Darklore II Just Published

Last year, I wrote a chapter on UFOs for the first volume of an ambitious and exciting project that was the brainchild of Greg Taylor of the Daily Grail.

It was called Darklore.

Well, I'm very pleased to say that Darklore Volume II has just been published; and, as with the initial volume, it's packed with fascinating material and contributions from a wide variety of writers, authors and researchers.

Here's Greg to tell you more:

"Darklore is a journal of exceptional observations, hidden history, the paranormal and esoteric science. Bringing together some of the top researchers and writers on topics from outside of mainstream science and history, Darklore will challenge your preconceptions by revealing the strange dimensions veiled by consensus reality.

"Featuring contributions from Stephen E. Braude Ph.D, Nick Redfern, Jon Downes, Blair Blake, Theo Paijmans, Michael Tymn, Greg Taylor and many others, Volume 2 of Darklore offers only the best writing and research from the most respected individuals in their fields.

"In Darklore Volume 2 you'll find discussions of subjects such as the occult underpinnings of modern rock music, the origins of the Illuminati, hallucinogens and witchcraft, DMT and the occult, and much more.

"Find out more about the book - including free sample articles - at the Darklore website: darklore.dailygrail.com"

As for my own particular contribution, it focuses on that most mysterious of all locales: Loch Ness, Scotland. But the story has a twist to it.

Rather than dwell solely upon the world's most famous monster, Nessie, I have highlighted the illuminating fact that the beast is merely one of many mysteries that dominate the loch and its immediate surroundings.

For example, in my chapter, titled What Lies Beneath..., you will find reams of data on (a) the Great-Beast of Boleskine House (Aleister Crowley, in other words, who had a home at Loch Ness and who got up to all sorts of antics while in-residence); (b) sightings of strange creatures in the loch that specifically fall outside of the standard long-necked and humped-variety; (c) shape-shifters and warlocks in the area; (d) UFOs seen soaring over, and Men in Black roaming around, Loch Ness; (e) eye-opening synchronicities; (f) exorcisms; (g) repeated examples of cameras mysteriously jamming when the monster surfaces from the dark waters; (h) encounters at the loch with big-cats; and (i) even reports of creatures that sound very much like the fairy folk of old English folklore and legend.

In other words, and as I point out in the paper, the Loch Ness Monster is merely one of many Fortean puzzles present at that huge body of dark water.

And, of course, this raises an intriguing question: with so much high-strangeness afoot at Loch Ness, does this mean that the monster itself is not what many assume it to be - namely, a flesh-and-blood beast of undetermined origins and type?

As I note, yes, that may very well indeed be the case.

The whole affair of the Loch Ness Monster is not just strange. In many respects, it's just too strange...

A Monster Diary

I do quite a bit of writing (such as introductions, etc) for Timothy Green Beckley's Global Communications publishing company. And, right now, Tim has just published a new title that will appeal to anyone with an interest in weird creatures, monsters and more.

Titled Andrew Crosse: Mad Scientist - Diary of a Monster Maker!, it tells the fascinating story of a man, a monster, a famous novel, and much, much more.

I have written the Introduction to the book, and here's Tim to tell you more:

He was known as "The Thunder And Lightning Man. . ."

Was Andrew Crosse (1784-1855) a real life Dr Frankenstein?

Did he create the building blocks of life in his laboratory? Or was he delusional? Or perhaps even a total fraud?

His contemporaries in the scientific community were puzzsled by the very nature of his experiments. And while the eye does not deceive, they were unable to duplicate his findings and reproduce under controlled conditions the striking life forms that were plainly visible and clearly moving around Crosse's laboratory table.

To the farmers living in the area surrounding Crosse's palatial Fyne Court, he quickly became recognized as a heretic dabbling in dark areas that led him to be on the receiving end of a significant number of irate letters from God-fearing folk who summarily and loudly accused him of blasphemy, or even trying to replace their God as the ultimate creator.

The contentions of the nearby country folk were only compounded by Andrew Crosse's ability to seemingly capture bolts of lightning and direct them through a mile long coil of copper wire that was suspended from poles and trees all around his estate. Events reached a boiling point when Crosse started to receive anonymous death threats. There were those who firmly blamed him for a failure in the year's wheat-crop; and there was even a demand that an exorcism of the whole area be undertaken in the surrounding green hills.

Here, in his own words, Andrew Crosse describes in great detail his life and times and the experiments that caused such a gret controversy in his day -- and continue to frighten and bewilder us even now! In a breathtaking update paranormalist Nick Redfern takes us behind the scenes and actually describes Crosse's relationship with the creator of the Frankenstein novel, Mary Shelley.

The Silver Bridge: A Review

As promised, here's my review of the newly-republished edition of Gray Barker's classic book on Mothman: The Silver Bridge.

The Silver Bridge Update

I mentioned here last week that Gray Barker's book on the Mothman puzzle - The Silver Bridge - has just been re-published; but that it wasn't yet on Amazon. Well, the good news is that Amazon now have it, and here's the link. Finally, you can get this much-sought-after title without having to spend (literally) a couple of hundred dollars! For those unacquainted with Barker's book, I'll be doing a new review of it here next week.

Barker, The Beast, The Book

Gray Barker's own, unique take on what is arguably that most mysterious of all crypto-creatures - the Mothman - is now back in print.

Yep, his classic title, The Silver Bridge (the original of which regularly goes for a whopping $150.00 and above online) has just been re-printed.

My review-copy arrived yesterday; however, Andy Colvin - the author of The Mothman's Photographer trilogy of books and the driving force behind the new edition - tells me it won’t be available on Amazon until later this week or possibly next.

It's been at least 15 years since I last read Barker's book; and so rather than review it here from memory, I'm going to re-read it and then write my review.

I'll let you know when I get an update about its online availability. Until then, here's what the back-cover blurb says about Barker's book:

What kind of book is The Silver Bridge? Well, it is primarily not about the collapse of the “Silver Bridge” in Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia, which killed almost 50 people back in 1967 - though it does describe the strange events that preceded the collapse.

Is it about “Mothman,” the hypnotic bird-man who terrified the Ohio and Kanawha Valleys in 1966 and later became as famous as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Or…Is it a dramatic, emotional docudrama, such as when we hear the sobbing of a sad child, calling for his dog after the unfortunate animal has been mysteriously snatched out of this world?

And what about Woody Derenberger, wondering whether he should tell his neighbors about the otherworldly “Indrid Cold,” who stopped his van on Interstate 77 for a mind-shattering “interplanetary” interview? It can’t be science fiction, because these events actually occurred, as a search through the newspaper files of this time will prove.

One suspects that Barker has in fact written something completely different. It’s a new genre of sorts, about a creature that, ironically, may be very old. Ancient lore tells us that flying avatars similar to the Mothman, such as the Garuda, Thunderbird, and Piasa, have been around a long time.

The Silver Bridge is multi-layered and will likely be interpreted differently by each reader. Some will rave of its “deep psychological content,” others its “social commentary.” Many will be content to sit back and simply enjoy this hair-raising narrative - though it might well creep nightmarishly back into their minds late at night, like the barely audible chanting of robed figures in the foggy, moonlit woods. Regardless of what The Silver Bridge really is, one thing is certain: it will haunt you forever…

This 2008 edition features new introductions by ufology legends Alan Greenfield and Jim Moseley, as well as a foreword by paranormal researcher Andy Colvin, aka “The Mothman’s Photographer,” whose book trilogy of the same name renewed interest in the MIB conspiracies discovered by Barker. ISBN: 978-1-4392-0427-6

Otherworldly Affaires

As someone who is basically agnostic on the issue of life-after-death (but also as a person whose views sometimes veer towards general acceptance of the idea, and sometimes towards the theory that physical death is, quite literally, the end) I'm always cautious about reading books on the afterlife.

And particularly so when it involves the denizens of the spirit world coming back to visit us, and for one prime reason: generally the author (whether they are a firm believer or a hardened skeptic) has a viewpoint that he, she or they are trying to make us accept as the definitive truth.

I have, however, had a couple of genuinely odd experiences myself that may be indicative of an afterlife (one, ironically, involving not a person; but our pet dog who died in 2003). So, for the reason cited above, it's with a slightly wary mind - yet, I must stress, always an interested mind - that I approach such books.

Fortunately, there's no need to have such concerns about Brad Steiger's new title, Otherworldly Affaires - originally published in 1971 as Haunted Lovers, and which is as relevant and as vital today as it was nearly forty years ago.

Steiger's book is, as you might have already deduced from its title, a study of such issues as (A) lovers who returned from the grave; (B) ghostly wives and husbands who came back to warn their loved-ones about their future relationships - sometimes out of concern about the people they were getting involved with, and other times out of near-homicidal jealousy; (C) those whose lives were tragically cut short (such as military men on the battlefield) and who returned to say a final goodbye to their partners; and (D) much more, including stories that range from the uplifting and the thought-provoking, to the downright sinister, malevolent and utterly crazed.

Yes, it seems that if the afterlife is a reality, then at least some of the many and varied character traits and emotions that dominate relationships, marriages and affairs in this world continue on into the next.

Or do they?

To his credit, Steiger does not force any particular scenario upon his readers. For example, he gives much intriguing space to the idea that perhaps many encounters with deceased loved-ones might not actually provide evidence of life-after-death.

Rather, he reveals, there is a possibility that at the moment of death it may be possible for a person to transmit a final, loving message - and one that perhaps even results in a spectral manifestation of the person in question - to their spouse or partner, before death takes them forever.

Steiger also discusses the possibility that perhaps it is within the confines of the mind of the surviving partner that the game really begins. By that, I mean he offers the idea that maybe - overcome by grief and intense emotion - the person left behind is so devastated by the passing of their loved one that they create an image in their mind of their husband, wife, girlfriend or boyfriend.

He goes a step further, however, and muses upon the idea that perhaps this same image can be unconsciously externalized and seen. Of course, the person has no idea that they are actually viewing something they may have unwittingly created.

The important factor that Steiger notes, however, is that visions such as these (whether created by the human mind or the result of an actual return from the grave) generally provide a great deal of comfort to those left behind to pick up the shattered pieces.

And in a field that often portrays the after-life as one of purely love and light, Steiger does not omit those accounts and reports demonstrating that sometimes deceased lovers might not have our best interests at heart, and that occasionally display symptoms of violent poltergeist-like activity.

So, having now firmly digested Brad Steiger's Otherworldly Affaires, where do I stand?

Well, I'll tell you: as was the case before I read the book, I remain firmly convinced that something significant occurs at the moment of death; and that - at times - that same something of significance can continue to manifest itself in the weeks and months that follow a passing - whether it's a human-being or, in the case of me and my wife, a loving, devoted dog.

But, I'm just not sure whether the experiences are external or internal.

I can, however, say that whatever your views on the idea of an afterlife, Otherworldly Affaires is a book that will provide a great deal of food for thought for anyone who wonders about what, if anything, awaits us when we die; and if we can come back and be with those we love.

And for presenting, without prejudice, a varied and fascinating range of theories to account for the stories that he relates, Steiger is to be applauded. Unbiased, informative, and definitely fascinating!

Fort - Back in Print

Good news: publisher Tim Beckley has just released a 4-book set of Charles Fort's classic titles: Wild Talents; Book of the Damned; New Lands; and Lo!

Here's what Tim has to say about the books: "I first purchased a copy of one of Charles Fort's books when I was about 13 years old. It was perhaps my first inkling that there were others who were interested in probing that which remains just on the other side of the unknown. I'm very proud to be able to present Fort's works in a large print, large format edition, as I believe this will open up his works to a whole new audience."

And as Tim also notes:

"Charles Fort was a collector of strange tales which he gleamed from dusty newspapers and out of print scientific journals. He spent over 20 years in public libraries in the UK and later in America where he combed the shelves of the NY Public Library in search of the strange and unknown. This resulted in 4 works of approximately 1,000 pages pertaining to the most unusual subjects you are likely to read about anywhere in any era. . .and the stories are well researched and documented.

"Fort's works have long been sought after and were finally made available long after his death. We are proud to be able to present the following four volumes in never before presented large print editions. The books in this set are: 1. WILD TALENTS -- 2. BOOK OF THE DAMNED -- 3. NEW LANDS. 4. LO!

"In a breezy easy to read style Fort presents hundreds of episodic tales from the borderland of human understanding such as. . . Strange Disappearances. . . The Man Who Couldn't Drown. . . Mysterious Cattle Rippers. . . Blonde Beast of Patagonia. . . Human Vampires. . . Lake and River Creatures. . . Bizarre Slayer of Sheep. . . Spontaneous Human Combustion. . . Mirages of Cities and Towns. . . Phantom Figures. . .THe Original Cat Burgler. . . Original UFOs and Airships. . . Submarine Objects. . . Possible UFOnauts. . . Fossils in Meteorites. . . AND MUCH MORE."

Here's the link to purchase the new editions.

I strongly recommend all four books if you haven't got them already. And as Tim correctly notes, all of Fort's titles are packed with tales of all-things mysterious.