by Florence Cardinal

Created on: February 17, 2010

Consider the power of the paranormal. Not telepathic power or psychic power of any sort. I'm talking about its power to grip the minds of the public. It seems it's appearing everywhere.

Book stores carry shelf after shelf of paranormal books. They may be labeled horror, and some of them are true-to-life horror - topics like stalkers and serial killers. But the majority are pure, unadulterated paranormal.

 Authors have made a fortune writing about it. Stephen King writes on everything from telekinesis (Carrie) to Vampires (Salem's Lot) to haunted castles (The Shining.) Anne Rice wrote terrifying novels about vampires and witches. Witness the popularity of the vampire Lestat in the Vampire Chronicles and the witches chronicles in The Mayfield Witches. Dean Koontz writes about a variety of paranormal topics. Even romance novels have embraced the paranormal with werewolves, vampires and ghosts all represented.

 Movies are no different. In fact the authors mentioned above all have stories that have been translated to the big screen. And it doesn't end there. Hardly a month goes by without a few new paranormal entries on the new features list. I've even seen movies entitled Sasquatch and  Chupacabra.

 Television boasts its own assortment, going back to 1959 and the advent of The Twilight Zone, soon followed, in 1964, by The Outer Limits.. Why not throw in an afternoon soap with a vampire lead, and we have Barnabas in Dark Shadows.

My favorite is The X-Files and I have all nine seasons on DVD. True, a lot of the episodes were concerned with an alien conspiracy (and even that has its paranormal overtones) but many episodes took a walk on the darker side of the unknown - werewolves, vampires, even a chupacabra.

 Books, movies, television have all been invaded by the paranormal bug. And I haven't even touched on the numerous science fiction movies, series or books. Many people consider UFOs and extraterrestrials as a part of the paranormal field.

The question is why has the paranormal forged all these inroads into the entertainment field. Why has it taken such a hold on the imagination of the world?

 A fascination with the unknown is as old as mankind itself. Early caveman looked up at the stars and wondered. A need to know has led man deeper into every field from science to exploration and even into religion.

 What's out there? Why does this happen? What powers do we possess, and I believe we are all psychic, but most have allowed those psychic abilities to lie dormant.

 We've passed through the Stone Age, the Iron Age, the Bronze Age. Some call where we are now the Solar Age. Perhaps next will come the true "New Age," the "Age of Enlightenment" when the power of the mind will finally be accepted as the highest power of all.

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