Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf
by Astonishing Legends Productions
“Go inside the mind of one of television and movies’ wildest storytellers…” Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf is a podcast that feels like discovering a secret diary. Every episode unravels the mysteries of a book from Richard's bookshelf and a story from Richard’s life, weaving together the excitement of the supernatural and the warmth of personal storytelling.
Episodes
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S4: The Omen Trilogy – and Beyond! With Bryan Edward Hill
This week I’m joined by my old Titans friend Bryan Edward Hill as we break down the three films comprising the Omen Trilogy – all of which ask the haunting question: “What if the Anti-Christ was real -- and living among us right now?” The Omen, starring Lee Remick and Gregory Peck, was released…
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S4: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! Forrest Burgess Explains It All For You
Astonishing Legends co-host Forrest Burgess makes his RHPB debut to kick off the Halloween Season and reveal his “Top 5 Favorite Paranormal Books”! Of course, first we have to argue about the format of the episode, whether or not I explained it to him clearly, and how is he even supposed to…
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S4: The Light in the Dark Tour 2026 – Wrap Up with Susan Lambert
Richard is back from the Light in the Dark Tour 2026! Join Richard and his wife (and RHPB executive producer) Susan Lambert as they discuss everything from Richard’s yearlong scheme to finally appear on “Woo-Woo with Rachel Dratch”, to the last minute decision to embark on the tour alone, to…
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S4 Ep11: Welcome New Listeners! Revisit Episode 1: Ghosts & Specters
Welcome New Listeners! Revisit Episode 1: Ghosts & Specters Show Description: Hey Everybody! I just had the pleasure of appearing on “Woo-Woo with Rachel Dratch”! So, I’m re-broadcasting the very first episode of RHPB (“Ghosts & Specters”) for new listeners and anyone who wants to hear it again....
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S4: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! Holy Ghosts with Peter Laws
“I love the idea that if the house up the road is haunted, then I literally have a cosmic doorway to another way of being. And that just turns all the colors up in life.” – Peter Laws My friend Peter Laws grew up like a lot of us. As a kid he was obsessed with ghost stories, horror movies and all...
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S4: The Return of the Light in the Dark Tour with Scott Philbrook
Astonishing Legends co-host Scott Philbrook returns to chat with Richard about his upcoming “Light in the Dark Tour 2026” -- as well as answer such never-before-asked questions as: What scares our dogs? Where will Scott & Forrest be appearing live in September? Did Abbott & Costello get along?…
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S4 Ep10: Return to Life
“It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection.” –- Voltaire An entire branch of paranormal research involves documenting cases of children who claim to remember past lives. Almost as soon as they can speak, these children ask desperately about their...
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S4 Ep9: The Paranormal Ranger
“That’s what was different about paranormal cases as opposed to my usual ones. These cases made me wonder ‘What If?’ I wondered if Bigfoot had supernatural abilities. Could it pass through dimensions the way we pass through air? Could it make itself invisible? Is that why it was so rarely seen?…
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S4 Ep8: The Omega Project
“Please answer True or False to the following statements: ‘As a child, a lot of my time was spent in a world of self-created fantasy.’ ‘As a child, I felt that I had a guardian angel.’ ‘When I was a child, I was very psychic.’ ‘When I was a child, I nearly died’.” -- Questions from Dr. Kenneth...
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S4 Ep7: This House is Haunted
“It appeared that in a single day Janet had levitated, traveled out of her physical body, made a book go through the wall from one room to another and caused a heavy cushion to travel from a closed room onto the roof. It did not sound possible, but five different people were certain it had all...
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S4: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE – Rob Kristoffersen and The End of It All
“This is not going to be edited. It's just me and a microphone talking about my journey with this (UFO) topic and where I'm at. There are many of you who have asked: ‘When's the show coming back?’ I just kind of want this to be the end of it all. This podcast is never coming back.” –- Rob...
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S4: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: Terrifying Encounters with Lyle Blackburn
“This huge thing was standing in the road. It had to be at least seven or 8 feet tall, and the arms were so long they were down to its knees. You couldn’t see the face because there was hair all over it. It was actually running toward our car. It was awful.” – from Terrifying Encounters by Lyle...
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S4: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: Strange Days with Dan Zetterstrom
“Ghost hunting is fun – until the ghosts show up.” -- Dan Zetterstrom, podcast host, What It Means To Be Human A lot of strange things happen to Dan Zetterstrom. And lucky for us, they almost always have something to do with a book featured on our show! First, he underwent spiritual healing with...
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S4: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: Chris McKinnell on Growing Up With Ed & Lorraine Warren
“My grandfather always taught me that 3:00 AM was the Devil’s hour. At 3:15 Liz started screaming that her face was on fire. My grandfather turned his flashlight on her face and, as we all watched, three claw marks raked down her cheek and blood dripped onto her chest.” – Chris McKinnell, The...
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S4 Ep6: Hello From Heaven!
“The strangest thing just happened. Your mother came through the wall of my apartment and said, ‘I have always loved you and I always will.’ Then she left.” No one had told Rose that my mother had just died. This encounter happened before she received any news of my mom’s death.” – from Hello…
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S4 Ep5: Jadoo
“I am a professional cliffhanger. Peddling adventure is my business, and at times it’s a mighty lean one. But the leanness is a part of it. Going hungry and thirsty and weird places that aren’t even marked on the map is part of it. My specialty is magic, the forbidden arts. Jadoo is my stock in...
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S4: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: WEIRDUMENTARY with Gary D. Rhodes
Remember In Search of Noah’s Ark? Chariots of the Gods? The Mysterious Monters? The Outer Space Connection? In the mid-1970s, these odd movies from Sunn Classic or American International Pictures would suddenly appear in your neighborhood theater – and it usually meant that your next Saturday...
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RHPB 2nd Anniversary: MIRACLES MEGA-MIX!
For our 2nd anniversary, we bring you the “Miracles MEGA-MIX!” We’ve combined all 3-parts of the Season 1 Miracles series into one easy-to-play episode. Perfect listening for long road trips, recovering from knee surgery and endless lines at the DMV! Now YOU don’t have to decide if you want to…
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S4 Ep4: Lily Dale
“Compared to most people in Lily Dale, I was a raging skeptic. Compared to most of my journalistic colleagues, I was a soft-headed sap. I didn’t believe Lily Dale’s people could chat with the dead, but I was willing to concede that I might be wrong. I never intended for any of it to change me.…
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S4 Ep3: Sasquatch
“SOMETHING is making those goddamn footprints and I’m going to find out what it is!” – René Dahinden, Sasquatch The 1970’s were prime “flesh-and-blood” Sasquatch years. It seemed like everyone who was looking for Bigfoot was sure they were gonna find him (or her) any minute now. Don Hunter and…
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S4: SPECIAL PRESENTATION: What It Means To Be Human
Today I am thrilled to bring you an episode of an all-new podcast by RHPB guest, fan and my good friend Dan Zetterstrom! PATREON members will remember him from the episode where he shared his experience visiting spirit healer Michael Chapman – the son of George Chapman who was featured in the…
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S4 Ep2: The Ghost of Flight 401
“A flight attendant was in the lower galley when she happened to glance into the glass window of one of the meal heating units. There was the face of Don Repo, the flight engineer who died in the Everglades crash. He said, “Watch out for fire on this airplane.” – from The Ghost of Flight 401…
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S4 Ep1: Induced After Death Communication
“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...
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S3 Ep17: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! Bridging the Mothman Tragedy with Bill and Jaci Kousoulas
“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…
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S3 Ep16: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! Telephone Calls From The Dead with Parapsychologist Dr. Callum Cooper
“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…
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S3 Ep15: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! – Night Stalking with Mark Dawidziak
“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…
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S3 Ep14: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE! Bigfoot 101: A Sasquatch Odyssey with Brian King-Sharp
“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...
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S3 Ep13: SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Gods, Ghosts and UFOs
Today I’m excited to bring you an episode of the brilliant new podcast Gods, Ghosts & UFOs – with their special guest, ME! You’ll recognize co-host Tom Maxwell from his appearances on Astonishing Legends Episodes 291 & 292, “American Bloodfalls”. (You might also know him as the frontman for the…
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S3 Ep12: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: The Mammoth Mountain Poltergeist with Jenny Ashford and Tom Ross
“I feel that it hates me sometimes. It can move objects. I heard it speak once, or try to speak. It sounded like somebody underneath the water. It’s never really touched me and I don’t want to see what it actually looks like. I was afraid it was going to look like a corpse.” -- Tom Ross,...
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S3 Ep11: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: UFOs and High Strangeness with Rob Kristoffersen
“When I was six years old, on Christmas Eve, I had an encounter with a little gnome that walked into my bedroom. I don’t recall any fear. But after that, I don’t remember anything.” – Rob Kristoffersen Rob Kristoffersen is not only an expert on UFOs and UFO cases and host of the Our Strange Skies...
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S3 Ep10: The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts - Part Two
“They’re demons. You’re talking to demons. And I don’t like the sound of it one bit.” -- The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts Joe Fisher falls further into darkness as he attempts to prove the earthly existences of his spirit guides. But once he realizes that his otherworldly lover Filipa has lied to...
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S3 Ep9: The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts - Part One
“Here, in an ordinary suburban living room in Toronto, a cynical, 42-year-old mother of three was giving voice to disembodied humans who were testifying to the fact that we do not die. And that we are never truly alone.” -- Joe Fisher, The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts On July 20th, 1984…
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S3: “The Light In The Dark Tour” Wrap-Up! Part 2
Richard & Susan’s adventure continues as they make their way from Point Pleasant, WV to Washington, DC -- where they meet up with fellow RHPB super-stars Scott Philbrook, Tess Pfeifle and Kayla Lord! Then it's on to New York City and a visit with “Uh,Dad?” (Owen Gerber-Hatem) -- and finally, an...
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S3: “The Light In The Dark Tour” Wrap-Up! Part 1
Ten Days. Five Shows. Four Cities. One Mothman. No Regrets. Join Richard and his featured guest Susan Lambert for all the behind-the-scenes stories of the first leg of the RHPB “Light In The Dark Tour”. When did Richard freak-out? When did Susan freak-out? Which shows went the best? What’s a…
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S3 Ep8: The National Directory of Haunted Places -- Part 2
“Haunted events are beyond our logic and occur in ways that challenge our perception of reality. But whether a place is haunted by ghosts, flying saucers, angels, demons, or some strange energy can be a matter of some debate...” -- Dennis William Hauck, The National Directory of Haunted Places....
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S3 Ep7: The National Directory of Haunted Places -- Part 1
“In almost every town in America, there are places where strange things happen...” -- Dennis William Hauck, The National Directory of Haunted Places. When Richard found The National Directory of Haunted Places at a small bookstore in Taos, New Mexico, it was like finding an enchanted treasure…
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S3: SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: The Light in the Dark Tour -- with Scott Philbrook
Astonishing Legends own Scott Philbrook joins Richard to find out everything you need to know about the upcoming RHPB “Light in the Dark Tour”! Rich and Scott break it down for you: the cities, the shows -- everything you need to know. PLUS -- Scott will be joining Richard live onstage in...
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S3 Ep6: Forty Years of Psychic Research
“I became aware of an amazing world of hidden, outlaw forces. A world in which miracles were everyday occurrences.” Hamlin Garland, Forty Years of Psychic Research. It started out as a simple challenge from a friend: travel the country testing psychic mediums and see if you can figure out what...
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S3 Ep5: The Premonitions Bureau
“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...
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S3: The Fortean and the Skeptic Should Be Friends: My Conversation with Blake Smith
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…
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S3 Ep4: A Christmas Carol
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…
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S3 Ep3: Monsters, Giants and Little Men From Mars
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…
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S3 Ep2: Communion -- Part Two
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...
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S3 Ep1: Communion -- Part One
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 –…
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S3: RHPB Season 3 Preview -- with Susan Lambert!
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…
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SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE - The Close Encounters Man with Mark O'Connell
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...
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SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: Living with Ghosts
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...
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RHPB First Anniversary!
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...
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S2 Ep10: Glimpses of Eternity
On July 27, 2011, Richard Hatem came home from work to find a book waiting for him—Glimpses of Eternity by Raymond Moody. He remembers the date well, because it was also the day he got fired. And if you’ve ever been fired, you know the feeling: shock, relief, maybe a strange sense of joy. It also...
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S2 Ep9: Investigating Mediums
Investigating Mediums by Julie Beischel, PhD. In this episode, join Richard Hatem as he cracks open Investigating Mediums by Dr. Julie Beischel. In her book, Dr. Beischel attempts a scientific exploration into the world of psychic mediums. What began as an academic pursuit for Dr. Beischel…
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About this show
“Go inside the mind of one of television and movies’ wildest storytellers…” Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf is a podcast that feels like discovering a secret diary. Every episode unravels the mysteries of a book from Richard's bookshelf and a story from Richard’s life, weaving together the excitement of the supernatural and the warmth of personal storytelling.
Hosted by
Astonishing Legends Productions