Dr Leo Ruickbie

Dr Leo Ruickbie, FRHistS, FRAI, PhD (Lond), MA, BA (Hons), Associate of King’s College, is a social scientist specializing in controversial beliefs and exceptional experiences. He was awarded a PhD for his work on contemporary witchcraft, magic and re-enchantment from King's College London and is the author of six books: Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A History (2004, 2011, 2019); Faustus: The Life and Times of a Renaissance Magician (2009); A Brief Guide to the Supernatural (2012); A Brief Guide to Ghost Hunting (2013); The Impossible Zoo: An Encyclopedia of Fabulous Beasts and Mythical Monsters (2016); and Angels in the Trenches: Superstition, Spiritualism and the Supernatural During the First World War (2018). He is a Fellow of both the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute, as well as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Northampton, where he is part of the Exceptional Experiences and Consciousness Studies Research Group. He is also a Council Member of the Society for Psychical Research and a Professional Member of the Parapsychological Association. Since 2014, he has been the editor of The Magazine of the Society for Psychical Research. In 2021, he won third prize in the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies essay contest on the best evidence for life after death, with ‘The Ghost in the Time Machine’. He can be found online at ruickbie.com.