-holiday-show/