What are you reading

[absurdexposition]

Possession by Chris Kelso, about the 1981 horror movie. Entertaining analysis, semi-academic, I might dare saying, with some nice drawings, an interview with Jörg Buttgereit and some behind-the-scene details.

https://pspublishing.co.uk/possession-hardcover--by-chris-kelso-6598-p.asp

I recently read Tim Lucas' Midnight Monograph on Spirits of the Dead, and have his book from the same series on Jess Franco's Succubus in the to-read pile. Seems like a decent series.

As far as Kelso, I have the Children of the New Flesh collection on Cronenberg he put out (also still in the to-read pile), and read his book on Burroughs in Scotland. There's a Wake Island podcast episode interviewing him from a few years back that I can only find a Spotify link for, but it's out there and is what first turned me on to him.

[lifeofpunishment]

Rereading Ligotti's Teatro Grottesco. I really enjoyed Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe by him as well. I love the section of him describing how he approaches writing horror, and how each 'level' elevates from the previous one. I Have a Special Plan for this World is great as well. Big fan, go back to his work often.

That being said, looking for some more non-fiction or historical fiction based on cyptids, cryptozoology, divinations, and the occult in general. I know this is fairly general, but I enjoy project Blue Book and various historical reports. I saw David Morehouse 'Psychic Warrior' recommended on this thread, think I will check that out. Works similar to this is sort of what I'm looking for. Any regional folklore would be appreciated as well.

[FiEND]

Any regional folklore would be appreciated as well.

Ozark Magic and Folklore By Vance Randolph

[host body]

https://onlydeathisreal.rip/2025/12/20/vil-ike-chasing-the-green-dragon/

At times, Chasing The Green Dragon reads like a multi-layered, occult thriller. The twists and turns can get quite astonishing, and especially towards the end, the line between fact and fiction becomes increasingly blurred and wavy. Vil peels the metaphorical onion of his tale with skill, finding fact, fiction, disinformation, conspiracy, true events, distortions and surprising insights, guiding the reader with a firm hand through the maze. At the end, the book does not present a conclusive, rock-solid map of what is fact and what is not, but it does offer a well laid out theory. And would one expect, or even want, the truth banally served on a silver platter in a book of this nature? I think not.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

For non-Finnish reading audience, Ike's latest translation could be very interesting. Book came out in Finnish already back in the 40's and reissued later on for current day audience. It is curious first hand experience of joining Ahnenerbe, where Karl-Maria Wiligut is presented in quite different light than in some other books. Stories of perverse old man hiding girlie magazines under Yrjö's bed etc. Finnish versions have been easy to get, but I would suspect the English edition is not so widely distributed. I got couple of them in mailorder.

Himmler's Secret Society

In 1935, Yrjö von Grönhagen, a 24-year old Finnish student at Sorbonne, Paris, decided to walk across Europe back to his native country. By a strange twist of fate, the following summer he would lead an ethnological expedition to Karelian woods in search of the lost magic of Aryans.

Appointed as the head of the Finnish department in Ahnenerbe, a scholarly institution that was destined to become the greatest in the world, von Grönhagen witnessed "intuitive" mystics clash with classical archaeologists; lodging with the eccentric SS-Gruppenf hrer Karl-Maria "Weisthor" Wiligut, dubbed "Himmler's Lord of the Runes" and "The Secret King of Germany," he saw shady occultists come and go.

Originally published in Finnish in 1948, Himmler's Secret Society provides a unique account of so-called Nazi Occultism as experienced by contemporaries who witnessed it first hand.

WITH BIOGRAPHIES, NOTES, AND DOZENS OF UNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPHS

[PeteHarma]

Quest For Love: Memoir of a Child Sex Slave by Anneke Lucas

[Kaaoskultti]

Gonna start today with Dostoevsky's White Nights & Memories from the Underground! Also reading Bataille's Inner Experience.

[tisbor]

Among many other books I'm quite happy to be going back to the roots and re-reading Boccaccio's "Decameron" after many years. Original Italian death and sex obsession.

[moozz]

Been reading England's Hidden Reverse (the updated/expanded edition from a few years ago) for a few hundred pages now. Fascinating stuff. Tons of stories revolving around Coil, Nurse With Wound and Current 93. Whitehouse, Psychic TV, Aleister Crowley and many others mentioned several times as well. I am not the biggest C93 fan (or even NWW) but this has been a great book so far.

[Balor/SS1535]

Been reading England's Hidden Reverse (the updated/expanded edition from a few years ago) for a few hundred pages now. Fascinating stuff. Tons of stories revolving around Coil, Nurse With Wound and Current 93. Whitehouse, Psychic TV, Aleister Crowley and many others mentioned several times as well. I am not the biggest C93 fan (or even NWW) but this has been a great book so far.

I liked the book overall (read the expanded edition too), though it did feel like it fell into the trap of "hero worship" at points.  The Coil sections were definitely the most interesting, and I found myself being much more disappointed by Tibet than I expected to be.

[BlackCavendish]

Been reading England's Hidden Reverse (the updated/expanded edition from a few years ago) for a few hundred pages now. Fascinating stuff. Tons of stories revolving around Coil, Nurse With Wound and Current 93. Whitehouse, Psychic TV, Aleister Crowley and many others mentioned several times as well. I am not the biggest C93 fan (or even NWW) but this has been a great book so far.

Probably the most influential book on the subject, and still relevant today, I think, even though a lot has come out over the years. Still, the omission of Douglas P./DiJ is really the elephant in the room, but that doesn't take anything away from the value of the book itself.

[Vrenndel]

Gonna start today with Dostoevsky's White Nights & Memories from the Underground! Also reading Bataille's Inner Experience.

White Nights is a romantic masterpiece. A must-read. The Inner Experience by Georges Bataille is also great. Everything by Georges Bataille is in fact great.

[Hyena]

Dan Davies: In plain sight - the life and lies of Jimmy Savile. I heard the Last Podcast guys used it and it was just a little over five quid for the phone on Amazon, which is nothing for recently published true crime books.

At almost 600 pages, it's very comprehensive but also an easy read. It's crazy how he managed to get away with it all his life, and how he worked the entire establishment from papers to royalty in order to cover up his offending. Goes into detail on a lot of things the press and Netflix didn't. The sheer size of the case is staggering, as you probably already know.