Introducing the Occult: Selected Introductions, Prefaces, Forewords and Afterwords of Colin Wilson

by Colin Stanley (Editor), Colin Wilson (Contributor)

'An essential collection of some of his lesser known writings, all of which display his remarkable gifts as a writer and thinker.' Steve Taylor PhD, author of 'The Leap' and 'Spiritual Science'
The late Colin Wilson wrote a staggering 180 introductions, forewords, prefaces and afterwords to other authors' books. Soon after his now classic study The Occult appeared in 1971, he was constantly sought out by writers and publishers to endorse their work. He rarely refused. And, as this volume reveals, these were not hurriedly written paragraphs, relying largely on his name as an endorsement, but often significant and substantial essays. Introducing the Occult brings together 17 of his best published introductions chosen by his bibliographer Colin Stanley. Within these covers you can read Colin Wilson on magic, witchcraft, exorcism, ghosts, poltergeists, the Loch Ness Monster, the afterlife, dowsing and much more.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2023

About the author

Colin Stanley is an author and the editor of Colin Wilson Studies.

Reviews

[Ard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of years ago I noticed Colin Wilson's habit of writing introductions for all kinds of books by other authors, and how interesting these texts often were. Instead of writing that he liked the book, or something like that, he wrote intelligently about the book, the author (with whom he often met or was in correspondence with) and how they related to his own work. Regularly he wrote stuff I hadn't read in Wilson's own books, and at some time I remember myself wishing that someone ought to publish these introductions in a single volume.

Colin Stanley did a great job doing exactly that. Themed around the occult, a subject about which Wilson has written quite a bit, he collected introductions from the 70s till the early 90s. And while I don't think it's the best introduction for people who have never read Wilson, the people who have will find this book very hard to resist.

This book was almost exactly what I hoped for, with the one drawback that it isn't a complete collection. This volume has 17 of such introductions, prefaces etc, and there are undoubtedly many more. I can only hope another volume will be forthcoming, maybe centered around his ideas about psychology, crime or literature.

[Catherine Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not going to introduce you to the occult. It is basically a collection of samples from previously published books on the subject, written by the late Colin Wilson. I found it useful for the fact that I had not heard about him throughout my research and reading, and the book was interesting in that respect. It does, however, leave me with a list of books to read that will expand upon what is introduced by the editor. I got a little confused about time frames, since the chapters refer to events at the time of the original books being written, which was back in the 1970s and 1980s (I think).