Darkness Walks...

As some of you may know, over the last few weeks I have made a couple of posts (at my UFO Mystic blog) on Jason Offutt’s new book: Darkness Walks - The Shadow People Among Us. But, now, having finally digested its contents, it’s time for a review. And, fortunately, Darkness Walks is a bloody good one!

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts at UFO Mystic that - for this reader and reviewer, at least - there are definite parallels between the ominous Shadow People of Jason’s book and some of the stranger, occult/paranormal-driven Men in Black-type reports highlighted by the likes of Keel, Bender and Barker.

And, although Jason’s book is obviously not a definitive guide to the MIB, it is most definitely required-reading for anyone and everyone interested in the subject - hence why I am reviewing it right here.

So, with that said, let’s get right to the book.

With a foreword from best-selling and long-time paranormal author, Brad Steiger, Darkness Walks is a heady, ominous and roller-coaster ride into the twilight world of some of the strangest and most unsettling creatures to ever grace our planet.

They lurk in the shadows. We see fleeting glimpses of them out of the corners of our eyes. And they are a decidedly ominous, humorless, and grim bunch, to say the very least.

Sometimes, when I’m reading books like this, I get disappointed by the fact that the author spends most of his or her time relating case after case, but not actually attempting to define what might be found at the heart of the puzzle - or even what might be the root-cause of it all. Fortunately, this is not the case with Darkness Walks.

Yes, Jason most assuredly does relate numerous reports of encounters with the Shadow People; however, he also addresses the many and varied theories that have been presented to try and determine who they are and what they may want with us.

Citing reports that date back to the 1800s, Jason relates a copious amount of witness testimony concerning Shadow People encounters - much of which is pretty unsettling. Ominous presences in the bedroom, terrifying sleep-paralysis-type experiences, hooded entities provoking fear, havoc and mayhem, and even descents into madness following encounters with the Shadow People proliferate within the pages of the book.

Fortunately, Jason is not afraid to address all of the theories that may explain the presence of the Shadow People - which range from chemical-imbalances in the brain to demons, and from ET to Islamic Jinns.

Then there are the red-eyed entities (red-eyed beings are, of course, a staple part of Ufology, Cryptozoology, and Forteana in general); the disturbing “Hat Man,” who is surely a close cousin of the MIB of the 1950s; hooded monstrosities; choking-characters; and even blazing-eyed Shadow-Cats.

So what’s going on with the Shadow People? Who are they? And what the hell do they want with us?

Jason answers such questions by looking into the worlds of physics, psychiatry, metaphysics, western religion, and native American shamanism - and he does so in a very capable, thought-provoking and informative fashion.

Jason also comments on the work and theories of my good friend and Fortean hotty Marie Jones (author of PSIence, among countless other titles), the ways and means to rid yourself of the Shadow People, as well as ways to invite or invoke them - if you dare.

All in all, this is a great, informative, detailed and highly thought-provoking study of a phenomenon that straddles the realms of the paranormal, the occult and ufology with uncanny ease - if they’re not all a part of some wider phenomenon; which I most strongly suspect they actually are.

Jason has done us all a great favor by writing this book, and Dennis Stacy and Patrick Huyghe of Anomalist Books are to be applauded for publishing it.

Now, all you have to do is go out and buy Darkness Walks - TODAY, OK?!

UK UFO Files: The Book

Dave Clarke has a new book looming on the horizon that deals with the specific issue of the British MoD’s UFO files.

And here’s Dave himself with all the details:

Copies of my new book based upon the Ministry of Defense’s UFO files can now be pre-ordered via Amazon.

The UFO Files: the Inside Story of Real-life Sightings will be published in paperback during July 2009 by The National Archives.

The recommended cover price is £12.99 but those who order early can obtain a discount.

The book has been specially produced to accompany the ongoing releases of MoD files via the TNA website UFO page.

The UFO Files showcases accounts of UFO experiences extracted from the entire TNA collection from the 19th century to the present day.

The first two chapters include official accounts of sightings and investigations of phantom airships, foo-fighters and flying saucers from the first half of the 20th century.Later chapters cover classic UFO incidents featured in the Air Ministry and Ministry of Defence files, ending with the most recent material released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The book concentrates upon primary documents and interviews conducted with key witnesses, much of which will be new even to seasoned UFOlogists.Working with The National Archives has meant that some key historical documents have been made available for publication for the first time.

The book will include over 70 original images from the files, including accounts collected by an Air Ministry investigation of strange phenomena sighted over London in 1921!

A summary of the contents, taken from the TNA new books page, follows:Original records reveal how British Intelligence and the CIA investigated many Cold War sightings, from the Roswell incident of 1947 to ghost aircraft, Radar Angels to the RAF’s confidential files.

The book sheds new light on many famous cases, such as RAF Topcliffe, 1952; the Flying Cross in Devon, 1967; RAF West Freugh, Scotland, 1957; the Berwyn Mountains UFO crash and the Phantom Helicopter Mystery, as well as the notorious ‘Welsh triangle’ and the Rendlesham Forest incident.

Dramatic witness statements and personal interviews - many undertaken by the author himself - combine with rarely seen photographs, drawings and newly available documents to bring these extraordinary experiences vividly to life.

From aerial phenonema of the First World War to crop circles and a secret UFO study of more recent times, The UFO Files offers a unique guide to our most intriguing mysteries.

The Monsters of Kent

Excellent news!

Yesterday, I received in the mail a review-copy of Neil Arnold's brand new book: Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent; which, as its title strongly suggests is Neil's own, deep, personal study of the weird creatures that dwell deep within his very own home-county of Kent, England.

At almost 400 pages in length, this veritable whopper of a book looks to be an excellent, definitive study that encompasses big-cats, black-dogs, water-beasts, Bigfoot, and much more.
I've only read one chapter thus far, and checked out the photo section and the other chapter titles; but I can say for certain that this is one of the most detailed regional studies of weird beasts ever written.

You can expect a review right here, just as soon as I have read it.

A great job, Neil!

Natural Freaks

I haven't yet read this book - Freaks of Nature: What Anomalies Tell Us About Development And Evolution by Mark S. Blumberg - but it looks to be a very good one.

As the publisher tells us:

"In most respects, Abigail and Brittany Hensel are normal American twins. Born and raised in a small town, they enjoy a close relationship, though each has her own tastes and personality. But the Hensels also share a body. Their two heads sit side-by-side on a single torso, with two arms and two legs. They have not only survived, but have developed into athletic, graceful young women. And that, writes Mark S. Blumberg, opens an extraordinary window onto human development and evolution.

"In Freaks of Nature, Blumberg turns a scientist's eye on the oddities of nature, showing how a subject once relegated to the sideshow can help explain some of the deepest complexities of biology. Why, for example, does a two-headed human so resemble a two-headed minnow? What we need to understand, Blumberg argues, is that anomalies are the natural products of development, and it is through developmental mechanisms that evolution works. Freaks of Nature induces a kind of intellectual vertigo as it upends our intuitive understanding of biology. What really is an anomaly? Why is a limbless human a "freak," but a limbless reptile-a snake-a successful variation?

"What we see as deformities, Blumberg writes, are merely alternative paths for development, which challenge both the creature itself and our ability to fit it into our familiar categories. Rather than mere dead-ends, many anomalies prove surprisingly survivable--as in the case of the goat without forelimbs that learned to walk upright. Blumberg explains how such variations occur, and points to the success of the Hensel sisters and the goat as examples of the extraordinary flexibility inherent in individual development. In taking seriously a subject that has often been shunned as discomfiting and embarrassing, Mark Blumberg sheds new light on how individuals--and entire species--develop, survive, and evolve."

The Alien Deception...

Newly published and looks very interesting, as the publisher’s blurb below reveals…

The Alien Deception: An Exploration of the Alien Abduction Phenomenon

By
Nigel Watson

Since the 1960s thousands of people throughout the world have reported being abducted by aliens. They report being taken in broad daylight or at night. Some say they were simply looked at by seemingly alien beings, while others say they were horribly examined.

At times, after such encounters, the abductee has little conscious recollection of
these events, and usually through nightmares, flashbacks and hypnosis they eventually learn more.

Some abductees even believe they have been used as part of a breeding project to create hybrid alien/humans. Almost all are truly bewildered by their experiences.

Ultimately, alien abductions make us consider fundamental questions about our place in the universe and our future evolution as a species.

Are abductions real events that have momentous consequences for the whole of humanity or are they the product of rumour, psychosis, hoaxes, media hype and sensationalism?

Is there a grand Alien Deception manipulating our minds and our governments or are we deceiving ourselves?

Nigel Watson’s groundbreaking exploration of alien abductions takes a comprehensive look at the reports by the earliest abductees (such as Betty and Barney Hill), right up to the latest encounters.

Watson considers the possible historical, paranormal, extraterrestrial, psychological and media influences that might help explain the origin of these reports.

For British readers, click here.

For US-based readers, click here.

Reviewing the Skin-Walker

Just recently, fellow creature-seeker and friend JC Johnson sent me a DVD copy of an excellent new documentary he has directed titled Navajo Skin-Walkers and Legends: Crypto Four Corners.

This is definitely one of those "Do Not Miss!" productions - and I urge one and all to click on the link above to learn more about the film, to contact JC, and to get all the information on the film, those who worked hard to bring it to life, and much more.

And with that said, let me tell you a bit more about JC's DVD.

Basically, it is a personal, on-the-road style study of the whole Skin-Walker phenomenon (and if you're not fully sure what that is, click right here) that dominates the so-called "Four Corners" area: Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.

Filled with fantastic imagery of some truly magical-looking scenery, and suitably atmospheric music to accompany it, Navajo Skin-Walkers is the type of film I enjoy watching a great deal.
Made by a dedicated team of investigators who have a deep passion for their subject matter, and who are willing to go the extra mile to find the answers, this is the sort of thing of which we need much, much more.

There's no doubt that when it comes to cryptozoology, the most important thing of all is the witness testimony. Without witnesses, we have nothing - absolutely zero. And, firmly recognizing this, JC and his team seek out a good and varied group of people to interview, and who are all willing to talk about their extraordinary experiences with Skin-Walkers.

Night-time encounters with paranormal entities prowling around their homes, banging on doors and windows, and generally scaring the you-know-what out of those with whom the Skin-Walkers have crossed paths, dominate the film.

And, you also get a very good indication of how the events in question have left a deep impression on those whose lives have been touched by the Skin-Walkers.

As JC's DVD makes abundantly clear, the Skin-Walkers are not mere out-of-place, misidentified animals. No.

We hear tales of animals walking on two-legs and then four; of bullets having no effect on the beasts; of witness Ivan's weird encounter with a clawed, Kangaroo-like beast; of giant 8-foot-tall entities; of glowing red eyes; and a great deal more, too.

For anyone already fascinated by the Skin-Walker phenomenon - and for those new to the subject, but who want to learn more - I strongly urge you to check out Navajo Skin Walkers and Legends: Crypto Four Corners.

Coming Soon - 11:11

Coming soon will be an in-depth review from me of Marie Jones' excellent new book (co-authored with Larry Flaxman): 11:11 - The Time Prompt Phenomenon, The Mysteries Behind Mysterious Signs, Sequences, And Synchronicities.