Evolution of the English Language,Nonfiction,Near Death Experience Book Genre Over the Past Fifty Years

Research Questions

Subgenres of NDE books have emerged and grown since the 1980s due to the varied interests of writers and investigators, as well as the growing willingness of experiencers to share their stories. Undoubtedly, publishers have had something to do with the growth of subgenres of NDE books. Towards the goals of better understanding the evolution of the NDE book genre and the epistemology of public knowledge on this topic, this study aimed to answer the following key research questions:

 1. Which subgenres of English language NDE books have been most prominent?

As an adjunct to the main aims of the study, the author was also interested in learning the following:

 4. Has there been an increase in books for mental health or medical professionals about NDEs that convey the importance of listening non-judgmentally to patients’ stories?

The following hypotheses were made:

 1. The largest subgenre of NDE books is personal accounts of near-death experiences.

The author’s experience as a consumer of NDE literature, both academic and popular, informed development of the above research questions and hypotheses. She noticed in recent years that more books were being published that conveyed “lessons” for all of us from NDE accounts. This piqued her curiosity about whether this subgenre was proliferating, aside from the few books she was aware of. Furthermore, she wondered if more scientifically oriented explorations of the topic were reaching the general reader, and if so, which disciplines were most actively sharing knowledge. Coming from a social science background, she was particularly interested in learning whether disciplines like social work and sociology were involved in creating public knowledge about NDEs.

Finally, informed by her PhD in social work, she also wondered if a half century of learning about NDEs was finding its way into textbooks on bereavement and grief, or more sociology texts on death on dying. This final query was not central to the overall aims of the study since textbooks are written for a specialized audience. However, since she was analyzing all subgenres she thought this might be an interesting additional area of exploration. She acknowledges that content on NDEs in textbooks would shape mental health and medical professionals’ knowledge of NDEs rather than shaping public knowledge.

Data Gathering Process

The first research goal was to compile a comprehensive list of all the nonfiction English language books ever published on the NDE subject. Trade paperbacks, hard cover books, textbooks, and eBooks were included. Exclusion criteria included fiction books, juvenile books, non-English language books, dissertations, and books on coming close to death that did not actually describe an NDE. Any book that included substantial content relevant to the NDE phenomenon was included. To compile the list, the author used two databases to search for publications: the Library of Congress and World Cat. Using Endnote, the author connected to the Library of Congress database and imported all books with the phrase “near death experience” in any field. No date parameters were entered to ensure books predating the 1970s were included. The same procedure was used to search the World Cat database, but the phrase was searched for by subject, keyword, or title. Again, no date parameters were entered so that books from any year would be included in the list.

The total number of records imported into EndNote was 1,984. Duplicate references, including the same title in two different languages or different editions of the same book, were removed using the Endnote duplicate removal procedure leaving 1,503 references. An additional manual review of the database resulted in 500 more duplicates being removed due to the same book being published in different formats (e.g., print books also published as audiobooks) or books that were not included in the parameters of the study such as fiction books, children’s books, and dissertations. Books not directly relevant to the NDE phenomenon (e.g., stories of people who came close to death but did not have a classic NDE) were also removed. An additional 38 references were added in April 2022. After that date, an additional 136 records were later removed during the coding process mostly due to books not being directly related to the NDE phenomenon upon closer review of the abstract or book description. The final number of books included in the study was 903. Records were exported from EndNote into an excel spreadsheet for coding.

The Coding Process

The coding process was both inductive and deductive, which is a key feature of thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). First the author used an inductive process to develop the preliminary list of codes. In addition to writing down subgenres she believed existed based on her personal knowledge of the genre, she also completed a cursory scan of the compiled list of books, including titles and keywords, to develop a list of potential subgenres. Each code was meant to correspond with a potential subgenre of NDE books, but during the final round of coding by the author certain codes were merged to correspond to a single subgenre.

The author hired two research assistants to assign codes to each book using a list of 35 possible codes. This was a deductive process as the coders did not develop additional codes. The author has extensive knowledge of the NDE and has read many books on the topic, but interestingly the coders had never heard of the phenomenon. This was surprising to the author and she wondered if there might be a generational gap in knowledge of, or interest in, the topic; however, it was viewed as a positive development that the coders had no knowledge of the NDE genre, which in the author’s opinion, lent this stage of the coding process a degree of objectivity.

The coders were provided with a brief overview of the NDE topic and instructed to choose one primary and one secondary code for each book. Most exported records included a title, year published, authors, keywords, publisher, notes, and abstract, although some lacked keywords and/or an abstract. Each of these details was in a separate column in the spreadsheet. Two additional columns were created to enter primary and secondary codes entitled code 1 and code 2. The research assistants were instructed to enter a primary code (code 1) for each book and a secondary code (code 2) if it was deemed the book could be classified into a second subgenre.

The coders were instructed to use the keywords column to help them select codes. If the code/subgenre was not clear based on the keywords, or the keywords were missing, they were asked to review the notes and/or abstract columns to learn more about the books. If it was still unclear which codes to assign based on keywords, notes, and the abstract, the coders were instructed to read more about the book on Amazon or Google Books then assign a code to the best of their ability.

After the entire list of books was assigned a code by either research assistant, the author manually reviewed each record and agreed or disagreed with the codes assigned. If the author believed there was a more appropriate primary and/or secondary code, the codes were changed. Although, a more traditional process of agreeing on final codes did not take place, the author was deemed to be a competent final arbiter for assigning codes due to her extensive knowledge of the popular NDE literature. The author observed that some codes were erroneously assigned by the research assistants due to their unfamiliarity with the subject.

At this point in the process all codes were translated into subgenres. Essentially, the coding process was used to analyze themes within the universe of NDE books and create a list of subgenres based on these themes. During this final coding process, codes found to convey the same subgenre were combined to form a new theme/subgenre category (e.g., autobiographical and bio both became “experiencer story”). The final subgenre names were entered into the code columns by the author.

Data Analysis

The analysis began with counting the occurrences of the codes which now represented distinct subgenres. First, separate counts were conducted of the primary and secondary codes. Then the primary and secondary code counts were combined to produce a total count of each subgenre (code). Subgenre counts were additionally produced by decade. This was accomplished using the pivot table function in Excel to select years within each decade, then all primary and secondary code occurrences under that decade were entered into a table. Occurrences of each code, either as a primary or secondary code, were counted to produce a final total for each code, by decade.

Keywords were also counted to observe whether keyword frequencies were generally aligned with relevant primary code frequencies. This was deemed important since the research assistants had been instructed to use the keywords column to assign appropriate primary and secondary codes.

Finally, the most frequent subgenres for each decade of the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s were entered into R for a chi-square analysis to determine if there were differences by decade. This analysis was redone in SPSS to double check the results. Subgenre counts from prior decades and the current decade were not included in the analysis due to low frequencies. The ten codes with largest frequencies across all three decades (codes 1 and 2 counts combined) were entered into the analysis.

Code Frequencies

Tables 1 and 2 show the frequencies for primary and secondary codes. A primary code was required for each book, so the total number of primary codes entered (code 1) was 903. The total number of secondary codes entered (code 2) was 633. Subgenres with over 50 published books, as indicated by primary codes, in declining order of frequency were: ‘experiencer stories’ (autobiographic or biographical), ‘religious’ books, ‘compilations of experiencer stories’, ‘scientific investigations’, ‘Christian’ perspectives, ‘multitopic books’, ‘spiritual explorations’, and ‘death and dying/sociology’ books featuring substantial NDE content.

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Table 1.

Fifteen Most Frequently Used Primary Codes, All Decades.

Code 1	Frequency
Experiencer story (autobio or bio)	231
Religious	80
Compilation of experiencer stories	71
Scientific investigation	69
Christian	65
Multi-topic book or book series	61
Spiritual exploration	61
Death and dying/sociology	54
Consciousness/neuroscience	27
Aftereffects	26
Parapsychology	23
Psychology	23
Child experience	14
Philosophical	14
Cases from history (pre-1975)	12
Other	72
Total	903

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Table 2.

Ten Most Frequently Used Secondary Codes, All Decades.

Code 2	Frequency
Aftereffects	79
Christian	72
Religious	54
Spiritual exploration	50
Scientific investigation	44
Multi-topic book or book series	30
Psychology	29
Death and dying/sociology	26
Compilation of experiencer stories	24
Lessons and inspiration from NDEs	24
Other	201
Total	633

There was some overlap in the most frequent primary and secondary codes assigned, with a few exceptions. ‘Lessons/inspiration from NDEs’, ‘psychology,’ and ‘aftereffects’ books were more frequently assigned as secondary codes, while ‘experiencer stories’ and ‘consciousness/neuroscience’ books were more frequently chosen as primary codes. ‘Scientific investigation’ was a common primary and secondary code, but specific scientific disciplines such as ‘psychology’ were more often entered as secondary codes.

Table 3 shows combined total counts of the primary and secondary codes. The ten most common subgenres are presented in Figure 1. The top ten codes, used either as primary or secondary codes, largely overlapped with the most frequently used primary codes. The top ten codes represent subgenres that are arguably most familiar to the public including ‘personal stories’, ‘scientific investigations’, and ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’ interpretations. ‘Aftereffects’ was in the top ten as well. This subgenre has some overlap with ‘personal stories’ and represents an aspect of the phenomenon often studied by researchers as well as lay authors.

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Table 3.

Combined Totals for All Codes (Primary and Secondary) Used, All Decades.

Code	Count
Experiencer story (autobio or bio)	255
Christian	137
Religious	134
Scientific investigation	113
Spiritual exploration	111
Aftereffects	105
Compilation of experiencer stories	95
Multi-topic book or book series	91
Death and dying/sociology	80
Psychology	52
Consciousness/neuroscience	48
Parapsychology	34
Lessons and inspiration from NDEs	29
Philosophical	28
Buddhism/reincarnation	22
Child experience	21
Cases from history (pre-1975)	20
Skeptical	17
Hellish/negative experience	15
Church of latter-day saints	15
Cross-cultural	15
Overview of NDE phenomena	11
Medical professional observations/hospice	11
Counseling/grief and bereavement	9
Angels	5
Juvenile literature	5
Physician experiencer	5
Shared death experience	5
Astral projection	4
Physician experiencer	4
After death communication	4
Afterlife	3
Judaism	3
Mediumship	3
New age	3
African	2
Blind experiencer	2
Evolution	2
Occultism	2
Physics	2
Suicide	2
Amish	1
Australia	1
Coma	1
Hindu	1
Humor	1
Islam	1
LGBTQ	1
Military experiencer	1
New Jerusalem Church	1
Stillbirth	1
UFOs	1
Total	1535

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Figure 1.

Primary and secondary code counts were combined to determine code totals. See Table 3 for complete list of combined code totals.

Eighty books were coded ‘death and dying/sociology.’ These two codes were combined since death and dying books are often written by social scientists and relate to societal culture and experiences. Fifty-two books were coded ‘psychology’ which meant the book was written by a psychologist, featured a study carried out by psychologists, or the books used psychology as the overall framework for discussing the phenomenon. The codes ‘parapsychology,’ ‘consciousness/neuroscience,’ ‘lessons and inspiration,’ and ‘philosophy’ represented fairly large subgenres as well.

Keyword occurrences were consistent with code frequencies (see Table 4), but there was less diversity in keywords compared to the final list of codes. The term “near death experience” was the most frequent keyword that appeared in the exported records, but since every book on the list was relevant to the NDE phenomenon, that keyword was not useful. The term ‘future life’ was often used as a keyword to signify the afterlife or near death experience, but similarly, this term was not adopted as a code since it is generic. There was little overlap between certain keywords and codes, such as ‘aftereffects,’ which were added by the author as codes for clarity based on her knowledge of the genre.

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Table 4.

Frequency of Keywords From Database Records, All Decades.

Keyword	Count
Religious	280
Future life	220
Christian	161
Bio/anecdote/narrative	125
Spiritual	124
Psychology	91
Parapsychology	59
Science	38
Neuroscience/consciousness	33
Angels	21
Philosophy	17
Hell	9
Sociology	1
Total	1179

Differences Over Time

The total number of books published on the NDE subject increased each decade (see Table 5). The number of NDE nonfiction books published increased dramatically from 41 in the 1980s to 203 in the 1990s. Furthermore, there were significant differences in combined code counts across the past three decades, χ² (24, N = 1131) = 123.42, p < .001 (see Table 6). Codes for books published prior to the 1970s, and during the 1970s and 1980s, were not included in this analysis due to low frequencies, but several observations can be made about subgenres that were most prevalent each of the remaining decades.

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Table 5.

Number of English Language NDE Books Published per Decade.

Decade	Count
Prior to 1970	15
1970s	10
1980s	41
1990s	203
2000s	251
2010s	330
2020–2022	54
Total	903

NDE Books Published Prior to the 1970s

Several personal NDE accounts were published prior to the 1970s, with one dating back as far as the 17^th century. These accounts are fascinating because they are from an era before there was a NDE “phenomenon.” It is possible that NDE stories were shared orally for centuries in Western cultures and throughout the world, but popular knowledge about NDEs was not widespread (in the U.S. as least) until the1970s.

One of the earliest written accounts located was featured in a four-page pamphlet published in England in 1683 (Atherton). The pamphlet described the story of a 14-year-old girl who was extremely sick and fell into “a trance like state for seven days.” She encountered “angels and saints” in a heavenly setting and was told by the beings that “she must go back for a while.” The experience was described as leaving the girl with great assurance of what waited for her on the “other side” at the time of her death. News from the Dead (Duell, 1740) described the experience of a prisoner who was hanged but survived his execution then went on to describe an otherworldly experience he had when he was unconscious.

A New Nonfiction Book Genre Emerges

Close to a dozen NDE books were published in the 1970s. Several NDE books published subsequent to Life After Life (1975) had a religious bent (Ritchie, 1978; Wilkerson, 1977) either featuring the NDEs of Christians or exploring NDEs from a Christian point of view. The first researchers to publish their work and thoughts about the NDE phenomenon in the 1970s were psychiatrists, psychologists, parapsychologists, and social scientists.

The NDE book genre emerged in the 1970s alongside the publication of popular books about death, dying, and grief. Founding mother of the death and dying movement, psychologist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, mentioned the NDE phenomenon in her classic work, On Death and Dying (1997). She also published details about her own near-death experiences close to 40 years later (2008). Communications professor Robert Kastenbaum, one of the leading death and dying scholars of the late 20^th century, was the editor of another early death and dying book, Between Life and Death (1979).

Emergence of NDE Subgenres

Thirty-nine books on the NDE subject, or featuring information on NDEs, were published in the 1980s. Books with a religious bent, especially from a Christian perspective, represented one of the first and largest subgenre of nonfiction NDE books to emerge. For example, Placebo (Pittman, 1983) described a Baptist minister’s NDE and its influence on his ministry. Pittman would later also write The Veil (1989), which was a religious exploration of NDEs. Two NDE books were written from a Mormon perspective (Heinerman, 1988; Sorensen, 1988) during this decade. Authors from the Church of Latter-Day Saints would later publish more than a dozen books on the NDE subject.

During the 1980s, more experiencers came forward to share their stories in books. One such experiencer was P.M.H Atwater who self-published I Died Three Times in 1977 – The Complete Story in 1980. Atwater would go on to write dozens of books on the subject in the ensuing decades. The first compilations or series of case studies of NDEs were published in the 1980s as well. Furthermore, the NDE subject was often included in multi-topic books alongside other “paranormal” subjects such as ghosts, UFOs, and telekinesis. The first skeptical books were published during this decade as well (e.g., Kurtz, 1985).

In the 1980s several more medical professionals and scientists, including psychiatrist Greyson (1984) and physician Sabom (1982), published investigations of NDEs. Furthermore, the near death phenomenon was seriously discussed in several more death and dying books including a second by Katenbaum (1986), Is there Life After Death, and Kamerman’s (1988) Death in the Midst of Life: Social and Cultural Influences on Death, Grief, and Mourning.

Bivariate Analyses

Chi-square analyses were conducted to explore differences in the types of NDE books published during the decades of the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. The ten codes with large frequencies across all three decades (codes 1 and 2 counts combined) were entered into the analysis. There were some notable differences in codes by decade, χ² (24, N = 1131) = 123.42, p < .001 (see Table 6 for a list of the most frequent codes per decade).

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Table 6.

Most Frequently Used Codes (primary and secondary), per Last Three Decades.

1990s	#	2000s	#	2010s	#
Religious	57	Experiencer story	64	Experiencer story	126
Experiencer story	33	Religious	42	Christian	74
Spiritual exploration	24	Multi-topic book or book series	35	Scientific investigation	44
Multi-topic book or book series	22	Scientific investigation	34	Compilation of experiencer stories	43
After effects	20	After effects	33	Spiritual exploration	42
Compilation of experiencer stories	20	Spiritual exploration	32	After effects	37
Psychology	20	Christian	29	Multi-topic book or book series	26
Christian	18	Compilation of experiencer stories	28	Death and dying/sociology	25
Death and dying/sociology	17	Death and dying/sociology	26	Consciousness/Neuroscience	19
Scientific investigation	15	Consciousness/neuroscience	19	Inspirational/lessons*	19
Parapsychology	11	Psychology	17	Religious	13
Cases from history*	11	Parapsychology	11	Child experiencer*	11
Philosophy	9	Philosophy	7	Philosophy	11
Child experiencer*	6	Overview*	5	Psychology	11
Consciousness/neuroscience	6	Skeptical*	5	Parapsychology	11

Use of the code ‘Christian’ was less prevalent (than statistically expected according to the bivariate analysis) in the 1990s and 2000s compared to the 2010s, while the reverse was true of ‘religious’ books. Fewer than expected ‘experiencer stories’ were published during the first two decades analyzed while the reverse was true of the 2010s. ‘Psychology’ books were published more often than expected in the 1990s and less often than expected in the 2010s. There were also fewer scientific investigations in the 1990s compared to a larger number than expected in the 2010s.

Primary codes were analyzed separately since they were expected to more accurately describe the subgenre a book belongs to. There was a difference in the top ten primary codes by decade, χ² (18, N = 650) = 82.576, p < .001. The ‘experiencer story’ code, more commonly used as a primary code (it was used 231 times for the primary code and 23 times for the secondary code), was used less often than expected for books published in the 1990s and 2000s while the reverse was true for the 2010s. This is consistent with the total code analysis reviewed above.

Also consistent with the total code analysis, fewer books were assigned the ‘religious’ code as a primary code in the 2010s while more than expected were assigned this code in the 1990s. ‘Multitopic’ books were less prevalent in the 2010s in congruence with the total codes analysis as well. Books on ‘aftereffects’ were not evenly distributed across the three decades as this subgenre appeared more often than expected in the first two decades and less often than expected in the 2010s. Finally, there were more neuroscience books than statistically expected in the 2010s.

Smaller Subgenres

Several observations can be made about smaller subgenres not included in the bivariate analysis. By the 2010s, a new subgenre of NDE books had emerged that focused on what medical professionals - such as hospice workers, nurses, doctors, and EMTs - were being told by their patients about otherworldly journeys out of the body while in surgery, unconscious in an ambulance, or in hospice. Many of these books included descriptions of the profound aftereffects, including joy, hope, and peace, that their patients reflected after their experiences.

Another observation that can be made is that the number of books about hellish or negative experiences increased from only a handful in the 1990s and 2000s to eight in the 2010s, (and two books from this subgenre have already been published this decade). The number of skeptical books remained consistent across the three decades examined, while books featuring children’s experiences increased from four published in the 2000s to eleven in the 2010s.

Current Trends

The current decade (2020s) was not included in the bivariate analysis due to the small code counts; however, it is evident from looking at the types of books published thus far that certain subgenres continue to dominate. For example, the largest subgenres currently are ‘experiencer stories,’ ‘Christian’ books, and ‘scientific investigations.’ Books on aftereffects and books by neuroscientists continued to be quite prevalent in the 2020s as well. It also appears that the inspirational/lessons subgenre of NDE books is continuing to grow as it is already the fifth largest genre.

Experiencer Stories

Experiencer stories are the largest subgenre of NDE books, and this subgenre has continued to grow in recent decades. The experiencer story, whether written by the experiencer themselves, a family member or professional author, is one of the most widely recognized and influential subgenres of popular NDE literature. The ability of personal accounts to convince the reader the experience was ‘real,’ stems from the ineffable and powerful nature of the stories themselves. Authors, when writing about their own experiences, often convey to the reader that it is simply difficult to find words to describe the experience. The public learns much of what they know about NDEs from these personal accounts. The moving and transcendent nature of the NDE not only profoundly impacts the experiencer themselves, as described in most accounts, but also has the potential to transform the reader as well.

Readers likely relate to the everyday people who have had an NDE as they read their stories. They are people like themselves – parents, doctors, persons with disabilities, skeptical, or religious. Readers may empathize with the experiencer’s initial discomfort of being judged, not believed, or outright rejected for sharing their experiences. If the reader takes away anything from the story, it is that the NDE was more ‘real’ to the experiencer than everyday life and that the writer is certain it was not a dream, hallucination, nor fantasy. The part of the story that describes the aftereffects of an NDE, such as personal growth, greater empathy, and or changes in relationships, has the potential to vicariously transform the reader as well.

There has always been great power in telling extraordinary personal stories through books, whether it’s a story of triumph, heroism, defeat, or trauma. These types of books are powerful because the author is sharing their truth. Likewise, the NDE is sharing their extraordinary truth to the best of their ability. As noted by Chapman (2019), stories told about near-death experience have an almost mythical quality. “The NDE is first and foremost, a story, of an incredible journey, complete with peril and pathos, finally arcing into a gratifying denouement in which the tale, and by extension its teller, is given credence by others” (p. 57).

Furthermore, NDE stories told by certain types of people are particularly fascinating due to the difficulty of debunking such stories. Physicians’ NDEs are difficult to dismiss because these professionals are highly respected in society (generally) and are regarded as skeptical by nature. Dr. Eben Alexander (2012), for example, was skeptical of the NDE phenomenon before he had his own experience. NDEs described by military personnel, blind persons, and children are also particularly compelling. Service members and veterans would tend to be quite reticent to share an NDE due to the potential for stigma or ridicule. Most children have never learned what an NDE is. Additionally, there are sight impaired experiencers who share their stories with incredibly vivid visual details. It is difficult to surmise why someone would want to fabricate a hellish or negative NDE, just as it is difficult to fathom why someone who survived a suicide attempt might want to share their story.

In recent years there has been controversy surrounding the accuracy or authenticity of some NDE accounts shared in print. In 2000, Moody said he was troubled by personal knowledge that some accounts appearing in the popular literature were fabricated (Chapman, 2019, p. 57). There is a risk in any genre of biographical books that some false or inaccurate stories will be told, and that the vetting of certain stories has not been thorough. But this does not mean that the majority of personal accounts shared within the NDE genre, or the majority of stories told in any autobiographical or biographical book genre, are fabrications.

Organizations like NDERF or IANDS play an important role in countering skepticism that can emerge when false NDE stories are published. These sites provide experiencers with another medium for sharing their stories, which thousands take advantage of. It is quite difficult to argue that these short, often anonymous accounts, are motivated by money or fame. They further suggest the phenomenon is pervasive.

Experiencer stories in the NDE genre get a disproportionate amount of media attention, but the briefer accounts shared online must be carefully examined for commonalities as well (as they have been). Between the hundreds of experiencer stories published in books, and the thousands of short anecdotes shared online, interested members of the public have ample material from which to form an opinion on the subject. Arguably, the very detailed personal accounts found in books, however, have played a leading role in shaping public knowledge and opinions about NDEs over half a century.

Religious Subgenre

The codes ‘Christian’ and ‘religious’ were among the top five most frequently assigned primary codes. When the primary and secondary codes were counted in aggregate, these two codes were among the top five as well. These are subgenres that some members of the reading public may gravitate to based on their own preexisting beliefs. These two subgenres include personal accounts, philosophical books, general overviews, and interpretations that take a religious bent. The vast majority of religious books took a Christian viewpoint, while those that used a Buddhist framework to explore the phenomenon were the second largest group of religious.

The number of Christian oriented NDE books was larger than statistically expected in the 2010s. In raw numbers, the Christian subgenre was second only to ‘experiencer stories’ in the 2010s (in the 1990s Christian books were the eight largest subgenre). This suggest that perhaps Christian interest in the NDE phenomenon has grown. Christians constitute the largest religious group in the U.S. (Public Religion Research Institute, 2021); therefore, it is unsurprising that the Christian subgenre, among NDE books with a religious viewpoint, is prominent. At the same time, the author expected there to be more English language NDE books written from the perspective of Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Native American spiritual traditions, and other religions.

Interestingly, within the Christian subgenre, fifteen books explored the phenomenon from a Mormon perspective. In a journal article, Lundahl (1979) identified eleven historical Mormon accounts of NDEs which had similar elements to those identified by Moody (1975). Lundahl and Widdison (1983) described the Church of Latter-Day Saints’ interest in and comfort with the NDE phenomenon as stemming from Mormon doctrinal beliefs related to “(1) the nature of the non-physical body, (2) the nature of the out-of-body experience, including the transition from life to death, the spirit world, and the occupants of the spirit world, and (3) the return to the body” (p. 99).

The author is interested in whether the growth of the Christian subgenre, within the overall NDE book genre, is the product of increasing interest among more religious readers in the NDE phenomenon. At one time, paranormal-like events such as NDEs were considered deviant and evil by many Christians. The author wonders if increasing interest in NDEs by Christians conveys greater acceptance of the phenomenon or a desire to fit the phenomenon into a Christian framework. An examination of the Christian subgenre along is a worthwhile research project.

Aftereffects

Over 100 books published specifically examined the aftereffects aspect of NDEs. ‘Aftereffects’ was the most frequent secondary code selected and was most often combined with the primary code of ‘experiencer story.’ The transformative aftereffects of NDEs discussed in these books include personality changes, changes in one’s moral compass, relationship changes, increased empathy, and career upheaval. Most of the books in the ‘experiencer story’ subgenre, as noted, explored the centrality of aftereffects to the overall story; it is this aspect of the story that can be as riveting for readers, as the NDE story itself.

The ‘aftereffects’ subgenre also had some overlap with the ‘scientific investigation’ subgenre. For example, Moody’s 1989 book, The Light Beyond, examined the aftereffects of NDEs. Researchers are interested in the psychological and physical aftereffects of NDEs because they can be readily measured and analyzed using highly reliable instruments. Also, while subjective descriptions and interpretations of an NDE can be studied, and commonalities identified, aftereffects can be directly observed by researchers, physicians, counselors, friends, and family. As Dr. Greyson explained in After (2021):

My assessments of what near death experiences mean for how the mind relates to the brain and for what ultimately happens after death are based on decades of research, but they are only my opinion of what the evidence shows. Although I think I’ve got pretty good evidence to support my assessments, I know that some people may interpret that evidence differently……….But there is one thing about which I am certain, about which the evidence is overwhelming – and that is the aftereffects of NDEs on people’s attitudes, beliefs, and values (p. 164).

New Subgenres

Research question number two asked which new NDE subgenres have emerged in recent decades. It was hypothesized that newer subgenres would include books by medical personnel sharing what they have observed and learned about NDEs from their patients. Another new subgenre hypothesized to have emerged was inspirational books that convey lessons for individuals or society from NDEs. Both subgenres did, in fact, emerge in the 2010s.

The number of books written by, or about, the observations of hospice nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, emergency room physicians, surgeons, nurses, and EMTs has increased. These books are often written by the professionals themselves and describe NDEs and other transpersonal or spiritually transformative experiences their patients have had. It was surprising this subgenre only recently emerged, but one possible reason is that patients are increasingly comfortable sharing their experiences with doctors, nurses, and others. This could be explained by a decrease in patients fearing ridicule due to the proliferation and commonality of experiencer stories and increased open mindedness and empathy from medical professionals.

This subgenre is notable because medical personnel are generally respected in society, and if they believe and honor their patients’ experiences, why shouldn’t everyone else? Doctors are regarded as skeptical by nature; therefore, the observations, and the weight they give their patients’ stories, is difficult to ignore or marginalize. Their interest in NDEs simply lends more credence to the phenomenon. Many of these medical professionals describe changes in their own thinking about death, dying, and the afterlife, after hearing numerous stories not only abouts NDEs, but also about pre-death experiences, after death communication, out of body experiences, and other transpersonal phenomena.

A subgenre of books that offer inspiration and lessons from NDEs also emerged in the 2010s. Despite there being one such book published in the decade prior- there were close to 20 in the 2010s. Only two years into the 2020s, eight inspirational books were already published. This subgenre may have emerged more recently since there are now 50 years of writing about the subject to draw lessons and inspiration from.

Scientific Investigations

Research question number three asked whether the ‘scientific investigation’ subgenre grew over the past 50 years, and if so, which academics were most active in sharing their findings with the public. It was hypothesized that the subgenre had evolved to include a wider cross-section of disciplines such as neuroscience and sociology. This subgenre has, in fact, grown steadily since the 1980s, and neuroscience has become more active in the subgenre over the past 20 years. Books written by sociologists were limited, but books on the societal implications of the NDE phenomenon, as well as death and dying books that included information about the NDE phenomenon, were common. In fact, death and dying books that included content on the NDE phenomenon, and books written by neuroscientists, were two of the largest subgenres two years into the current decade.

Sleutjes et al. (2014) in their review of the academic literature found there were limited rigorous empirical studies of the NDE phenomenon. Nonetheless, the current study has shown that scientists and researchers are increasingly interested in sharing their scientific explorations and perspectives on NDEs with the public. Science based NDE books can provide a counterbalance to the popularity of experiencer accounts. Scientific investigations typically do not solely look at one experience nor one aspect of the phenomenon but more typically build evidence that the phenomenon is “real” based on the identification of common elements of the experience and verifiable information gathered.

The pioneers of research based NDE studies were largely psychologists such as Kübler-Ross (1997) and Ring (1992), psychiatrists such as Moody (1975) and Greyson (1984) and physicians such as cardiologist Sabom (1982). They found their research worthy of sharing with the reading public. In the coming decades, more physicians would join the field and publish books for non-academic readers including psychiatrist Grof (2006), and physicians Parnia (2005) and Long (2011). Nurses have also published scientific studies including Sartori (2017) and McKenzie (2014).

Whereas psychology dominated the subgenre in earlier decades, neuroscience was producing more books for the reading public by the 2000s. Interestingly, the number of books coded as parapsychology remained steady at 11 per decade after the 1980s, indicating that the field of NDE research has expanded beyond the laudable scientific pioneers from the field of parapsychology.

The author expected sociologists would be at the forefront of producing books for the public about the effects of public NDE knowledge on religious or spiritual beliefs as well as on attitudes towards death and dying; however, she was surprised to discover very few books written by sociologists. One of the few books located that was written by a sociologist was Constance Jones’ (1997) R.I.P.: The Complete Book of Death and Dying. Many of the books classified under the ‘death and dying/sociology’ subgenre were written by psychologists (Grof, 2006), social scientists from various backgrounds (e.g., Assante, 2012), and even an economist (Coppes, 2013). Sartori, who is a PhD level medical researcher and former nurse, wrote a book on the societal implications of the NDE phenomenon in her 2017 book, The Transformative Power of Near-death Experiences: How the Messages of NDEs Positively Impact the World.

Books coded as consciousness, cognitive science, or neuroscience typically examined the mind/brain aspect of the NDE. The growth in NDE books written by neuroscientists has occurred in tandem with an increase in scientific papers on the mind-brain aspect of the phenomenon by neuroscientists (Sleutjes et al., 2014). Key questions posed by neuroscientists in their research, as shared with the public, include whether the mind and brain are separate entities, what neurological changes there are at death, and does the mind survive physical death?

The author believes growth in the scientific investigation subgenre of NDE books is central to understanding the current epistemology of public NDE knowledge. Despite the outsized influence of experiencer stories, scientifically oriented books have the potential to be equally influential in creating public knowledge about NDEs. There will always be readers who, despite how passionate and authentic a story seems, will not be able to fully endorse the phenomenon as “real” unless they experience it themselves. It is this segment of the reading public that may be more persuaded by scientific evidence presented in books written by neuroscientists, psychologists, or social scientists.

It appears that most of the scientific investigation books affirm the veracity of NDEs. The skeptical subgenre of books was found to be very small (fewer than 20 books identified over 50 years). One might argue that NDE books that use a scientific framework for evaluating the phenomenon are written by researchers already convinced of the veracity of NDEs. But upon closer examination, it appears that personal beliefs have not diluted the very important scientific evidence presented in these books. Simply presenting NDEs as events that can objectively evaluated through evidence moves the phenomenon out of the realm of conjecture and into the realm of science. This change is undoubtedly impacting public knowledge of, and thinking on, the subject.

Books for Medical and Counseling Professionals

Research question number four asked if there was an increase in books for mental health and medical professionals about the NDE phenomenon and the importance of listening non-judgmentally to patients’ stories. It was hypothesized there would be a growing number of books and manuals aimed at medical and helping professions. Results showed there was not a marked increase in this subgenre of books over the decades studied, but there was evidence that the NDE topic is increasingly mentioned in books on grief and bereavement.

This is an important development, because as Foster and Miner (2014) found, simply reading NDE accounts can help some individuals suffering from intense grief. Students reading grief and bereavement texts that treat NDEs and other transpersonal experiences, such as after death communications, seriously can influence the incorporation of this knowledge into future practice. The marked increase in NDE information in death and dying books is an encouraging development for increasing understanding of the phenomenon among psychology, sociology, counseling, medical students, and other professionals.

In total nine books for counseling or medical professionals, or texts on grief and bereavement, all of which incorporated information about NDEs, were identified. Examples include Orbach (1999) Life, Psychotherapy, and Death: The End of Our Exploring; Quill (2001) Caring for Patients at the End of Life: Facing an Uncertain Future Together; and Foster and Miner (2017) Connecting Soul, Spirit, Mind, And Body: A Collection of Spiritual and Religious Perspectives and Practices in Counseling.

The author hopes to see this subgenre of books grow as the number of medical professionals encountering such stories increases with advances in medical technology that save more lives. Therapists may be hearing more stories about NDEs in practice as well (a good topic for another study). The field of social work is especially primed to take more interest in the near-death phenomenon and should include information about these experiences in clinical texts and classes on the integration of spirituality in counseling.