There really ARE Idiot's Guides for everything, aren't there?  This one was penned by Nathan Robert Brown, who is a folklorist and an expert on religion, which might explain why one of the book's four sections is dedicated to religious topics, from angels to demons and everything in between.  

Angels seem to me like something which either deserves an entire book of its own, or deserves to be only the briefest overview in a book that claims to be about "the paranormal."  Some odd things get lumped into this religious chapter, including Ouija boards and séances, which here are categorized under the "Necromancy" chapter.

This is kind of a weird book, is what I'm saying.  

It also dedicates an entire chapter to the spiritual beliefs of Japan, which is surely an odd choice.  Every country in the world has its own wacky beliefs in spirits and monsters.  Why choose Japan?  I really couldn't say.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading about the crazy-ass ghosts that are said to plague Japan, from the ghosts of wronged women, to those of angry samurai.

You have to make choices when you're planning out a book like this.  You have to decide what to include, and what to leave out.  I appreciate that Brown chose to leave in some of the more unusual and international phenomena, like the Chinese legend of zombies (which can be subdued by writing a prayer on a slip of paper, and tacking it to the zombie's head).  

However, things start looking a little random when a book dedicates five full pages to the Amityville haunting, but has not one mention of the Bell Witch.  The Amityville incident is generally accepted as being much more about real estate contracts than ghosts, while the Bell Witch is one of America's more notorious incidents and perpetual hauntings, as well as being the inspiration behind The Blair Witch Project).

I was going to leave aside the nitpicking.  But then as I flipped through looking for something else I noticed that the book covers three aquatic cryptids: Nessie, Champ, the Lake Van monster, and the frilled shark.  One of these things are not like the others!  Frilled sharks are a real thing, and one recently turned up in Japanese waters.

If you're going to cover aquatic monsters, cover aquatic monsters.  Don't overlook Ogopogo, the Lake Iliamna monster, or Mokele-Mbembe.  If you're going to cover known animals which are extremely rare or presumed extinct, why leave out the coelacanth or Archeteuthis, the giant squid?

I also have to question the fact-checking and editorial oversight in a book which refers to a rooster as "the male equivalent of a chicken."  A phrase which should read "the male equivalent of a hen" or better yet simply, "a male chicken."  (Actually now that I think about it, I really don't feel like an author needs to define the word "rooster" for an audience over the age of six.)

Overall this was a pleasant enough book to flip through.  It makes great summer reading, and kids will definitely like it.  But I ultimately found it to be as frustrating as it was entertaining.