Carry On Talking: How Dead Are the Voices?

Carry on Talking: How Dead Are the Voices? is the story of the advent of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) - a method of communication between the "dead" and the living using electronic devices - pioneered in Europe by Friedrich Jürgenson in the 1960s, and later by Konstantin Raudive in the seventies. Peter Bander, a psychologist who had lectured on religious education and ethics, had joined British publisher Colin Smythe Ltd in 1966, and in 1969 was asked by Smythe to evaluate Dr. Konstantin Raudive's research with a view to publishing the work in the English language. Raudive's book had been published in Germany in 1968 under the title: Unhörbares wird hörbar (The Inaudible Becomes Audible). Bander was understandably sceptical when first confronted with the phenomena. He stated: 'My first reaction to the book was negative because the claims made by the author appeared to me not only far-fetched but outrageous ... The thought of dead people communicating through a tape recorder seemed ludicrous and too silly to be taken seriously'. Unbeknown to Bander, Smythe had conducted his own experiments which proved to be conclusive. This led to Raudive's book being published in the English language under the title, Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead (1971) - now considered by many to be a classic in the genre - and put Bander at the centre of the controversial yet fascinating subject of life after death.