12 great holiday gifts for fans of the paranormal

Many of our favorite paranormal-themed TV shows are available in season boxed sets and make great gifts for fans who can't get enough of them. There's Celebrity Ghost Stories (one of my personal favorites), Fringe (Season 3), Walking Dead (Season 1), True Blood (Season 3), Ghost Hunters (Season 6), Ghost Adventures (Season 3), Supernatural (Season 6)... just to name a few.

Although you like coming to the Internet for your paranormal fix (especially this site, right?), there are still several good print magazines out there. OpenMinds is one of the newer publications out there -- and one of the best -- focusing on UFOs, aliens, abductions, disclosure, crop circles, and related phenomena (they also offer an electronic version); FATE Magazine has been around since 1948 and for all these years has been providing great articles on ghosts, life after death, UFOs, and more; ForteanTimes, published in the U.K., covers "the world of strange phenomena" and always has interesting features; Atlantis Rising includes articles on ancient mysteries, unexplained anomalies, and future science (also available in PDF form); NEXUS Magazine has articles on future science, free energy, conspiracies, and UFOs; TAPS ParaMagazine is brought to you by the same people who bring you the Ghost Hunters TV show.

I haven't played this game yet, but the trailer for it looks pretty darn exciting. This adventure game's story continues where the original Steven Spielberg movie ended. You are taken back to Isla Sorna where you assume the roles of the characters who are trying to escape the island that is overrun with tyrannosaurs, raptors, and other dinosaurs that want to dine on you. For PC, Mac, Xbox360, Playstation 3 and iPad 2.

There are a lot of excellent paranormal-themed books out there that make great presents. Here are some new books I can recommend: Mothman and Other Curious Encounters by Loren Coleman; Ghosts, Spirits & Hauntings: Exposed, Uncovered, and Declassified by multiple authors; Real Aliens, Space Beings, and Creatures from Other Worlds by Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger; Keep Out! Top Secret Places Governments Don't Want You to Know About by Nick Redfern; Spirit Voices: The First Live Conversation Between Worlds by Mark L. Cowden.

The vacancy sign has blinked on at the Bates Motel. Need a shower on the road? Here's a scale model of the Bates house from Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1960 thriller, Psycho. The model features finely engraved surface detail and a mother figure to place in the second-story window. The kit stands 5-1/2-inches tall x 5-inches wide x 7-1/2-inches long (1:87 scale), not including base, when fully assembled. A light kit is included to illuminate the mansion's windows. $22.99

Sure video games are fun, but board games are alive and well. This one, perhaps, is undead and well since it is based on the hit TV show, The Walking Dead. The object of the game is to make it safely back to camp while defending yourself against all the walkers in zombie-infested Atlanta. Be careful, however, because if a player gets too weak, he can turn into a zombie and start coming after you! Or you could become a walker yourself. Either way, you can win the game as either a surviving human or as a flesh-chomping zombie. $39.99

Here are some spoons you might expect to find on Dracula's dining room table, but would only be good for eating really, really thick soup or, perhaps, peas. They are not really to be used with food, of course. These cool Skull Spoons are collectibles crafted of vintage silverplate by Pinky Diablo. Pinky says, "You can let me choose a spoon for you, or I will be happy to send pix, but the early bird gets the spoon." $45 each.

I'll bet you know at least one ghost hunter... and you might be one yourself. And every ghost hunter has a wish list of desired equipment for their investigations. The GhostHunter Store has a full line of gadgets and supplies, including EMF detectors, thermometers, motion sensors, EVP equipment, thermal imaging, night vision equipment, dowsing rods, equipment cases, and ghost hunting starter kits. You'll also find books, DVDs, software, and other items.

Zombies traditionally love to consume human brains. Now you can start a new, cheery holiday tradition by munching on zombie brains! If you like giving candy for the holidays, your ghoul-loving friends will appreciate these chocolate zombie heads filled with sweet, gooey cherry "brains". This "undead delight for survivors only" includes six zombie head bon bons made with rich dark chocolate and packaged in a stylish box. Eat moderately, however; zombie brains are fattening. $9.99

Do you know what matryoshkas are? They are those Russian nesting dolls, smaller versions fitting inside the next larger one. This unique gift takes the traditional matryoshkas and warps them into paranormal creatures: The Grim Reaper, a zombie, a vampire, a skeleton, a mummy, and a teeny-tiny ghost. The set of six plastic dolls measure from 4-1/2 to 1-1/4 inches high. The company also offers Robot Matryoshkas.

CafePress offers a wide assortment of imprinted gifts for the paranormal geek, including clocks (Ouija wall clock pictured), phone cases, T-shirts, sweat shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, mugs, journals, magnets, calendars, license plate frames, hats, mouse pads, key chains, greeting cards, decals, tote bags, and more. They have a wide selection of available designs, logos and sayings, or you can even design your own for a customized, personalized gift.