Wiseman argues that paranormal phenomena such as psychics, telepathy, ghosts, out-of-body experiences, prophesy and more do not exist, and explores why people continue to believe, and what that tells us about human behavior and the way the brain functions.

Wiseman uses QR codes throughout the book, which link to YouTube videos as examples and as experiments the reader can participate in to further explain the phenomena.

For example, he talks about people who claim they are being attacked by a ghost or an entity when they are starting to wake up; this information tells us a lot about sleep.

He stresses that it "would be a huge shift" if people contacted consumer affairs organizations asking for the evidence of these paranormal claims.

Plait was not surprised by anything in the book regarding the methods and explanations of the paranormal, "but the sections where Richard discusses our brain were somewhat new to me and honestly fascinating.

[6] According to Barry Karr from the Center for Inquiry, Wiseman has not written a typical skeptic book wherein he seeks information in order to debunk paranormal phenomena.

[7] The part of the book that interviewer Swoopy from the Skepticality podcast enjoyed most was the chapter that explained the history behind the spiritualist movement.

She found the history of Michael Faraday's methods that he used during table-turning to see if people were consciously or unconsciously moving the table, or if something paranormal was happening, "fascinating".

Finally, in this book, he was able to discuss how it is used in our daily lives, and that cult leaders like Jim Jones used these tricks to exploit his followers.

This book was written for skeptics to have fun with and to show their friends, but mainly for those people who have not yet made up their minds... "Why should they be subjected to only one side of the argument?"

"[13] During the Fall 2011 semester, Paranormality was required reading for Michael Shermer's Chapman University class, "Skepticism 101: How to Think Like a Scientist (Without Being a Geek)".

[15] Each year the Center for Inquiry selects a published work "that best exemplifies healthy skepticism, logical analysis, or empirical science" for the Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in Critical Thinking.