An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural

James Randi's An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, published by St. Martin's Griffin in 1995, is the professional magician and skeptic's reference survey of paranormal claims, mediums, psychics and hoaxes, built on decades of Randi's own investigative work exposing specific performers and claimants. Its strength is Randi's own expertise as a magician, giving him a working knowledge of the sleight of hand and cold reading techniques behind many of the claims he catalogues that an academic outsider would not have. Its limit is that Randi wrote as an advocate for a skeptical position, offering a standing cash prize to anyone who could demonstrate a paranormal ability under controlled conditions, so entries here argue a case rather than present neutral academic consensus, and a claim about a specific figure's own account of their practice needs a source from within or independent of the skeptical movement to balance Randi's own framing.