Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf

“Premonitions are impossible and they come true all the time.” -- Sam Knight, The Premonitions Bureau What would you do if you could see the future?  Would you even want to?  Join Richard as he explores Sam Knight’s The Premonitions Bureau, in which British psychologist Dr. John Barker learns the hard way that the privilege of seeing around corners comes with an unusually high price tag.  Meanwhile, Richard has always seen his own life as a rollercoaster: a terrifying journey of sharp twists and turns and stomach-flipping plunges that feels like it will last forever -- but also like it will end too soon.  Travel with him backwards and forwards through time, from 2022… to 1977… and the year 2000… as he travels from childhood to fatherhood and back again, trying desperately to answer the biggest question of all: what’s going to happen next?  Pull down the safety bar and keep your hands and feet inside the car, because the answers he finds might just scare you -- to death. Links: See Richard Hatem LIVE! The “Light in the Dark Tour” tickets and news are all right here! https://www.eventbrite.com/o/richard-hatems-paranormal-bookshelf-podcast-90573788253 And here! https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/events 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/? Buy Sam Knight’s The Premonitions Bureau here: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=sam%20knight&ch_sort=t&cm_sp=sort-_-SRP-_-Results&ds=30&dym=on&rollup=on&sortby=17&tn=premonitions%20bureau The movie Rollercoaster isn’t available to stream, but you can buy a DVD copy here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rollercoaster-DVD-Universal-Studios-Action-Adventure/1090301?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0  

According to Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma!, “The farmer and the cowman should be friends.”  Shouldn’t it be the same for the Fortean and the skeptic?  Is it even possible?   My guest tonight is Blake Smith, the host of the MonsterTalk podcast, and a self-described skeptic.  And I think you know how I take issue with a lot of skeptics and so-called skeptical arguments.  But Blake and I are friends.  Somehow, after a vulgar and insulting email blunder on my part, Blake kindly wrote back to me, a correspondence began, he invited me to be on his podcast, and the rest is history. The Fortean and the skeptic became friends.  I think the reason we’re friends is that Blake has an honest interest in all things paranormal, but he also came upon his skepticism in a very human way. He doesn’t use it as a cudgel to beat anybody down. And best of all, ridicule is just not part of who he is. Also, the guy he has an amazing book collection, he loves to drink port, he’s quick with a pun -- and he’s just an all-around great guy.   In this conversation we cover everything from Whitley Streiber’s Communion to the Heaven’s Gate tragedy; from exploding lightbulbs to snake-handling cults; and from “the hard problem of consciousness” to the one kind of paranormal experience that might change Blake’s skepticism forever. LINKS:  Listen to Blake Smith’s award-winning podcast Monstertalk here: https://www.monstertalk.org/  RHPB LIVE SHOWS are coming! Keep up as we add dates and locations at the RHPB website https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/  And find out about upcoming performances and buy tickets at Eventbrite!: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dallas-richard-hatems-paranormal-bookshelf-live-tickets-1520485967459?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwY2xjawMAjP9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHv9pgzdQBIIpLfpidbEp2IzjboC0W1P-qf_l9kBsPY7aJHzO8jg-6rhKQEmQ_aem_-ogycSZIIOELXK6VHRuNMQ  Want to support the show? Join us on Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/c/RichardHatem?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link  Buy Richard Hatem’s Paranormal Bookshelf merch at https://richardhatem-shop.fourthwall.com/ 

Sometimes Christmas just doesn’t feel like Christmas.  It’s December 2001, and Richard is living alone, facing down his first Christmas Eve without his family.  But he’s about to learn that Christmas has its own magic -- and its own surprising plans for him… One hundred and fifty-eight years earlier, Charles Dickens changed the world with his story of another lonely man on Christmas Eve who ended up getting far more than he bargained for.  What Dickens didn’t know -- but Richard does all too well -- is that what he actually created was literatures most famous near-death experience.  Join Richard and Dickens as they each face down their Christmas ghosts -- and hope to wake up the next morning transformed… Notes & Links: You can get a copy of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol pretty much anywhere, but I highly recommend Michael Patrick Hearns’ The Annotated Christmas Carol where I got most of the information for this episode.  You can get it at AbeBooks here: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?ch_sort=t&cm_sp=sort-_-SRP-_-Results&ds=30&dym=on&isbn=9780393051582&rollup=on&sortby=2  Get the DVD of Albert Finney’s musical Scrooge here:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-scrooge-ronald-neame/3719770?ean=0097361459745&gQT=0  Learn all about the GameBoy Advance Owen wanted so badly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQvSB3KBUIE 

It’s April 1975, and Richard is still that lonely, haunted little kid we met in RHPB Ep.1: Ghosts & Specters.  In fact, it’s just a few weeks later when, courtesy of Mrs. Fuller (the librarian who introduced Richard to his first paranormal bookshelf) that he comes across Monsters, Giants and Little Men From Mars by Daniel Cohen.  It seems like the perfect fit.  But then Darren McGavin shows up in Kolchak: The Night Stalker and shows Richard that some monsters can be defeated -- if you’ve got the nerve…   Flash forward to 1985 and Richard seems to have left all of his monsters behind.  But that summer, a very different kind of monster shows up way too close to Richard’s home, and nothing will ever be the same again…   Notes & Links: Sign up for Patreon and support the show, receive ad-free episodes -- plus monthly bonus content!  Join here: https://patreon.com/RichardHatem?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Grab some amazing RHPB merch here! https://richardhatem-shop.fourthwall.com/?  Buy Monsters, Giants & Little Men From Mars here: https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/9780440958291/  Discover Matt Monro -- the legend… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ6Tp-nna9I  Check out “Old Glory” -- The Bicentennial Condom! https://imgur.com/gallery/from-1976-one-time-old-glory-u-s-bicentennial-novelty-condom-YvTvpsi  Read Phillip Carlo’s in-depth book about the Richard Ramirez/Night Stalker Case. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-night-stalker-the-disturbing-life-and-chilling-crimes-of-richard-ramirez-philip-carlo/7340915?ean=9780806538419&next=t

In Communion -- Part Two, Whitley Strieber tries to turn the tables on the “visitors” by inviting -- almost daring -- them to make a return visit.  Meanwhile, Richard and Matt Reeves (“The Batman”) work around the clock to perfect “Rolling Thunder” -- then retitled “End of the Line” and finally “Dark Territory” -- while the odds of a big sale fade more and more every day.  We all know that “Chance favors the prepared mind” and “Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups” -- but will years of setbacks and rewrites lead to a happy ending?  Matt’s high school friend J.J. Abrams bestows some crucial advice (“Don’t be idiots”). But how will Whitley -- and Richard and Matt -- finally come to terms with a universe that plays by its own rules, and laughs at the notion of control?   LINKS & NOTES: Sign up for Patreon at the “Obsessed Fan” level by midnight June 30, you’ll receive a SIGNED AND INSCRIBED printed copy of your favorite RHPB episode!  Join here! https://patreon.com/RichardHatem?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Buy Whitley Strieber’s Communion here! https://bookshop.org/p/books/communion/18948208?ean=9798986205502&next=t Watch Under Siege 2: Dark Territory for free here!  https://tubitv.com/movies/589620/under-siege-2-dark-territory?start=true&tracking=google-feed&utm_source=google-feed  Patreon Donations help Write Girl -- learn more here!  https://www.writegirl.org/ 

Imagine being greeted in the dead of night by a small alien creature, running toward your bed.  This disturbing experience set author Whitley Strieber on a dark and devastating path that culminated in the publishing of 1987’s Communion.  Strieber’s life changed on the night of December 26, 1985 – and he has spent the last forty years trying to sort out exactly what happened. When Richard Hatem first stumbled upon the book Communion, he refused to pick it up.  But after two years of post-USC Film School misery, he suddenly found dark solace within the story of Strieber and his strange encounters.  As Richard struggles to find his writing voice, the story of Strieber’s frightening journey begins to resonate in strange ways.  And when Richard and his best friend Matt Reeves start working on the script that will one day become the Steven Segal movie Under Siege 2: Dark Territory – he learns that sometimes, friendship, humor and terrifying books can be the key to everything.  Join Richard as he navigates the rough waters of screenwriting, alien abduction – and tries to figure out how to make the great film Die Hard even greater (as if that were possible). NOTES & LINKS Sign up for Patreon at the “Obsessed Fan” level by June 30, you’ll receive a SIGNED AND INSCRIBED printed copy of your favorite RHPB episode!  Join here! https://patreon.com/RichardHatem?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Buy Communion here! https://bookshop.org/p/books/communion/18948208?ean=9798986205502&next=t “Heidi’s Frogen Yozurt” was a real thing! (But sadly, not anymore -- they’ve all been sold and no locations exists, even in Los Angeles).    BUT -- check out this article on the company’s founder Heidi Miller.  She sounds like a great person! https://www.donatelifefloat.org/si/participants/pages/2020-heidi-miller.html “Blockbuster Video” was a real thing! (But sadly, not anymore -- they’ve all been sold and only ONE LOCATION STILL EXISTS!).  BUT -- check it out here and maybe go visit if you’re ever in Bend, Oregon!  https://bendblockbuster.com/about/

Season 3 of RHPB starts in 2 weeks -- June 13th! Join Richard and his extra special guest, his wife Susan Lambert -- creator and cohost of the podcast 80’s TV Ladies -- as they tease Season 3 episodes, share DATES OF UPCOMING LIVE SHOWS -- and explore a very weird dream Richard had that might mean one of them is psychic! If you have location ideas for LIVE RHPB SHOWS, contact us at richard@richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com

NEW RHPB SEASON 3 PREMIERE DATE -- FRIDAY JUNE 13TH!  In this Special Bonus Episode, Richard catches up with good friend and writer Mark O’Connell, author of the modern UFO classic The Close Encounters Man: How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOs -- the wildly entertaining story of J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer who invented the concept of "Close Encounters" with alien life, inspired Steven Spielberg’s classic film and made an entire nation want to believe in UFOs.  Mark’s new book, The Year Science Changed Everything: 1957's International Geophysical Year and the Future of Our Planet is out now. Richard and Mark talk about everything from Steven Spielberg to Carl Sagan; from skeptics to believers; from the Abominable Snowman to Jurassic Park; and from Donald Fagen to dancing aliens! Plus -- a Jacques Valleé bombshell you won’t believe!  Links: Buy The Close Encounters Man here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-close-encounters-man-mark-oconnell?variant=32207515811874 Buy The Year Science Changed Everything here: https://www.prometheusbooks.com/9781493084906/the-year-science-changed-everything/ Watch The Lost Monster Files here: https://go.discovery.com/show/lost-monster-files-discovery-atve-us 

What does it actually feel like to be a psychic medium? What is it like to have ghosts be a constant part of your otherwise normal life? Cindy Valenzuela and Colleen McKinnie can tell you -- because they are both in touch with the spirit world every day. They are both wives and mothers, they have professional careers -- and they can communicate with those who have passed on. In our conversation, we’ll find out the scariest part of being a medium, what to do when your kid starts demonstrating psychic abilities, how these talents affect your belief in life after death -- and ultimately, what is it like to die? Cindy Valenzuela is a school psychologist in Los Angeles County, who works testing and counseling special needs students. She and her husband also write, produce and star in the YouTube supernatural travel series Ghost Tourist. Colleen McKinnie is a fashion tech entrepreneur and a full-time mom. Colleen now also works as an intuitive guide and psychic medium. LINKS: Book an appointment with Colleen McKinnie here: https://calendly.com/intuitivesessions

It’s our First Anniversary!  Richard Hatem’s Paranormal Bookshelf debuted one year ago today, and to celebrate we’re re-broadcasting the very first episode where Richard receives the book that changes his life -- and gets introduced to his very first paranormal bookshelf.  Join Richard and everyone here at RHPB as we celebrate the episode that started it all -- and Richard shares some exciting news about an upcoming live event!