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Harry Price

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Author

The Resume

    (January 17, 1881-March 29, 1948)
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    Psychic researcher and author
    Member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR; 1920-48)
    Founded the National Laboratory of Psychical Research (1926)
    Wrote 'Confessions of a Ghost Hunter' (1936), 'The Most Haunted House in England: Ten Years' Investigation of Borley Rectory' (1940) and 'Poltergeist Over England' (1945)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a chain smoker.
    A fellow SPR member said that he had an 'ingrowing chip on his shoulder' that made it difficult to work with him.
    He was unable to convince the University of London to create a Department of Psychical Research.
    He tested medium Rudi Schneider and declared that Schneider had produced 'absolutely genuine [psychic] phenomenon.' (1930)
    Two years later, he photographed Schneider cheating by freeing his left hand to move objects during a seance.
    Some critics claimed that at least some of the ghostly happenings at the Borley Rectory were faked by Price.
    One biographer summed him up with the question, 'Does serious scientific research and a publicity-hungry ghost hunter go together?'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was disgusted by fake mediums who exploited human suffering during and after World War I.
    In one of his first successful investigations, he used secretly marked photograph plates to expose 'spirit photographer' William Hope as a fraud (1922).
    Arthur Conan Doyle reacted to the exposé by leading a mass resignation of 84 spiritualists from the SPR.
    He was a talented amateur magician, which proved useful in his paranormal investigations.
    He turned down an invitation from Nazi Germany to establish a National Socialist Institute for Psychical Research.
    He assembled one of the largest collections of books on magic and the occult in Britain, which he donated to the University of London.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 92.31% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying