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M. Lamar Keene
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The Psychic Mafia Paperback – January 1, 1997

by M. Lamar Keene (Author), Allen Spraggett (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 25 ratings
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M. Lamar Keene, who came to be known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists," enjoyed the riches and fame that accompany the life of a sought-after medium. He claimed to be clairvoyant and to produce objects out of thin air. He conducted seances in which participants talked with and even touched the dead.
Yet every miracle Keene performed was a fraud, a lie, and a trick played on willing, gullible victims. In this powerful and brutally honest book, Keene exposes the secrets of the seance room, including ghostly apparitions, floating trumpets, "spirit sex," and other tricks used by mediums to exploit believers.
Originally published in 1976 and long out of print, this classic work is a fast-paced autobiographical account of a confessed charlatan who was one of the first mediums to admit his deception.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    172 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Prometheus Books
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1997
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.75 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1573921610
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1573921619
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

was one of the best," said LJ's reviewer of this peek into a fake's bag of tricks (LJ 7/76). Keene reveals how he created ghostly apparitions, floating objects, etc., during phony seances.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prometheus Books (January 1, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 172 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1573921610
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1573921619
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

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M. Lamar Keene

M. Lamar Keene

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
25 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Deb E
5.0 out of 5 stars The Darker Side of Spiritualism
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2014
Verified Purchase
I have always had a deep and abiding interest in all things psychic, especially Spiritualism, and purchased this book on a whim. I found this it to be absolutely fascinating (a real page turner!), deeply disturbing and very, very sad. I would recommend it as a "must read" before getting involved in any type of Spiritualistic activity; remember to keep an open mind, but forewarned is also forearmed. Be careful!
3 people found this helpful
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tubthumping
5.0 out of 5 stars Psychic Mafia
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2010
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Wonderful book about mediums from the last century. Goes into explicit detail how things are shown to apparently seem real to the gullible, which includes all financial classes of people. Naturally, he got much heat from the fraud artists to keep quiet exposing them, since those phony mediums feared their loss of power over those victims. It also explained a brief history of psychic shows going back to the 1800's.
2 people found this helpful
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Gary Bacchetti
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable!
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 1997
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I have read thousands of books in my life. This one takes the cake. You'll find yourself engrossed in the macabe. Easy, light reading - but packed with a punch. I personally have an autographed copy of this book and wouldn't give it up for the world. Its sealed in plastic - airtight. I purchased this latest paperback for day-to-day reminders of what goes on in the seance room. Be prepared, you'll learn about the so-called "other-side."
7 people found this helpful
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molesman
3.0 out of 5 stars No doubts on frauds...
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2011
Verified Purchase
...and some of the thinks eye opened here may still be of common use in the widespread psychic mafia. I was anyway very happy to see in the forword the author nevertheless believes also in true mediums, or lets better say in the possibility of supernatural phenomenon. Its a pity so many people make millions on the grief of others who lost soemone. For sure if there is soemthing like a hell on the other side those people run a high risk of hosting that area of the beyond. Who knows. I am researching many things and yet I did not come to a final clue on all. The tricks mentioned here are quite old. I have been to many seances with wide open eyes (anyway in pitch black) and can confirm none of those thricks has been used to cause fraud. But nevertheless there may be new and modern ways to reach the same aims. I agree with the author, its good to see how many people do their shameless work on that business. But on the other side there are things that seem to be unexplainable as there is no financial purpose, no desire on admiration in the public, no loci cause why some mayb really talented mediums and not frauds do what they do. Sure, some may think they are gifted. But what about SCOLE, Senkowski, Jürgensson. What about Reincarnation that is based on hard earned facts within the sittings (check the data, there is much that has ben proven). I guess the only statement that really is justified is that there may be more. Deniying it would be pure ignorance. Saying its 100% sure may be (still) too far from prove, also by science who gets closer and closer to the topic. (telepathy, near death experiences, out of body experiences have yet reached the scientists interests and are no longer funny blahblah)

So say goodby to most ghsot whisperers but ddo not judge them all by same means. The amount of honest people may be small but I am sure there are more than just a few.

The book. :) Back to it. Easy to read, amusing, not really that new and the tricks, well. I expected somehow more intelligent dark action but the more shocking is people belived what they were confronted with. Its not spectacular and if the author would not have opened the nox most of the stuff would be aware by anyone who does reaearch as well. Nevertheless. Entertaining. And not shocking for people who atill believe in something.

Again to all those lousy cheaters. You run a risk on making your afterlife a sad thing. You really want to risk that? There is always a turnback possibility unless you make your final breath. Think about it. The chances of beeing "rewarded" for cheating the weak finally may be small in your eyes but, you really want to risk it?
5 people found this helpful
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Richard G. Prosapio
5.0 out of 5 stars A useful tool.
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
Good historical info that helped this psychic (me) uncover a scam.
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Steve Harrington
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2017
Verified Purchase
Excellent and informative. Recommended
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MJP2
4.0 out of 5 stars Great expose, and more than a little shocking
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2008
Verified Purchase
Before reading this book I had no idea there were such things as spiritualist camps or that people paid exorbitant amounts of money to attend them. I also had no idea that human depravity could extend so far as to blatantly take advantage of people they way the frauds described in this book do. M. Lamar Keene does a great job of exploring the psychology of the psychic fraud, having been one himself for many years. His journey through the conspiratorial world of psychic graft is a fascinating one, and after reading this you'll probably come away thinking, "Psychics aren't in league with devils after all. They're devils themselves!" Whether this applies to all psychics is anybody's guess, but the message is clear: In the psychic world, you're much more likely to be a victim than a "client".
5 people found this helpful
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