Parapsyche-Jack Vance novella

Parapsyche-Jack Vance novella

Parapsyche was first published in the magazine Amazing Science Fiction Stories in August, 1958.  It is a 108/115 page novella and one of Vance's few excursions into parapsychology.  Telepathy, clairvoyance, ghosts, ESP and séances with mediums all play a role.  Don Berwick has been interested in spiritualism since he saw ghosts as a child.  Years later he attended college with the goal of becoming a parapsychologist. After he and his wife find oil on the property they inherited, they decide to establish an institute for psychic research.  Berwick's brother in law is a fanatical, bigoted revivalist preacher, named Fighting Joe Bronny, who considers spiritualism and the occult to be the workings of the devil.  As Fighting Joe gains followers, he begins to advocate that his followers join him in his "fight" against "atheism," "communism" and "blood pollution." By "fight" he means physical fight, and he is especially outraged by the sinful activities going on by his brother in law and sister at Berwick's institute. A major conflict seems about to erupt.  In the Introduction Vance mentioned that he wrote "Parapsyche" after reading about psionics. I’ve read this twice so far and I did not find the story to be that interesting, rating it a 3 ("Liked it") and a 2 ("Okay").

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled The Dark Side of the Moon (1986)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Gadget Stories (2005) part of VIE

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Minding the Stars: Early Jack Vance, volume 4 (2014)

Included in the Vance collection titled Sail 25 and Other Stories (2017 Spatterlight)