The Society for Psychical Research Census of Hallucinations

Record summary

The Society for Psychical Research collected questionnaire evidence about apparitions and hallucinatory experiences for its Census of Hallucinations, published in the 1890s and related to the research behind Phantasms of the Living. Investigators presented the survey as evidence that some apparitions coincided with deaths or crises, while later scholars criticized recall bias, selection effects, loose definitions, and retrospective reporting. It offers a cross-cultural and methodological comparison point for ordinary experience interpreted as haunting. Researchers should consult the original tables and modern historical critiques.