Anomalist Books

Our recently published book, Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior by Hilary Evans and Robert Bartholomew, is the Fortean Times (Issue 253) cover story for September 2009: “Panic! Strange Tales of Mass Hysteria.” The story is written by Bob Rickard, who concludes that this book “will undoubtedly remain the definitive reference work on collective delusions, mass panics and other strange forms of group behaviour for the foreseeable future. We could not ask for two more qualified guides [as Evans and Bartholomew].” Be sure to pick up a copy on the newsstands. Previously, co-author Robert Bartholomew was featured in an interview in USA Today, “Don’t panic! It’s just an outbreak.” This story was then picked up by ABC News Online. The book was also mentioned in a front page story on the New York Times: “Chinese Workers Say Illness Is Real, Not Hysteria.” Finally, Peter Rogerson, pretty much raved about the book on the Magonia blog, saying: “This is a huge achievement for a small publisher such as Anomalist [Books] and marks a completely new level of publishing for them.”

We’re on an art-related  kick lately.  In June we released Budd Hopkins’ Art, Life and UFOs. In September we’ll be releasing Secrets of Dellschau and The Secret Art. But today we are announcing the publication of Love In An Alien Purgatory: The Life and Fantastic Art of David Huggins by Farah Yurdozu. In 1951, as young boy in rural Georgia, David Huggins claims he was visited and abducted by group of alien visitors from an unknown dimension. That contact continued over several decades and resulted in the birth of more than sixty hybrid children… and one of the most remarkable stories in all of UFO lore. Love in an Alien Purgatory is the startling pictorial account of David Huggins’ hidden life, as revealed in his own vivid and sometimes disturbing paintings. With commentary and text by UFO investigator Farah Yurdozu, David’s story takes the reader into a world between two dimensions: a purgatory of hope, sex, fear and, ultimately, love. This volume is special not only for its story but for its presentation. The book itself measures 8.5 by 11 inches and is in FULL COLOR, which means that you get to see 78 of David’s Huggins’ remarkable paintings in color, as well as 6 sketches he did in pencil. It’s a treat for the eyes, with mature content that will boggle the mind.

We have just published the third volume in Nick Redfern’s Secrets Series. The new volume is entitled Science Fiction Secrets: From Government Files and the Paranormal. It follows the two previous volumes in the series, Strange Secrets and Celebrity Secrets, and may be considered a little bit of both. The book deals with themes and topics at the intersection of science fiction, the paranormal, and UFOs that were often the subject of government and intelligence agency documents. It also deals with such people as Carl Sagan and Steven Spielberg, as well as Philip K Dick and other celebrity science fiction authors.

Among the questions Redfern seeks to answer in this book:

– Did the U.S. Government secretly assist Steven Spielberg in the production of his groundbreaking science fiction movies Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial?

– Why were special agents of the FBI so deeply interested in the life, career, and activities of science fiction author Philip K. Dick (of Blade Runner fame)?

– How did The X-Files spin-off series The Lone Gunmen anticipate months in advance the terrible tragedy of 9-11?

– Why was the top brass of the U.S. Air Force so secretly interested in, and concerned by, the UFO-related tales of a relatively anonymous 1950s science fiction movie-maker who died in poverty in the early 1980s?

– Did a nightmarish scenario presented in one of H.G. Wells’ novels prompt Soviet Premier Josef Stalin to clandestinely embark upon a secret and diabolical experiment designed to create a super race of monstrous, half-human half-ape soldiers?

– Has the military managed to successfully perfect human teleportation of the type that was most graphically and famously shown in Star Trek and The Fly?

The reviews for Jason Offutt’s Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us have been pouring in. A rather skeptical Jerry Clark, in Fate, does at least admit the title is “cool,” and Peter Rogerson in his review of the book in Magonia sets the stage with these words: “Ten to fifteen years ago nobody had heard of ‘Shadow People,’ now they are the latest fortean phenomenon..” But Nick Refern points out in his review on UFO Mystic that “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.” An enthusiastic Redfern goes on to say that the book 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….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…” Finally, the review by Micah A. Hanks, on The Gralien Report, compliments Offutt for looking at this phenomenon “with new clarity, and perhaps even gives us the first complete work dedicated solely to the phenomenon… Offutt points out unique aspects of people’s encounters with shadow people…tying together for us unforeseen amounts of loose ends that seem to comprise the ‘high strangeness’ associated with ghostly phenomenon.” A somewhat spooked Hanks sums it up in the end, saying: “the book provides an eerie window into the lives of others like us who, under perhaps the most frightening circumstances imaginable, have managed to accept their fears, and even learn from them.”

This book is going to surprise a lot of people. First of all, it’s a new book (not a reprint) from a bestselling author, and it appears not from Simon & Schuster, not from Random House, but from Anomalist Books. Second of all, it is without a doubt the author’s most literary production to date. As a memoir, Art, Life and UFOs by Budd Hopkins not only provides the details of a very complex life, but it’s also the first treatment of Budd’s remarkable artistic career in book form. And it’s at the intersection of these two topics, art and life, that readers are allowed insights into his UFO work that we have never been privy to before. This memoir not only puts into perspective his 30 years of UFO research, but it also reveals, for the first time, the details of an important, previously unpublished case that helped Budd recognize “missing time” as an aspect of UFO abductions, as well as his curious personal ties to some of the people involved in the very first UFO report he ever investigated. Whether you are interested in UFOs, modern art, or Budd Hopkins himself, you are certain to find Art, Life and UFOs quite a candid and compelling read. (”Look Inside” the book at Amazon.)

No matter how hard we try to resolve the problem, Amazon can’t seem to get the editorial reviews straightened out for Brad Steiger’s new book, Beyond Shadow World, so we thought we would take this opportunity to post a couple of new reviews that the book has received since we reprinted it last month. Nick Redfern, over at UFO Mystic, had this to say: “Beyond Shadow World is more than just a collection of ghostly tales to be digested at the witching hour.. it’s a deep and thoughtful look at the whole controversy of the afterlife – but it also reveals much more…thought-provoking and informative…a must read.” And over at The Gralien Report, Micah A. Hanks wrote: “A masterful evaluation of the spirit realm by one of the most respected experts in spirit phenomenon today… From the exorcism of a small boy’s spirit left behind after a tragic murder, to the dangers of out-of-body projections and even the methodology behind contacting our “spirit teachers,” the entire experience of Beyond Shadow World involves the reader as an educational experience…Brad Steiger has, again, illustrated for us the dark side, but this time with such an element of light, hope and discovery that our ultimate knowledge of the Shadow World can finally be faced without fear, regret, or repression.” Update: Amazon finally corrected the Beyond Shadow World book page on July 20, 2009.

Did you know that you can now see a sample of our books on Amazon US? The cover, back cover, table of contents, index, and more than a half-dozen sample pages are now viewable through Amazon’s “Search Inside” feature on each of our book pages. This feature is only available for our original titles, not our reprints unfortunately. Here is the list to date:
An Alien Who’s Who
Astrology Off the Beaten Track
Celestial Secrets
Darkness Walks
Encounters at Indian Head
Extreme Expeditions
Fátima Revisited
Heavenly Lights
In Alien Heat
Intermediate States
On the Trail of the Saucer Spies
Outbreak!
Strange Company
The Spirit of Dr. Bindelof
The President’s Vampire
The Universe Wants to Play
The Yowie
There’s Something in the Woods

Weighting in at nearly four pounds and 764 letter-size pages is a remarkable new reference work entitled Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior, written by Hilary Evans and Robert E. Bartholomew. Not only is history replete with examples of remarkable social behavior, from fads, crazes, and manias to collective delusions, scares, panics, and mass hysteria, but so is the present day. This massive collection of extraordinary social behaviors spans more than two millennia, and attempts to place many of the recounted episodes within their greater historical and cultural context. The authors have outdone themselves with an authoritative work that covers a broad range of topics: collective behavior, deviance, social and perceptual psychology, sociology, history, folklore, religious studies, political science, social anthropology, gender studies, critical thinking, and mental health. The pre-publication reviews call it “an extraordinary compilation,” “remarkable and surprising,” and “a thumping good read.” Don’t miss it!

Peter Brookesmith has kindly reminded us that we neglected to blog about what may be the best review we have ever seen to come out of Fortean Times. It’s not a coincidence that Brooksmith happens to be one of the two editors (with the late Karl Pflock) of the book in question: Encounters at Indian Head: The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Abduction Revisited. The “Fortean Times Verdict” on the book summed it up as “Intelligent, wide-ranging and a must have for UFOlogists” with a score of a perfect “10.” Bob Rickard, who reviewed the book, concluded: “It’s an exemplary debriefing on how a story grew in the telling, influencing the content of many ‘abduction’ experiences to follow and, in turn, giving birth to the ‘missing time’ school of self-referenced and highly subjective (but very bankable in terms of media) ufology. The lack of consensus on what happened to the Hills reflects a healthy division of opinion in ufology.” Bill Chalker echoed those words in his own review of the book for Australia’s UFOlogist magazine. “Encounters at Indian Head is an excellent study of why the uncertainties of human testimony alone will guarantee that there will always be room for doubt, and that resolution of a case of that type will always be dependent on one’s approach.” Chalker, like Rickard, also recommended the book. So with Brookesmith, that makes three.

The third volume of Brad Steiger’s groundbreaking Shadow World series is now back in print with a new 15-page preface. Originally published as Our Shared World of the Supernatural, Beyond Shadow World expands the roster of extra-dimensional beings that we share our universe with. In addition to the spirits of the dead, nature spirits, spirit parasites, and spirit mimics, he also explores the nature of the Light Beings, which include the benevolent entities known as angels, spirit guides, spirit teachers, and celestial visitors or “space brothers.” Though Steiger provides techniques for contact and behavior with them, he warns that such entities should never be either worshipped or summoned–as they may not be what they claim to be. And the reviews are already in: ”A fantastic compilation” (Fate) and “my highest recommendation” (Erskine Overnight).