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Tonight, one of my friends posted a concerning update on his social media. One of his books was plagiarized, repackaged, and published on Amazon. Further, it appears that the author is a pseudonym. Authors spend a great deal of their own money to research and to write books. Few achieve financial success from their endeavors. Richard Estep is well known in the paranormal community. For an unknown, self-published thief to steal his work and publish as his own would not go unnoticed.

Richard Estep has written several non-fiction books on paranormal phenomena and appeared on various TV shows discussing his experiences. As a paramedic, Richard is especially interested in paranormal activity in and around hospitals. For Haunted Healthcare: Medical Professionals and Patients Share their Encounters with the Paranormal, Richard interviewed medical personnel and patients to obtain personal stories. The book was published in 2018 and is available in paperback or as an ebook. His extensive research landed him a guest role on Haunted Hospitals.

Let me be clear: His work was stolen. A person claiming to be Hugo Sulin published The Haunting of The Healthcare: A Collection of Ghost Stories Related to the Medical Professions: Haunted House Mystery Books on January 9, 2021. It appears on Amazon.com. “Sulin” reduced the page count by 2 pages and slashed the paperback price. But make no mistake. This is not his work. It belongs to Richard.

Once the crime was discovered, Richard acted. He alerted Amazon, which has not removed the fraudulent work (as of 11:22 PM on January 28, 2021). Friends and readers pointed the plagiarism out in reviews. Ultimately, Amazon disabled commenting due to the increase in activity. One would hope that they would have responded as quickly to the theft.

The paranormal community is small. Some profess “paranormal unity” but merely give it lip service. This is different. Tonight, the paranormal community stands firm in exposing this crime. Don’t support plagiarism. It is a crime.