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Darklore, Vol. 2
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 darklore.dailygrail.com
- GenresNonfictionParanormal
Hardcover
First published November 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 1, 2026
I've read Volume 1, but I was still unprepared for some of the genres on display in this book: ufology, cryptozoology, Forteanism, Crowleyism, some pop-culture, and more than a few mentions of mind-altering substances. I'd like to go into detail on each essay.
Occult Rock - written by the series editor. It discusses the devil's influence on music, and it analyzes my favorite Tool song's lyrics. Sold: enough said.
Darkness Over All - a discussion of the Illuminati conspiracy theory, and how such an interesting idea - or maybe an outside obsession with deep conspiracies - can simply ruin a smart man's influence. This is very legitimately researched and independently reported, as most articles are here.
Witches' Brews - an interesting and seemingly factual read about why certain ingredients might have become synonymous with witches. Also a few words about that long thing placed between their legs which non-coincidentally helped them fly. Not that witches were real, just that their ingredients might have very strongly helped to make their case, even to themselves.
What Lies Beneath - a study of the accounts of Loch Ness, only tangentially including the monster Nessie. It certainly seems to me like a great place to visit, but then again maybe I missed the point of this one. Other Lochs are discussed as well, and I feel the need for a world tour.
The Doctor Who Watched Himself Die - an analysis of historical reports of multiple out-of-body experiences. Can these be explained as simple near-death experiences, as explained in the previous volume, or is there something deeper? The coincidental stories seem ominous.
The Ancients Are Watching - critiquing the many varying historical UFO experiences and even trying to explain them as a giant social engineering campaign by intelligent alien life. It's gonna make you think, or at least it thinks it will.
The Fear of Psi - why are we so afraid of admitting that psychokinesis might be real, even in the face of documented evidence of its reality? Also, the evidence is less frequent in this modern day of the phone and camera, but still.
The Emperor's Lost Soldiers - a purely historical retelling of multiple Japanese warriors who refused to believe that WWII was over and held out for decades until their own superiors contacted them to announce that Japan had in fact surrendered. This one felt out of place in this volume, but the apparent complete indoctrination of the 1940s Japanese military still felt other-worldly. Utterly fascinating, and unknown to me until now.
Lost Horizon - a discussion of documented disappearances in a forest "triangle" within the US state of Vermont. It trades the last frontier of the deep ocean for another still unexplored frontier of the upstate forest, and how we may never know what truly happened here. So why not bigfoot?
The Dark Cohorts - delves deep into Charles Fort's ideas, and compares them to "ancient" ufology reports from the 19th century, far prior to Fort or the later explosion of this in 1950s pop-culture. In so learning about the Fortean philosophy, we also learn what may have in turn influenced his own ideas, which means there is apparent factual basis behind some of this stuff... I see what you did here.
The Mysterious Case of the R-101 - a retelling of the seemingly well-documented case of a psychic medium who successfully contacted victims of a crashed blimp in 1930, and the apparent cover-up that followed. It does acknowledge errors, inconsistencies, and opposing arguments.
The Real Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - an examination of the lore behind an object that served as an inspiration for the Indiana Jones film. There are indeed many mysteries, but not so many ridiculous conclusions. Also no refrigerators.
Mothman and Other Synchronicities - a study of the various forms that a potential "Mothman" haunting can take. I left this one thinking I need to read the book "The Mothman Prophecies" as this article seemed to be unsatisfyingly generic.
DMT and Magick - this dives deeper into Aleister Crowley and his theories on Atlantis, which honestly do seem to be a result of extensive drug usage, even to the author. But this could also be explained as dimethyltryptamine release from within the human body, such as could be experienced at one's moment of death. This is discussed as a potential scientific experiment, perhaps even as something aliens might be interested in pursuing on humans, or perhaps not. Language used here was confusing, but the fact that this summary is my longest should speak volumes. The author writes for two Tool fan websites: again, enough said.
The Fog - an analysis of the coincidence of fog amongst many alien abduction and witness stories, which seems pervasive enough. Such a phenomenon is discussed as a natural chemical reaction due to earthquakes or other natural sediment, which made me ponder the plight of the midwest.
Overall, there are nuggets of fascination, but fewer than there are in the previous volume. Some of the writing is spurious, but honestly that is part of the charm here. All of it seems meticulously researched. There is plenty for any curious person to dive further into, and there are plenty more volumes. I felt my mind wandering while reading sometimes. And though my own summaries seem interesting, I had to look back to remind myself. Some of the writing reached, and hard. I'm hoping the follow-ups are at least as good as the first volume. I liked it though, and I'd refer this series to anyone with true curiosity.
Occult Rock - written by the series editor. It discusses the devil's influence on music, and it analyzes my favorite Tool song's lyrics. Sold: enough said.
Darkness Over All - a discussion of the Illuminati conspiracy theory, and how such an interesting idea - or maybe an outside obsession with deep conspiracies - can simply ruin a smart man's influence. This is very legitimately researched and independently reported, as most articles are here.
Witches' Brews - an interesting and seemingly factual read about why certain ingredients might have become synonymous with witches. Also a few words about that long thing placed between their legs which non-coincidentally helped them fly. Not that witches were real, just that their ingredients might have very strongly helped to make their case, even to themselves.
What Lies Beneath - a study of the accounts of Loch Ness, only tangentially including the monster Nessie. It certainly seems to me like a great place to visit, but then again maybe I missed the point of this one. Other Lochs are discussed as well, and I feel the need for a world tour.
The Doctor Who Watched Himself Die - an analysis of historical reports of multiple out-of-body experiences. Can these be explained as simple near-death experiences, as explained in the previous volume, or is there something deeper? The coincidental stories seem ominous.
The Ancients Are Watching - critiquing the many varying historical UFO experiences and even trying to explain them as a giant social engineering campaign by intelligent alien life. It's gonna make you think, or at least it thinks it will.
The Fear of Psi - why are we so afraid of admitting that psychokinesis might be real, even in the face of documented evidence of its reality? Also, the evidence is less frequent in this modern day of the phone and camera, but still.
The Emperor's Lost Soldiers - a purely historical retelling of multiple Japanese warriors who refused to believe that WWII was over and held out for decades until their own superiors contacted them to announce that Japan had in fact surrendered. This one felt out of place in this volume, but the apparent complete indoctrination of the 1940s Japanese military still felt other-worldly. Utterly fascinating, and unknown to me until now.
Lost Horizon - a discussion of documented disappearances in a forest "triangle" within the US state of Vermont. It trades the last frontier of the deep ocean for another still unexplored frontier of the upstate forest, and how we may never know what truly happened here. So why not bigfoot?
The Dark Cohorts - delves deep into Charles Fort's ideas, and compares them to "ancient" ufology reports from the 19th century, far prior to Fort or the later explosion of this in 1950s pop-culture. In so learning about the Fortean philosophy, we also learn what may have in turn influenced his own ideas, which means there is apparent factual basis behind some of this stuff... I see what you did here.
The Mysterious Case of the R-101 - a retelling of the seemingly well-documented case of a psychic medium who successfully contacted victims of a crashed blimp in 1930, and the apparent cover-up that followed. It does acknowledge errors, inconsistencies, and opposing arguments.
The Real Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - an examination of the lore behind an object that served as an inspiration for the Indiana Jones film. There are indeed many mysteries, but not so many ridiculous conclusions. Also no refrigerators.
Mothman and Other Synchronicities - a study of the various forms that a potential "Mothman" haunting can take. I left this one thinking I need to read the book "The Mothman Prophecies" as this article seemed to be unsatisfyingly generic.
DMT and Magick - this dives deeper into Aleister Crowley and his theories on Atlantis, which honestly do seem to be a result of extensive drug usage, even to the author. But this could also be explained as dimethyltryptamine release from within the human body, such as could be experienced at one's moment of death. This is discussed as a potential scientific experiment, perhaps even as something aliens might be interested in pursuing on humans, or perhaps not. Language used here was confusing, but the fact that this summary is my longest should speak volumes. The author writes for two Tool fan websites: again, enough said.
The Fog - an analysis of the coincidence of fog amongst many alien abduction and witness stories, which seems pervasive enough. Such a phenomenon is discussed as a natural chemical reaction due to earthquakes or other natural sediment, which made me ponder the plight of the midwest.
Overall, there are nuggets of fascination, but fewer than there are in the previous volume. Some of the writing is spurious, but honestly that is part of the charm here. All of it seems meticulously researched. There is plenty for any curious person to dive further into, and there are plenty more volumes. I felt my mind wandering while reading sometimes. And though my own summaries seem interesting, I had to look back to remind myself. Some of the writing reached, and hard. I'm hoping the follow-ups are at least as good as the first volume. I liked it though, and I'd refer this series to anyone with true curiosity.
January 3, 2019
Great articles. Fun Fortean reads.
December 24, 2012
Another entertaining, wildly eclectic DARKLORE volume. I suppose I should say up front that I don't read this series because I necessarily believe what the contributors claim (nor do I necessarily disbelieve!); rather, I'm looking for the kind of imaginative pleasure I get out of reading good weird fiction.
In this batch, I particularly enjoyed Theo Paijman's essay, "The Dark Cohorts". Paijman's never fails to deliver striking ideas and images, and I wish he were more prolific. Here he excels with a vision evoked by his reading of Charles Fort: ". . . one sometimes is overcome by the sudden visions of unbelievable vistas and fathomless, black abysses where giant, incomprehensible artifacts slowly and blindly grind away aeon after aeon, or manifest themselves briefly and shatteringly. . . " That's better than anything Fort himself ever wrote. I'm also intrigued by his notion that Fort produced his writings while in a state of trance: that would certainly explain his incoherent ideas and atrocious prose style.
Number two for me is Blair MacKenzie Blake's "DMT and Magic". How can one not like an essay with gives us a secret ancient Egyptian cult which practiced necrophagy as a means of gaining enlightenment?
I am less taken with the authors who are inclined toward mechanistic or prosaic explanations of the uncanny: 'The Emperor' could surely come up with a livelier explanation for his preternatural fogs than seismic activity and extraterrestrial probes, while Mike Jay is a real killjoy, even if his exposure of the roots of our Illuminati fixation is a useful and interesting bit of historiography. There aren't any real duds here.
In this batch, I particularly enjoyed Theo Paijman's essay, "The Dark Cohorts". Paijman's never fails to deliver striking ideas and images, and I wish he were more prolific. Here he excels with a vision evoked by his reading of Charles Fort: ". . . one sometimes is overcome by the sudden visions of unbelievable vistas and fathomless, black abysses where giant, incomprehensible artifacts slowly and blindly grind away aeon after aeon, or manifest themselves briefly and shatteringly. . . " That's better than anything Fort himself ever wrote. I'm also intrigued by his notion that Fort produced his writings while in a state of trance: that would certainly explain his incoherent ideas and atrocious prose style.
Number two for me is Blair MacKenzie Blake's "DMT and Magic". How can one not like an essay with gives us a secret ancient Egyptian cult which practiced necrophagy as a means of gaining enlightenment?
I am less taken with the authors who are inclined toward mechanistic or prosaic explanations of the uncanny: 'The Emperor' could surely come up with a livelier explanation for his preternatural fogs than seismic activity and extraterrestrial probes, while Mike Jay is a real killjoy, even if his exposure of the roots of our Illuminati fixation is a useful and interesting bit of historiography. There aren't any real duds here.
February 15, 2013
Read Occult Rock chapter only.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews