Mike Dash read history at Cambridge University and naval history at the University of London, where he received his PhD. In 1981 he began conducting fieldwork and archival research into unexplained events, and in 1983 he was invited to join the staff of the Fortean Times, the journal of strange phenomena. He has since written extensively on topics ranging from lake monster sightings to phantom social workers, and appears frequently on television and radio programmes as a commentator on the bizarre and the bewildering. Dr Dash has lived in Berlin, Zurich, Paris, Cannes and King's Lynn, and worked as an author, journalist and magazine publisher. He now lives in London with his wife and daughter.