Spiritualism and Supernatural Biographical Books
Spiritualism and Supernatural Biographical Books lists books about Arthur Conan Doyle's spiritualist beliefs, psychic research, interest in mediums, friendship and conflict with Harry Houdini, and posthumous spiritualist legacy. These works examine Conan Doyle not only as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but as a public advocate of survival after death, a defender of spiritualism, and a controversial figure in the history of supernatural belief.
The books are listed in reverse chronological order.
Books about Conan Doyle and Spiritualism
Arthur Conan Doyle and Photography: Traces, Fairies and Other Apparitions
By Bernd Stiegler
Translated by Peter Filkins
Edinburgh University Press
2023; originally published in German as Spuren, Elfen und andere Erscheinungen: Conan Doyle und die Photographie, S. Fischer, 2014
264 pages
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Arthur Conan Doyle and Photography is a study of Conan Doyle's relationship with photography, visual evidence, spiritualism, and fairies. Bernd Stiegler examines photography in Conan Doyle's life and imagination, including his amateur photography, the camera-like logic of Sherlock Holmes, photographs of the Congo atrocities, The Lost World, spirit photography, and the Cottingley Fairies.
The Uncanny Worlds of Conan Doyle, vol. 3
By Kelvin I. Jones
Cunning Crime Books
2020
454 pages
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The Uncanny Worlds of Conan Doyle, vol. 3 continues Kelvin I. Jones's study of the supernatural, strange, and spiritualist dimensions of Conan Doyle's life and writings. The series examines Conan Doyle's involvement with uncanny subjects and the wider world of psychic belief, survival, and supernatural speculation.
The Uncanny Worlds of Conan Doyle, vol. 2
By Kelvin I. Jones
Cunning Crime Books
2020
660 pages
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The Uncanny Worlds of Conan Doyle, vol. 2 explores further aspects of Conan Doyle's relationship with the supernatural, including spiritualism, psychic phenomena, strange beliefs, and the uncanny atmosphere surrounding parts of his fiction and public life.
The Uncanny Worlds of Conan Doyle, vol. 1
By Kelvin I. Jones
Cunning Crime Books
2020
456 pages
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The Uncanny Worlds of Conan Doyle, vol. 1 is the first volume of Kelvin I. Jones's study of Conan Doyle's supernatural and spiritualist interests. It's a biographical study of the beliefs, controversies, and uncanny subjects that shaped Conan Doyle's later public identity.
Angels in the Trenches: Spiritualism, Superstition and the Supernatural During the First World War
By Dr. Leo Ruickbie
Robinson
2020
432 pages
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Angels in the Trenches studies spiritualism, superstition and supernatural belief during the First World War, from the Angel of Mons to the rise of spiritualist societies after mass bereavement. Arthur Conan Doyle appears as part of this wartime spiritualist context, especially through his explanation that the heavy death toll had intensified public interest in communication with the dead.
Through a Glass, Darkly: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Quest to Solve the Greatest Mystery of All
By Stefan Bechtel and Laurence Roy Stains
St. Martin's Press
2017
320 pages
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Through a Glass, Darkly studies Conan Doyle's search for proof of life after death and his increasing commitment to spiritualism. The book places his beliefs in the context of grief, war, psychic investigation, public controversy, and the wider early twentieth-century fascination with survival beyond death.
Conan Doyle and the Mysterious World of Light
By Matt Wingett
Life is Amazing
2016
322 pages
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Conan Doyle and the Mysterious World of Light examines Conan Doyle's spiritualist world, focusing on his belief in unseen realities, psychic phenomena, and the search for evidence beyond material life. It presents Conan Doyle as a writer and public figure deeply engaged with questions of light, spirit, and survival.
Conan Doyle and the Spirits
By Kelvin Jones
Cunning Crime Books
2013
256 pages
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Conan Doyle and the Spirits is a study of Conan Doyle's spiritualist convictions and his public advocacy of communication with the dead. Kelvin Jones examines the spirits, séances, controversies, and psychic claims that became central to Conan Doyle's later years.
Conan Doyle and the Mediums
By Kelvin Jones
Cunning Crime Books
2012
62 pages
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Conan Doyle and the Mediums focuses on Conan Doyle's relations with mediums and his efforts to defend spiritualist communication. The book belongs in this section because it studies the people, practices, and claims that shaped Conan Doyle's spiritualist mission.
Masters of Mystery: The Strange Friendship of Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini
By Christopher Sandford
St. Martin's Griffin
2011
304 pages
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Masters of Mystery examines the friendship and eventual conflict between Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini. Their relationship turned largely on spiritualism: Conan Doyle believed deeply in psychic phenomena, while Houdini became famous for exposing fraudulent mediums. The book is therefore both a study of friendship and a study of Conan Doyle's spiritualist commitments.
The Paranormal World of Sherlock Holmes: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, First Ghost Buster & Psychic Sleuth
By Tim R. Swartz
Global Communications
2010
292 pages
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The Paranormal World of Sherlock Holmes connects Conan Doyle's famous detective with the author's interest in ghosts, psychic investigation, spiritualism, and supernatural claims. Although the title invokes Sherlock Holmes, the book belongs here because it treats Conan Doyle as a figure associated with paranormal belief and investigation.
Conversations with Arthur Conan Doyle
By Simon Parke
White Crow Books
2010
140 pages
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Conversations with Arthur Conan Doyle presents a modern spiritualist-style dialogue with Conan Doyle. The book belongs in this section as part of Conan Doyle's posthumous spiritualist legacy and the continuing association of his name with survival, mediumship, and communication beyond death.
The View: Mind over Matter, Heart over Mind: From Arthur Conan Doyle to Conversations with God
Edited by Dave Patrick
Polair Publishing
2009
288 pages
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The View is a collective volume on spiritualism, survival, health, and contemporary spirituality, published for the 150th anniversary of Arthur Conan Doyle's birth. Its opening section is devoted to Conan Doyle and includes essays by Owen Dudley Edwards, Roger Straughan, Colum Hayward, and Dave Patrick on Conan Doyle's spiritual imagination, messages and mediumship, his connection with Polair, and The Vital Message.
A Study in Survival: Conan Doyle Solves the Final Problem
By Roger Straughan
O Books / John Hunt
2009
224 pages
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A Study in Survival examines Conan Doyle's belief in survival after death and presents spiritualism as the "final problem" he tried to solve in later life. Roger Straughan studies Conan Doyle's reasoning, convictions, and public mission as a defender of life beyond death.
Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle
By Massimo Polidoro
Prometheus Books
2001
264 pages
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Final Séance studies the friendship and rupture between Houdini and Conan Doyle. The book focuses on the conflict between Houdini's anti-fraud investigations and Conan Doyle's spiritualist beliefs, making it an important study of Conan Doyle's place in debates over mediums, séances, and evidence for survival.
Conan Doyle: Holmes-SF-Spiritualism
By Mikio Kawamura
Kodansha
1999
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Conan Doyle: Holmes-SF-Spiritualism is a Japanese study of Conan Doyle organized around three major aspects of his career: Sherlock Holmes, science fiction, and spiritualism. It is included here because spiritualism forms one of the book's central biographical and intellectual themes.
The Case of the Cottingley Fairies
By Joe Cooper
Robert Hale
1990
176 pages
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The Case of the Cottingley Fairies is a study of the famous Cottingley photographs and the controversy surrounding them. The book is especially relevant to Conan Doyle because he publicly defended the photographs as evidence of fairies, connecting the case with his broader belief in unseen worlds, spirit phenomena, and supernatural proof.
Conan Doyle and the Spirits: The Spiritualist Career of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
By Kelvin I. Jones
Aquarian Press
1989
256 pages
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Conan Doyle and the Spirits is a biographical study of Conan Doyle's career as a spiritualist. Kelvin I. Jones examines Conan Doyle's beliefs, lectures, controversies, defence of mediums, and public role as one of the best-known advocates of spiritualism in the early twentieth century.
Thy Kingdom Come
Also known as: The Return of Arthur Conan Doyle
By Ivan Cooke
Wright & Brown
1933
204 pages
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Thy Kingdom Come, also known as The Return of Arthur Conan Doyle, is a spiritualist book concerning alleged posthumous communications from Arthur Conan Doyle. It recounts the circumstances of the communications and presents messages attributed to Conan Doyle on survival, the afterlife, reunion, nature-spirits, angels, free will, and destiny. It's a part of Conan Doyle's posthumous spiritualist legacy.
Houdini and Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship
By Bernard M. L. Ernst and Hereward Carrington
Albert & Charles Boni
1932
256 pages
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Houdini and Doyle is an early account of the friendship between Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle. Their relationship became famous because of their disagreement over spiritualism, mediumship, and the possibility of communication with the dead. The book is an important early source on the personal and intellectual conflict between the magician-sceptic and the spiritualist author.
The Coming of the Fairies
By Arthur Conan Doyle
Hodder & Stoughton / George H. Doran
1922
196 pages
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The Coming of the Fairies is Conan Doyle's own book on the Cottingley Fairies. Written as a defence of the fairy photographs, it presents the case for their authenticity and places the episode within Conan Doyle's broader belief in unseen worlds, psychic evidence, and supernatural realities.
Books about Spiritualism by Conan Doyle himself
- The New Revelation (1918)
- The Vital Message (1919)
- Our Reply to the Cleric (1920)
- Spiritualism and Rationalism (1920)
- The Wanderings of a Spiritualist (1921)
- The Coming of the Fairies (1922)
- Spiritualism: Some Straight Questions and Direct Answers (1922)
- The Case for Spirit Photography (1922)
- Our American Adventure (1923)
- Our Second American Adventure (1924)
- The Early Christian Church and Modern Spiritualism (1925)
- Psychic Experiences (1925)
- The History of Spiritualism (1926)
- Pheneas Speaks (1927)
- What Does Spiritualism Actually Teach and Stand For? (1928)
- A Word of Warning (1928)
- An Open Letter To those of my Generation (1929)
- The Roman Catholic Church: A Rejoinder (1929)
- The Edge of the Unknown (1930)
