Fiends, Ghosts, and Sprites Including an Account of the Origin and Nature of Belief in the Supernatural

"Fiends, Ghosts, and Sprites" by John Netten Radcliffe is a study that untangles the roots of our fascination with the supernatural, dissecting how beliefs in gods, monsters, and spirits have grown over time in different societies. It explains how the feelings of people mixed with what they saw in nature to create all kinds of stories. The book starts by looking at the basic reasons why people believe in supernatural beings, like trying to figure out how the world works, and says that as people have learned more, their ideas about gods and spirits have changed. Humanity personified nature's forces into deities and spirits. Radcliffe embarks on an examination of myths from different cultures, revealing how old stories have influenced what we think today about things that can't be explained.