If we rely on the majority of internet references, the famous (or infamous) Fox Sisters of Hydesville, New York were clearly charlatans. AI, as an example, concludes that they “were not genuine mediums.” It further states that they “were performers and hoaxers, though perhaps not initially with malicious intent.” Their story, AI continues “is a powerful case study in mass belief, deception, and the human desire for contact with the afterlife.”
On a trip home to visit family, I met Brenda, aged 67, at a neighborhood gathering. The strange story she told us lit up the dinner table. I had just mentioned I wrote a middle-grade novel about a clairvoyant child, and Brenda’s husband said that Brenda, who was back in the kitchen, had three “imaginary friends” she constantly played with when she was a little girl. Two days later I interviewed her in depth.
