The word, “parapsychologist,” has replaced “psychical researcher” that was used in earlier times. Nandor Fodor was born in Berengszasz, Hungary on May 13, 1895. He earned an LLD, (law degree), and a PhD. While he was working as a journalist, he became interested on psychic phenomena. He gained fame as a psychical researcher and pioneered the link between the psychic and psychological. As a psychoanalyst and psychical researcher, his major areas of research were poltergeists, mediumistic phenomena and hauntings. His work was influenced by his contemporaries: psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and psychical researchers Sándor Ferenczi and Hereward Carrington. Fodor had an ability to relate to people, compassion, enthusiasm and sense of humor.
Fodor: The Hungarian Vampire that Wasn’t
Fodor believed that psychical researchers were targets of people who tried to release emotions caused by mysterious unexplained experiences or psychotic attacks. He believed that researchers had to investigate all reported cases, regardless of how ludicrous they thought they were.
One night, Fodor received a hysterical phone call from a man who said he was John Benderi, from an address on Park Avenue in New York City. He had read Haunted People, a book that Fodor co-authored with Carrington. Benderi claimed he called the Hungarian Consulate and was told that Fodor lived on Fifth Avenue. An operator gave him the number. Benderi said he lived with his brother, who was bitten, in the neck, by a rabid fox in Hungary seven months before. Since then, their apartment was filled with terrible animal sounds and objects flew about. Would Fodor investigate?
Fodor wrote, that “The story smelt to high heaven.” There was no Hungarian Consulate in the USA at the time and the Hungary was closed to tourists. Fodor was listed in the phone book. Foxes were never involved with the vampire legends in Medieval Hungary. If Benderi’s brother had rabies, he needed medical help. The call was an obvious hoax. Fodor decided to investigate because there was a slight possibility that a psychosis was involved.
When Fodor and his friend, Richard Baron von Touche-Skedding went to investigate the next day, there was no trace of the Benderi brothers. He never heard from John again.
Fodor: Mrs. Forbes Claimed a Vampire Bit Her
This was the infamous Thornton Heath Poltergeist of 1938 that Fodor investigated, not to be confused with the 1972 case of the same name. Mrs. Forbes, the mistress of the house, was 35, married and had a child. She claimed a ghost tried to choker her with a necklace. There were marks on her neck that looked like burns. She claimed a vampire bit her neck. There were two puncture wounds to evidence this. She reported she was clawed by a tiger and offered five wounds on her arm as proof. She said there was poltergeist activity.
The first time Fodor observed her and the alleged poltergeist phenomena, he felt the incidents could have been caused by natural methods. He decided to have her studied in his laboratory at the International Institute for Psychical Research where he was the Director of Research. He believed that he and his colleagues needed to examine her behavior. She had to undress and wear special clothing that would reveal chicanery, while being observed. Dishes crashed on the floor. Glasses flew out of Forbes’ hands. Objects from Thornton Heath were apported to the Institute. Fodor was convinced that Forbes was producing the phenomena by physical means. He had her x-rayed, which proved him to be right. Both Forbes and the vampire were debunked.
Fodor: Two Vampires that Weren’t
The case of the Hungarian vampire was an outright hoax, as Fodor suspected; however, he decided to investigate because he thought a psychosis was involved. He and his friend rang every doorbell in the building that Benderi gave as his address. They saw a postman whom they asked if Benderi lived in the building. The man confirmed that no one in the building had the name Fodor was given.
There is a vampire psychosis, a form of schizophrenia. This is marked by a delusion, an unchanging false belief that one is a vampire. These people believe that they are vampires and behave as such. There are some people who act as vampires, as a sick game; however the delusion isn’t present.
Mrs. Forbes’ case, although she and her vampire were debunked, is complex in that there was alleged poltergeist activity. Poltergeists, PGs. are manifestations of psychokinesis, PK, the ability of the mind to affect matter. There are two types of PGs: human agent, HAP, and Entity Agent, EAP. Although she was troubled, Mrs. Forbes wasn’t an HAP, nor was the activity caused by an EAP.
Fodor concluded that Forbes had a disorganized psyche and was neurotic. She exhibited signs of dissociation, separating emotions, thoughts or experiences from each other either consciously or subconsciously. She also had hysterical reactions and auditory and visual hallucinations. He believed that the ghost, vampire and tiger incidents were attempts at Forbes harming herself, a criterion for borderline personality disorder.
Cases of the two vampires that weren’t: Solved.
Sources:
- American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mentasorders DSM IV TR, (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
- Hereward Carrington and Nandor Fodor, Haunted People, (A Signet Mystery Book, 1951).
- Nandor Fodor, Between Two Worlds, (Paperback Library Edition, 1967).
- Rosemary Ellen Guiley, emEncyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, (FactsOnFile, 1992).
Jill Stefko - I'd rather deal with the paranormal than human abnormal - having dealt extensively with both.
Join the Conversation