Shut Up & Read discussion

(I am so sorry if this is in the wrong area!) Hello everyone. My name is Krysti. I found this group when i was looking up how to study the supernatural and paranormal. I have been interested in it for so long. I am constantly reading novels with vampires, witches, and werewolves in them. I love shows like Supernatural, Haven, Ghost Whisperer, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Being Human(uk), Grimm, Teen Wolf, Once Upon A Time, Dracula, The Originals, Sleepy Hollow, Witches of East End.... and so on. I was wondering if i were to study this kind of stuff, where would i start? Any good books you guys would recommend? I would really appreciate it if any of you have any info for me. thanks

I really enjoyed The Afterlife Experiments: Breakthrough Scientific Evidence of Life After Death.

Personally, I tend to start with Wikipedia and go on from there.

For instance, check out the paranormal page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal

And just click on the links that interest you. Right down the bottom of each page should be 'Further reading' section that will list books and other useful sources.

Be aware that most of the origin myths on these creatures bear little resemblance to what we are accustomed to from books and TV. I did some research into this using some books I had on legends (there are posts on my blog, if you are interested, but I didn't want to presume and post the link).

Just from what I learned, the first thing I would say is why do you want to know? Unless you want to deviate dramatically from the literature norm, you may not find the facts interesting or relevant.

I don't recall the books I used, but I can look them up for you if you want. I have them at home somewhere.

As Michael said Wiki is a good place to begin, and then perhaps the classic paranormal like Dracula, and where the mythology of it comes from. There are plenty of books about superstition and monsters.
Anything on mythology, monsters and such like.