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Communion #2
Transformation
According to bestselling author Whitley Strieber, his contact with strange aliens did not end with the release of his controversial book, Communion. Instead, the "visitors" kept coming. In Transformation, Strieber challenges his own fear for a triumphant breakthrough in understanding.IntroductionPart 1: Secret JourneysPart 2: Life in the DarkPart 3: Beyond the DarkAppendix 1: HealthAppendix 2: TruthAppendix 3: GaelicAfterword
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First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
Whitley Strieber
152 books1,251 followersAmerican writer best known for his novels The Wolfen,The Hunger and Warday and for Communion, a non-fiction description of his experiences with apparent alien contact. He has recently made significant advances in understanding this phenomenon, and has published his new discoveries in Solving the Communion Enigma.
Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.
His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.
Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.
His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
March 1, 2008
Wow, Its fascinating the utter certainty people have in thier grasp of "reality". When something is presented from outside thier paradigm they must classify it into the known. This is the intellectual arrogance of those who claim the author has psych issues.
This author has gone through extensive psychological and physiological tests the results of which are publicly available here: http://www.unknowncountry.com/edge/ar...).
These tests have shown no mental disorder whatsoever with Whitley, yet people persist in the slander that this man is mentally ill.
Why? Because what he says happened to him seems unbelievable. Because it frightens people? That, in and of itself is not a logical reason to discount what he says. All it reflects is our extreme discomfort with the unknown. It is a position of weakness. Those who claim Whitley Strieber has epilepsy, or any other sort of mental disorder are completely refuted by the medical data. So they are in a position of arguing AGAINST SCIENCE.
I encourage anyone to read his work with an open mind and hopefully the next time you gaze at the night sky, your heart will soar with the possibilities, and you will not limit yourself within the prison of the "known".
This author has gone through extensive psychological and physiological tests the results of which are publicly available here: http://www.unknowncountry.com/edge/ar...).
These tests have shown no mental disorder whatsoever with Whitley, yet people persist in the slander that this man is mentally ill.
Why? Because what he says happened to him seems unbelievable. Because it frightens people? That, in and of itself is not a logical reason to discount what he says. All it reflects is our extreme discomfort with the unknown. It is a position of weakness. Those who claim Whitley Strieber has epilepsy, or any other sort of mental disorder are completely refuted by the medical data. So they are in a position of arguing AGAINST SCIENCE.
I encourage anyone to read his work with an open mind and hopefully the next time you gaze at the night sky, your heart will soar with the possibilities, and you will not limit yourself within the prison of the "known".
February 19, 2020
"Transformation" is where a lot of people who liked Strieber's "Communion" got off the train and pinpoint as the book where Strieber lost his marbles, and I can understand why. I found "Transformation" difficult to get through at times and unintentionally comical at times, but I didn't end up completely hating it like I would expect.
It becomes even more obvious in "Transformation" that Strieber has a very weak barrier between reality and fantasy compared to most other people. The results being him interpreting things like weird noises in his cabin at night as alien visitation or putting great cosmic significance into weird dreams he had, let alone how around 25% of the page count is spent on the ridiculous lengths the "Visitors" allegedly went to in order to get Strieber to stop eating sweets - which makes much of "Transformation" read like the world's most self-important Simpsons Halloween special.
Even when writing stuff that's largely nonsense, though, Strieber has a beautiful and evocative prose style that makes even the loopier chapters engaging reading especially when he describes many of the surrealistic dream sequences he's experienced - never mind whether or not they literally happened. I am more and more arriving at the conclusion that debating the literal truth of UFO contactee experiences is as futile as debating the literal truth of the Bible, and Strieber has done more to codify that belief of mine than any other writer I've read. Strieber has a real sense of creating vivid symbolism with philosophical tangents described in poetic language that comes through, and I think that's what makes "Communion" and "Transformation" perhaps the best possible introductions for laypeople to all the "high strangeness" surrounds the UFO phenomenon that more "nuts-and-bolts" ufologists often ignore.
Another thing is that Strieber can put on a convincing "serious public intellectual" hat that writers I find more thoughtful in engaging with similar ideas can not. Thinking of people like Timothy Green Beckley, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, John Keel, Lynn Picknett, all of whom I prefer reading over Strieber myself but so-called normal people would never even bother with. The fact is that existing UFO culture is much of the time way closer to "aliens are sending me messages through my kitchen faucet" territory than the people booking the speakers at large scale UFO conferences would want to admit, and Strieber is one of the few authors who can point that out to a mainstream audience in a way that doesn't make him look or sound crazy. This is an impressive achievement of Strieber if you consider his having allied himself with some questionable figures like Linda Moulton Howe.
There's also some interesting information here, like when Strieber mentions having read Ed Conroy's "Report on Communion" and discovering that he in the meantime had completely forgotten about his childhood obsession with space travel and extraterrestrial life by the time of the contactee experiences described in "Communion". Or his discovery that the language that he in some encounters remembers the Visitors speaking turns out to be easily identifiable as Scottish Gaelic.
It becomes even more obvious in "Transformation" that Strieber has a very weak barrier between reality and fantasy compared to most other people. The results being him interpreting things like weird noises in his cabin at night as alien visitation or putting great cosmic significance into weird dreams he had, let alone how around 25% of the page count is spent on the ridiculous lengths the "Visitors" allegedly went to in order to get Strieber to stop eating sweets - which makes much of "Transformation" read like the world's most self-important Simpsons Halloween special.
Even when writing stuff that's largely nonsense, though, Strieber has a beautiful and evocative prose style that makes even the loopier chapters engaging reading especially when he describes many of the surrealistic dream sequences he's experienced - never mind whether or not they literally happened. I am more and more arriving at the conclusion that debating the literal truth of UFO contactee experiences is as futile as debating the literal truth of the Bible, and Strieber has done more to codify that belief of mine than any other writer I've read. Strieber has a real sense of creating vivid symbolism with philosophical tangents described in poetic language that comes through, and I think that's what makes "Communion" and "Transformation" perhaps the best possible introductions for laypeople to all the "high strangeness" surrounds the UFO phenomenon that more "nuts-and-bolts" ufologists often ignore.
Another thing is that Strieber can put on a convincing "serious public intellectual" hat that writers I find more thoughtful in engaging with similar ideas can not. Thinking of people like Timothy Green Beckley, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, John Keel, Lynn Picknett, all of whom I prefer reading over Strieber myself but so-called normal people would never even bother with. The fact is that existing UFO culture is much of the time way closer to "aliens are sending me messages through my kitchen faucet" territory than the people booking the speakers at large scale UFO conferences would want to admit, and Strieber is one of the few authors who can point that out to a mainstream audience in a way that doesn't make him look or sound crazy. This is an impressive achievement of Strieber if you consider his having allied himself with some questionable figures like Linda Moulton Howe.
There's also some interesting information here, like when Strieber mentions having read Ed Conroy's "Report on Communion" and discovering that he in the meantime had completely forgotten about his childhood obsession with space travel and extraterrestrial life by the time of the contactee experiences described in "Communion". Or his discovery that the language that he in some encounters remembers the Visitors speaking turns out to be easily identifiable as Scottish Gaelic.
October 26, 2014
An excellently written account of alien abduction. Although perhaps not interesting to skeptics seeking absolute confirmation, because this is basically an extension of his experience laid down in Communion - which in turn is a subjective account, sprinkled with enlightening, open-minded speculations on what it might be. However, if you've researched the UFO phenomena, and have witnessed a UFO - up close and personal - the poignancy of Strieber's account hits hard, close, crisp and resonant.
The writing is vivid and engaging, pulling you into the scenario and, in turn, asking the same questions you would - and beyond. I highly doubt that Whitley Strieber is lying, or some cash-grabbing opportunist, because writing of this calibre - immaculately, almost poetically, jarring as it is linearly lucid and disciplined - weaves a story that is, to me, self-evidently highly personal to the author.
Skeptics of this phenomena, which are looking for hard and convincing evidence, I think, won't find it here. For further research I'd recommend 'Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience: The True Story of the World's First Documented Alien Abduction' by Stanton T. Friedman and Kathleen Marden, or more general books like Colin Wilson's 'Alien Dawn' or Tony Dodd's 'Alien Investigator'. If you have less time and want a valuable summary, I'd point you to the two videos available on YouTube, which are "Jacques Vallee - Thinking Allowed - Implications of UFO Phenomena" and "Terence McKenna - Aliens and Archetypes" - which are both from Jeffery Mishlove's excellent programme, Thinking Allowed.
As both a witness and voracious reader on the subject, I believe that the more critical faculties we can bring to this ridiculed phenomena can bring back its credibility and importance; re-instating it well beyond the crass programmes that haunt our ever unfolding screens of degraded junk knowledge, and hysterical conspiracy theory and feverish, irrational self-anointed 'debunkers'.
The writing is vivid and engaging, pulling you into the scenario and, in turn, asking the same questions you would - and beyond. I highly doubt that Whitley Strieber is lying, or some cash-grabbing opportunist, because writing of this calibre - immaculately, almost poetically, jarring as it is linearly lucid and disciplined - weaves a story that is, to me, self-evidently highly personal to the author.
Skeptics of this phenomena, which are looking for hard and convincing evidence, I think, won't find it here. For further research I'd recommend 'Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience: The True Story of the World's First Documented Alien Abduction' by Stanton T. Friedman and Kathleen Marden, or more general books like Colin Wilson's 'Alien Dawn' or Tony Dodd's 'Alien Investigator'. If you have less time and want a valuable summary, I'd point you to the two videos available on YouTube, which are "Jacques Vallee - Thinking Allowed - Implications of UFO Phenomena" and "Terence McKenna - Aliens and Archetypes" - which are both from Jeffery Mishlove's excellent programme, Thinking Allowed.
As both a witness and voracious reader on the subject, I believe that the more critical faculties we can bring to this ridiculed phenomena can bring back its credibility and importance; re-instating it well beyond the crass programmes that haunt our ever unfolding screens of degraded junk knowledge, and hysterical conspiracy theory and feverish, irrational self-anointed 'debunkers'.
January 6, 2024
As I said when I reviewed his first book, go in with an open mind. He might be completely right or completely wrong, to some he will sound a genius to others a mad man, the point is you'll never know until you give him ago and for me i liked the tone of this book as it leans more on the side of "at first i was scared but now i understand i don't see them as a threat. To myself or anyone else" which is something i believe in. Also with the recent releases of alien documents and secrets on how the US has crashed alien vehicles and bodies. Whose to say in the world we now live in with the proof we have that his lying? Now yes his ideas might seem a bit far fetched but that's at the end of the day he weaves an interesting tale and i enjoyed it, this is a good book, it won't change the world "yet" maybe. But for now it doesn't have to, all it asks is for you to open your mind and give it ago.
January 22, 2009
Not as involved, or as fascinating as "Communion", but still an interesting look into Striebers inner sanctum. The place in his mind, and soul where our vistors get more of a glimpse than any of us would like to see, even within our own selves.
November 13, 2012
Communion is the scariest book on UFOs that I've ever read, disregarding if it's true or not; however, this follow up just seems to do nothing except make things more confusing and, IMO, less credible. Please go back to horror novels as they were amazing; this is not.
January 29, 2020
A very interesting account on how the author worked to cope with the alien visits, while trying to decode the clues and instructions he was receiving and decide whether or not to cooperate.
October 5, 2024
When I read Whitley Strieber's Communion, I had the impression of a person genuinely trying to explain his bizarre experiences. I think Strieber has a flair for dramatic storytelling, so I took some of that book with a grain of salt. My guess is he started with some odd happenings, and dressed them up with his fiction writing skills to get a bestseller.
However, Transformation: The Breakthrough seems like more than just Strieber spinning out a good yarn about some weird lights in the sky and creepy noises in his cabin. I genuinely thought I was reading the account of someone having some sort of psychotic break or extreme mental illness crisis. In an appendix, Strieber documents medical and psychological tests that have shown him to be in good psychological health, but I simply don't believe it. If this book is an accurate account of his experiences and state of mind, this is a man who:
He relates how "the visitors" psychologically tortured him with violent, frightening visions before threatening his son in order to get him to stop eating ice cream and sweets! He becomes so emotionally crippled by his hallucinations that he cannot leave his house at night. Then he goes on to unironically claim that the visitors love him, and he loves them.
Again, assuming this is truthful account of what he experienced, I think the most likely explanation is that he is a very disturbed man. Or on the other hand, it might just be a fabrication to cash-in on his notoriety after Communion. It's an okay read if you like conspiracy theory tinfoil-hat stuff.
However, Transformation: The Breakthrough seems like more than just Strieber spinning out a good yarn about some weird lights in the sky and creepy noises in his cabin. I genuinely thought I was reading the account of someone having some sort of psychotic break or extreme mental illness crisis. In an appendix, Strieber documents medical and psychological tests that have shown him to be in good psychological health, but I simply don't believe it. If this book is an accurate account of his experiences and state of mind, this is a man who:
hears voices telling him to do things
believes that he has been watched by unknown entities his entire life
has no memory or fragmentary memories of large chunks of his life (sometimes weeks and months at a time)
has intricate and horrifying hallucinations or visions of death, disasters and torture
is mentally incapacitated by an extreme fear of the night
claims he can astrally project himself and psychically contact his friends in other parts of the country
He relates how "the visitors" psychologically tortured him with violent, frightening visions before threatening his son in order to get him to stop eating ice cream and sweets! He becomes so emotionally crippled by his hallucinations that he cannot leave his house at night. Then he goes on to unironically claim that the visitors love him, and he loves them.
Again, assuming this is truthful account of what he experienced, I think the most likely explanation is that he is a very disturbed man. Or on the other hand, it might just be a fabrication to cash-in on his notoriety after Communion. It's an okay read if you like conspiracy theory tinfoil-hat stuff.
October 22, 2018
This was an old book of my dads, I had never given this kind of stuff a try before, but decided to give it a go. I like the spiritual kind of insights for growth you can potentially take from this book. But I still feel not much more the wiser regarding the reality or non-reality of these alien beings or visitors in any specific details. It feels like the suggestion is their level of reality is similar to that of the kind of beings a shaman might encounter in old human religious practices with a modern twist in line with our scientific and technological advancements.
I don't know if there is still much of this kind of visitor experience going on. I know it seemed to reach a peak in the last part of the 20th century. But the 21st century, since 9/11, seems to have created a whole new world for western society with very different preoccupations. Political conspiracies and secrets have become the new emphasis for those so inclined to look beyond the mainstream surface consensus on reality.
I do not know if alien visitors are real, but I certainly think there is scope for a reality to some kinds of beings, not reducible to our own sub-conscious or unconscious or hallucinations. Strieber says one must be open to the experience and ask what one needs. It reminds me of prayer, and maybe this is partly what the alien phenomena is all about, an alternative form of spiritual communion for those who can no longer accept the traditional authority of religion.
I don't know if there is still much of this kind of visitor experience going on. I know it seemed to reach a peak in the last part of the 20th century. But the 21st century, since 9/11, seems to have created a whole new world for western society with very different preoccupations. Political conspiracies and secrets have become the new emphasis for those so inclined to look beyond the mainstream surface consensus on reality.
I do not know if alien visitors are real, but I certainly think there is scope for a reality to some kinds of beings, not reducible to our own sub-conscious or unconscious or hallucinations. Strieber says one must be open to the experience and ask what one needs. It reminds me of prayer, and maybe this is partly what the alien phenomena is all about, an alternative form of spiritual communion for those who can no longer accept the traditional authority of religion.
April 13, 2015
Whitley Strieber is the Pope of Crazytown. Thus, he is regularly abducted and variously assaulted by bizarre alien entities. They also make him afraid of the dark. And turn him onto flaky pseudo-Native American mysticism. They also have great plans(!) and nefarious schemes (!) for us. They also love us in the most menacing and evil way possible. Seriously.
The 'transformation' referred to in the title is Strieber's transformation into a worse writer. Gone are the already few brief moments of genuine anything from "Communion", replaced by Strieber's constant nail-chewing about the motives of his 'visitors' who only visit him right before (or after?) he falls asleep. Outside of Crazytown, we call those dreams, Whitley.
The 'transformation' referred to in the title is Strieber's transformation into a worse writer. Gone are the already few brief moments of genuine anything from "Communion", replaced by Strieber's constant nail-chewing about the motives of his 'visitors' who only visit him right before (or after?) he falls asleep. Outside of Crazytown, we call those dreams, Whitley.
March 23, 2012
If you read Communion, this is just more of the same without the punch of the initial encounters. The story of the author's experiences with nonhuman intelligences does proceed a bit, chronologically speaking, but there is nothing particularly new here.
October 10, 2024
I have no idea what the hell this guy is on about. But I have a blast reading his books. This one really just pushes the narrative of communion, but it gets more and more blurry as Strieber drowns us in every imaginable paranormal possibility and attributes them to his visitors. The scene in the book store killed me. I'm hungry for more
May 16, 2012
ISBN 0380705354 - I believe in life on other planets. I believe in life outside our galaxy and that there is little - if any - reason to think we are the most intelligent and technologically advanced creatures ever. I also think Whitley Strieber is a really good writer (Warday comes to mind). The problem is, I also think he's a nutjob.
In Transformation, Strieber basically tells the story of what happened while he was working on Communion (if there's another book about what happened while he was working on Transformation, I will not be surprised) as well as now claiming that he and his siblings had encounters of one sort or another throughout their childhoods. Not just them, either, but pretty much every single person who ever came into contact with the guy, and a few people who only came into contact with people who came into contact with him. That alone makes his story wildly suspect, but it isn't the reason for the 2 stars ranking.
Strieber seems to hop all over the place in this book, at times leaving a story half-told. When "predictions" from his visitor contacts don't happen as they were foretold, he bends what DOES happen to fit, much like the gullible do when crystal-ball wielding women bedecked in scarves tell them they will suffer a loss. Who WON'T suffer a loss? And who CAN'T bend reality to conform to a "prediction"? He creates theories that seem to have little basis in reality - even if you accept his visitors as reality. If it weren't laughable, it would be irresponsible. There are so many people who genuinely, and mistakenly, believe they've been abducted that there's no telling where they might run with the fantastic ball of theories laid forth by Strieber.
There are some things in the book that made me wonder... for example, this adult male parent of a young child has a house in the woods that is frequently visited by aliens and his son sleeps a floor away, closer to the entrances to the house than his parents. What? Strieber states "I realized the seriousness of the ozone crisis long before most others", an "indisputable" fact - and one that I'm pretty sure is easily disproven. In the end, Strieber ends up sounding mildly disturbed and a bit like a guy with an inflated ego. His credibility is irrelevant, since he's usually writing fiction and aware that it IS fiction; the only difference I think there is here is that Transformation is less well-written and he thinks, genuinely believes, it's real.
- AnnaLovesBooks
In Transformation, Strieber basically tells the story of what happened while he was working on Communion (if there's another book about what happened while he was working on Transformation, I will not be surprised) as well as now claiming that he and his siblings had encounters of one sort or another throughout their childhoods. Not just them, either, but pretty much every single person who ever came into contact with the guy, and a few people who only came into contact with people who came into contact with him. That alone makes his story wildly suspect, but it isn't the reason for the 2 stars ranking.
Strieber seems to hop all over the place in this book, at times leaving a story half-told. When "predictions" from his visitor contacts don't happen as they were foretold, he bends what DOES happen to fit, much like the gullible do when crystal-ball wielding women bedecked in scarves tell them they will suffer a loss. Who WON'T suffer a loss? And who CAN'T bend reality to conform to a "prediction"? He creates theories that seem to have little basis in reality - even if you accept his visitors as reality. If it weren't laughable, it would be irresponsible. There are so many people who genuinely, and mistakenly, believe they've been abducted that there's no telling where they might run with the fantastic ball of theories laid forth by Strieber.
There are some things in the book that made me wonder... for example, this adult male parent of a young child has a house in the woods that is frequently visited by aliens and his son sleeps a floor away, closer to the entrances to the house than his parents. What? Strieber states "I realized the seriousness of the ozone crisis long before most others", an "indisputable" fact - and one that I'm pretty sure is easily disproven. In the end, Strieber ends up sounding mildly disturbed and a bit like a guy with an inflated ego. His credibility is irrelevant, since he's usually writing fiction and aware that it IS fiction; the only difference I think there is here is that Transformation is less well-written and he thinks, genuinely believes, it's real.
- AnnaLovesBooks
October 4, 2008
A very bizarre tale about alien encounters in a NY countryside summer cabin. The author claims this to be a book about his own real life experiences while he was writing his first book Communion. His imagery is done so well that you get enveloped into the scene as if you were there yourself. There are many unsettling events that take place. In combination with his capability to paint a very vivid image in your mind, I will just say that it is like having a nightmare. I also recommend watching the movie Communion which is based on both books. No one could have done a better job than Christopher Walken, who plays the lead role.
April 20, 2014
A poor follow-up to the enjoyable and more believable 'Communion'. Strieber seems to be further capitalizing on his notoriety with this work that is heavy on the metaphysical and with new-age thought. A good amount of time is spent reminding the reader how accomplished a writer the author is aside from his novels related to abduction experiences and Strieber never fails to remind us that he has a large number of friends with some notoriety. Rather than spend the majority of the time placating his ego, Streiber would have wrote a better novel concentrating on what his experiences could mean for the rest of us; perhaps he just ran out of new information to share.
August 1, 2013
Second time reading the book. Thought-provoking sequel to Strieber's book, Communion, which I just finished reading. It is a continuation of his experience with "the visitors". Still not sure if the account given by the author is 100% factual, as in these are physical beings that visited him and not some sort of visions that he has experienced.
In any case, the descriptions of the authors experiences in this book seemed a lot less visceral, and the author explains some spiritual meaning that he has gained from his experiences. For this reason, I found it interesting.
In any case, the descriptions of the authors experiences in this book seemed a lot less visceral, and the author explains some spiritual meaning that he has gained from his experiences. For this reason, I found it interesting.
February 25, 2013
I really struggled with this book, which is a shame as I enjoyed reading Communion as well as still having fond memories of Christopher Walken in the 1989 movie in which he seemed stranger than the Aliens. Maybe it was just too much to read this straight afterwards? It felt more self indulgent and padded, and to be honest it had worn me down so much it has taken me a while to finish it... I'm still disappointed in myself for having this book floating around and not pushing myself that bit more.... enough Aliens!!! Time for a different book choice!
May 21, 2024
STRIEBER’S FOLLOW-UP TO ‘COMMUNION”
Louis Whitley Strieber (born 1945) is an American writer originally known for his horror novels (e.g., ‘The Wolfen,’ ‘The Hunger’), but since his 1987 book ‘Communion,’ has become considered as a UFO ‘contactee.’ He continues to write both fiction and nonfiction.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1988 book, “I have been deep into the dark and found extraordinary things there. The visitors did not go away when I finished ‘Communion.’ On the contrary, they came rushing into my life and would not stop My experience has come to include too many witnesses for me to consider that it is internal to my mind. I believe that the vivid and startling nature of a number of witnesses’ experiences, and the credibility of the witnesses, all but proves my contention that the visitors are a genuine unknown and not an outcome of hallucinations or mental illness. Even the most skeptical and vociferous of my critics has publicly admitted that I am not lying. Short of actual, physical evidence, I think that I have gone as far as possible to demonstrate the reality of the visitors. If they represent some sort of essentially nonphysical form that we do not yet understand, then physical proof may never some. This does not mean that they should be ignored. They are already having a staggering but largely hidden impact on our society, and their presence should be taken with the utmost seriousness.”
He recounts, “In later March I had been indulging myself in a fantasy that the visitors were going to impose a sort of benevolent empire in human affairs and gently try to lead us to a cleaner, happier, more just society. These fantasies had become quite elaborate. On April 1 the visitors reacted. What happened was wise and full of humor and teaching. But it was also frightening and I did not want to be frightened by the visitor experience. I wanted it to WORK---whatever it was.” (Pg. 25)
He observes, “It is obvious that the warnings I reported in ‘Communion’ about the atmosphere are a serious business. But I should point out that the problem was known to science and to me---at least in general terms---before I had the visitor experience, so its mention in ‘Communion’ cannot be classed as a pure prediction. Nevertheless, it in indisputable that I realized the seriousness of the ozone crisis long before most others.” (Pg. 53)
He argues, “I am not lying. I am not confused, I am not mentally ill, and I do not have an organic brain disease. In any case, a manifestation like the knocks cannot be put down to disease. Such a thing is not a symptom… I am reporting a true event. It was the first definite, physical indication I had while in a state of completely normal consciousness that the visitors were part of this world.” (Pg. 132)
He explains, “Of course, one can take the comfortable road and say that I am lying, that the descriptions in this book are hyperbole or hallucination. But they are not. I am telling the truth of what happened to me, and the implications are there for anybody to see. Not only are we not alone, we have a life in another form---and it is on the level of reality that the visitors are primarily present. I call the visitors, but now I am beginning to think this is a misnomer. I have had the impression g that they think of themselves as family, and perhaps that is exactly what they are.. I had the notion… that I had been allowed a glimpse between the worlds of the living and the dead.” (Pg. 213)
He recounts how Morrow senior editor Bruce Lee and his wife were in a bookstore next to a display for Strieber’s ‘Communion,’ Lee noted a couple looking at the display, when “Mr. Lee noticed that behind their dark glasses both the man and the woman had large, black, almond-shaped eyes… Mr. Lee told me, ‘…I moved away.’ … Nobody, least of all myself and the Lees, knows what to make of this experience. Was it an example of the visitors’ off sense of humor? By simultaneously confirming their existence by appearing to a man of high credibility and reputation but also saying that ‘Communion’ was full of perceptual errors … they proved me right and wrong at the same time.” (Pg. 235-236)
He summarizes, “I have learned a number of important things from my experience. 1. The visitors are physically real. They also function on a nonphysical level, and this may be their primary reality. 2. They have either been here a long time or they are trying to create this impression… 3. They have the ability to enter the mind and effect thought, and accomplish amazing facts with this skill. 4. They have taught me by demonstration that I have a soul separate from my body… 5. They can affect the soul, even draw it out of the body, with technology… 6. They used few words to communicate with me Their primary method was a sort of theatrical demonstration, richly endowed with symbolic meaning. 7. When I challenged my own fear of them they responded by taking me on a journey deep into my unconscious terrors… I discovered how to accept my fear and not be surprised by it. I suspect that the visitors may have been here for a long time. It has even crossed my mind, given their apparent interest in human genetics, that they may have had something to do with our evolution.” (Pg. 256-257)
He acknowledges, “Should any psychological condition be discovered to have caused my experiences, I will certainly make it known. I have not the least intention of creating or in any say supporting a false unknown. Indeed, I would be the first to suggest that any and all of our present interpretations of the visitor experience may be wrong.” (Pg. 265)
I’m largely a UFO skeptic, but Strieber seems more ‘sincere’ than many others are. At any rate, this book will be of great interest for those studying UFOs, ‘alien abductions,’ etc.
Louis Whitley Strieber (born 1945) is an American writer originally known for his horror novels (e.g., ‘The Wolfen,’ ‘The Hunger’), but since his 1987 book ‘Communion,’ has become considered as a UFO ‘contactee.’ He continues to write both fiction and nonfiction.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1988 book, “I have been deep into the dark and found extraordinary things there. The visitors did not go away when I finished ‘Communion.’ On the contrary, they came rushing into my life and would not stop My experience has come to include too many witnesses for me to consider that it is internal to my mind. I believe that the vivid and startling nature of a number of witnesses’ experiences, and the credibility of the witnesses, all but proves my contention that the visitors are a genuine unknown and not an outcome of hallucinations or mental illness. Even the most skeptical and vociferous of my critics has publicly admitted that I am not lying. Short of actual, physical evidence, I think that I have gone as far as possible to demonstrate the reality of the visitors. If they represent some sort of essentially nonphysical form that we do not yet understand, then physical proof may never some. This does not mean that they should be ignored. They are already having a staggering but largely hidden impact on our society, and their presence should be taken with the utmost seriousness.”
He recounts, “In later March I had been indulging myself in a fantasy that the visitors were going to impose a sort of benevolent empire in human affairs and gently try to lead us to a cleaner, happier, more just society. These fantasies had become quite elaborate. On April 1 the visitors reacted. What happened was wise and full of humor and teaching. But it was also frightening and I did not want to be frightened by the visitor experience. I wanted it to WORK---whatever it was.” (Pg. 25)
He observes, “It is obvious that the warnings I reported in ‘Communion’ about the atmosphere are a serious business. But I should point out that the problem was known to science and to me---at least in general terms---before I had the visitor experience, so its mention in ‘Communion’ cannot be classed as a pure prediction. Nevertheless, it in indisputable that I realized the seriousness of the ozone crisis long before most others.” (Pg. 53)
He argues, “I am not lying. I am not confused, I am not mentally ill, and I do not have an organic brain disease. In any case, a manifestation like the knocks cannot be put down to disease. Such a thing is not a symptom… I am reporting a true event. It was the first definite, physical indication I had while in a state of completely normal consciousness that the visitors were part of this world.” (Pg. 132)
He explains, “Of course, one can take the comfortable road and say that I am lying, that the descriptions in this book are hyperbole or hallucination. But they are not. I am telling the truth of what happened to me, and the implications are there for anybody to see. Not only are we not alone, we have a life in another form---and it is on the level of reality that the visitors are primarily present. I call the visitors, but now I am beginning to think this is a misnomer. I have had the impression g that they think of themselves as family, and perhaps that is exactly what they are.. I had the notion… that I had been allowed a glimpse between the worlds of the living and the dead.” (Pg. 213)
He recounts how Morrow senior editor Bruce Lee and his wife were in a bookstore next to a display for Strieber’s ‘Communion,’ Lee noted a couple looking at the display, when “Mr. Lee noticed that behind their dark glasses both the man and the woman had large, black, almond-shaped eyes… Mr. Lee told me, ‘…I moved away.’ … Nobody, least of all myself and the Lees, knows what to make of this experience. Was it an example of the visitors’ off sense of humor? By simultaneously confirming their existence by appearing to a man of high credibility and reputation but also saying that ‘Communion’ was full of perceptual errors … they proved me right and wrong at the same time.” (Pg. 235-236)
He summarizes, “I have learned a number of important things from my experience. 1. The visitors are physically real. They also function on a nonphysical level, and this may be their primary reality. 2. They have either been here a long time or they are trying to create this impression… 3. They have the ability to enter the mind and effect thought, and accomplish amazing facts with this skill. 4. They have taught me by demonstration that I have a soul separate from my body… 5. They can affect the soul, even draw it out of the body, with technology… 6. They used few words to communicate with me Their primary method was a sort of theatrical demonstration, richly endowed with symbolic meaning. 7. When I challenged my own fear of them they responded by taking me on a journey deep into my unconscious terrors… I discovered how to accept my fear and not be surprised by it. I suspect that the visitors may have been here for a long time. It has even crossed my mind, given their apparent interest in human genetics, that they may have had something to do with our evolution.” (Pg. 256-257)
He acknowledges, “Should any psychological condition be discovered to have caused my experiences, I will certainly make it known. I have not the least intention of creating or in any say supporting a false unknown. Indeed, I would be the first to suggest that any and all of our present interpretations of the visitor experience may be wrong.” (Pg. 265)
I’m largely a UFO skeptic, but Strieber seems more ‘sincere’ than many others are. At any rate, this book will be of great interest for those studying UFOs, ‘alien abductions,’ etc.
October 7, 2015
Pretty interesting take on aliens-as-life-coaches. Quite the contrast to what I read in Intruders, which depicted aliens as baby snatchers. Strieber says at the end that he can't disagree with Budd Hopkins more strongly, but I would like to have him interview the people that Hopkins did. Anyways, many more books on this subject from Strieber, so I'll keep reading and see how his opinion changes.
March 30, 2015
The follow-up to Streiber's Communion: A True Story in which a perfectly normal writer suddenly decided to tell the true story of his many and on-going abductions by aliens. This is more of the same, but as the first one was just a bit crazy, this is a bit crazy and a bit boring, since what good there was went into the first one.
September 10, 2014
Hard to figure out what shelf to place this one on! I read his first book about his experiences with the others (ETs, UFOs ?) 'Communion' several years ago. This takes off where he ended that book, chronicling his interactions with them just as 'Communion' is released. Still unsure of who/what these entities are, but the book is a good springboard for interpersonal thought.
January 10, 2017
An honest account of the authors experiences of encounters with what appear to be non-human intelligence's. Sequel to his best selling 'Communion', Strieber focuses on recounting the weirdness of the experiences without trying to impose any given interpretation upon them. He shares the various suspicions and beliefs he held at various points, and how he moved on from them.
August 22, 2011
More scary "true" bedtime stories about alien abduction.
October 1, 2020
I read Communion some years ago, and loved it. It is probably one of the scariest books I have ever read and one of the few books that made me scared to sleep by myself in my own bed. I kept envisioning myself being abducted through a beam of light or waking up and having aliens staring at me from my bed side. Communion was very realistic, memorable and descriptive. It's definitely fuel for nightmares. I didn't rate the book very well when I read it the first time however, and going back to it raised the rating because of how much it stuck with me, but after reading the second book in this series, it makes me wonder if maybe the original rating was right and I remembered the good parts and have forgotten the bad parts...
The new book starts off with a bang, with an encounter/abduction and makes you think that it's going to be Communion 2.0, but soon after it takes a quick turn for the worse. This book seems to be based on new age religions and is quite out there. It's almost like Strieber is trying to write an inspirational book on the backdrop of aliens. It focuses on what Strieber is thinking, A LOT and spends a lot of time analyzing what he is experiencing and thinking. He spends a lot of time trying to conquer his fear of the aliens as he believes that it's a barrier that's necessary to be broken in order to gain all the potential knowledge from the aliens. Throughout this book, I was never really excited about reading it unlike with Communion.
It seems like Strieber overanalyzes and draws a lot of conclusions that aren't there or seems to exaggerate them. While in the first book we had terrifying abductions, while in this book we get a chapter or two of him analyzing 9 knocks that he hears on his roof. He makes a lengthy argument about how they were in a rhythm, how hard it would be for someone to get to the position the sounds came from without Strieber either hearing them or them activating a motion sensor light. But he eventually draws the conclusion that these knocks relate to 9 questions that someone told him about in his life to ask when (I think) he feels confronted with something that doesn't make sense. It seems like it's too far of a leap for me.
He also talks at length throughout the book about how the aliens don't like him eating "sweets," and tell him to stop or else he'll die. At some point, Strieber gets a call from a friend whose wife (I believe) is diabetic and the aliens visit them. They raise her up from her bed (while the husband is watching) and then put her back down. Strieber believes that the aliens did this to the diabetic woman to further illustrate the danger of eating sweets or as a warning to Strieber... Again, seems like a bit of a stretch and not entirely too interesting.
While the first book probably had some of this that I don't remember, I remember the first book as being terrifying and interesting, this book sees Strieber coming to terms of the aliens being real and trying to learn, investigate and grow with them. I'm not sure if I will continue reading the series after this book, I imagine that the rest of the series is going to continue to get more "new age based".
The new book starts off with a bang, with an encounter/abduction and makes you think that it's going to be Communion 2.0, but soon after it takes a quick turn for the worse. This book seems to be based on new age religions and is quite out there. It's almost like Strieber is trying to write an inspirational book on the backdrop of aliens. It focuses on what Strieber is thinking, A LOT and spends a lot of time analyzing what he is experiencing and thinking. He spends a lot of time trying to conquer his fear of the aliens as he believes that it's a barrier that's necessary to be broken in order to gain all the potential knowledge from the aliens. Throughout this book, I was never really excited about reading it unlike with Communion.
It seems like Strieber overanalyzes and draws a lot of conclusions that aren't there or seems to exaggerate them. While in the first book we had terrifying abductions, while in this book we get a chapter or two of him analyzing 9 knocks that he hears on his roof. He makes a lengthy argument about how they were in a rhythm, how hard it would be for someone to get to the position the sounds came from without Strieber either hearing them or them activating a motion sensor light. But he eventually draws the conclusion that these knocks relate to 9 questions that someone told him about in his life to ask when (I think) he feels confronted with something that doesn't make sense. It seems like it's too far of a leap for me.
He also talks at length throughout the book about how the aliens don't like him eating "sweets," and tell him to stop or else he'll die. At some point, Strieber gets a call from a friend whose wife (I believe) is diabetic and the aliens visit them. They raise her up from her bed (while the husband is watching) and then put her back down. Strieber believes that the aliens did this to the diabetic woman to further illustrate the danger of eating sweets or as a warning to Strieber... Again, seems like a bit of a stretch and not entirely too interesting.
While the first book probably had some of this that I don't remember, I remember the first book as being terrifying and interesting, this book sees Strieber coming to terms of the aliens being real and trying to learn, investigate and grow with them. I'm not sure if I will continue reading the series after this book, I imagine that the rest of the series is going to continue to get more "new age based".
June 27, 2024
I’d read Communion in the 1960s and felt both skeptical and frightened. Was it real, or a crack-pot tale during a time of many crack-pot tales?
It wasn’t until lately that I felt a gentle nudge to read the follow-up stories. Beginning with Transformation. The story gains credence because Strieber submits to a series of tests to prove he is perfectly sane, and he is telling the truth. And I discover how readable his account is.
We learn of Strieber’s background, how he came to be a subject of interest among the visitors, as he calls them. After all, if these people have lived among us for millennia, it’s hardly reasonable to call them aliens. It may be more accurate to call them extraterrestrials, but best to refer to them as visitors.
Strieber describes his frequent encounters, his terror, and his desire to overcome his fears. After all, the encounters tend to benefit him, making him a better person both physically and spiritually, and he wants this. And he wants to understand the visitors, who they are, their agenda, their personalities.
And we want to understand more, which leads us to the next book, Breakthrough.
It wasn’t until lately that I felt a gentle nudge to read the follow-up stories. Beginning with Transformation. The story gains credence because Strieber submits to a series of tests to prove he is perfectly sane, and he is telling the truth. And I discover how readable his account is.
We learn of Strieber’s background, how he came to be a subject of interest among the visitors, as he calls them. After all, if these people have lived among us for millennia, it’s hardly reasonable to call them aliens. It may be more accurate to call them extraterrestrials, but best to refer to them as visitors.
Strieber describes his frequent encounters, his terror, and his desire to overcome his fears. After all, the encounters tend to benefit him, making him a better person both physically and spiritually, and he wants this. And he wants to understand the visitors, who they are, their agenda, their personalities.
And we want to understand more, which leads us to the next book, Breakthrough.
August 1, 2022
In Communion, Strieber is extremely unclear what is happening to him and has great difficulty understanding his situation. He didn’t know if these were just dreams, aliens, spirits, insanity or something else. In Transformation he appears to have completely ruled out that this is all in his mind and he is dealing with some sort of non-human entities.
He receives two epiphanies from the Visitors, he needs to cut down his sugar intake and reincarnation is real. He is still unclear what exactly the Visitors are, but he seems to have a fearful longing for them. All this despite seeings an angel-like Visitor being tortured because Strieber ignored its warning against sugar.
Overall, the story was less compelling than Communion but still interesting. Many of his experiences, such as hearing knocks on a wall or waking up in the night on the ceiling of his bedroom, could be chalked up to dreams or hallucinations. He came off throughout as a man trying to prove he’s not crazy, but coming off a little crazy.
He receives two epiphanies from the Visitors, he needs to cut down his sugar intake and reincarnation is real. He is still unclear what exactly the Visitors are, but he seems to have a fearful longing for them. All this despite seeings an angel-like Visitor being tortured because Strieber ignored its warning against sugar.
Overall, the story was less compelling than Communion but still interesting. Many of his experiences, such as hearing knocks on a wall or waking up in the night on the ceiling of his bedroom, could be chalked up to dreams or hallucinations. He came off throughout as a man trying to prove he’s not crazy, but coming off a little crazy.
January 2, 2024
Ok I admit I was (and am) a moron as a young lad and did enjoy his first book on this topic, Communion, so I was happy to buy and read this book when it came out. I totally believed it when I initially read it and found it spooky and fascinating and cool and did recommend it to others. The guys I recommended it to would just nod their heads patronizingly while patiently listening to my glowing reviews and then say that these stories were all bullshit and I'm now 100% certain the stories in these books are total bullshit. Strieber lost his mind about the so-called "face on mars" photo, using it as evidence to back up his claims of alien visitation but the face on mars photo was debunked years ago which is a bummer but that's the way it is. So does Strieber believe what he's writing? If so, does he have some kind of mental illness? Or is it all just a cynical con job. Who knows. But I will say that if you treat Breakthrough as just fun fiction then it's not a bad book. I would really like to know what is going on with that old boy Strieber though.
April 12, 2025
" the temptation not to question, or say, I have all the answers is enormous. I have agonized over it. " - Whitley Strieber.
I am someone who is fascinated with the speculative, the wierd and unknown. listening to people tell their stories of things they can't make sense of is deeply enjoyable. mostly because we are left to ask simple things like why or how, could it be? is my reality really real or are we missing pieces.
I don't want to lie, as much as I was fascinated by the concept the whiplash between what happens in events of "the visitors" felt like i was going past mental gymnastics and more like my brain was playing pinball try8ng to keep up with his thoughts.
as many people have stated, as the author does, I belive these are his experiences, but it was hard not to take with a grain of salt in the earlier chapters when talks of visions of different times and lands, and apocalypse scenarios.
the further you get it the more manageable the events come.
I am someone who is fascinated with the speculative, the wierd and unknown. listening to people tell their stories of things they can't make sense of is deeply enjoyable. mostly because we are left to ask simple things like why or how, could it be? is my reality really real or are we missing pieces.
I don't want to lie, as much as I was fascinated by the concept the whiplash between what happens in events of "the visitors" felt like i was going past mental gymnastics and more like my brain was playing pinball try8ng to keep up with his thoughts.
as many people have stated, as the author does, I belive these are his experiences, but it was hard not to take with a grain of salt in the earlier chapters when talks of visions of different times and lands, and apocalypse scenarios.
the further you get it the more manageable the events come.
December 9, 2024
As a follow up to Communion, I found this to have a very different approach. One that initially was a bit jarring, coming off its predecessor, but soon enough as interesting and speculative and won me over in the end.
I can see there being things within that some may find too silly to indulge, but one has to remember what we’re reading about, how it is the ultimate unknown, and have both empathy and compassion for Whitley, who has gone through so much and faced much ridicule in trying to tell his story.
It’s interesting to see that things continued and much of it involves the locale of the cabin. I’m eager to read the third.
I can see there being things within that some may find too silly to indulge, but one has to remember what we’re reading about, how it is the ultimate unknown, and have both empathy and compassion for Whitley, who has gone through so much and faced much ridicule in trying to tell his story.
It’s interesting to see that things continued and much of it involves the locale of the cabin. I’m eager to read the third.
March 1, 2019
I stumbled upon a Medium post on Whitley Strieber and found him fascinating so picked up Transformation at a used book store and quickly ordered Communion, its predecessor, via Amazon. I'm not familiar with UFO/alien abduction books so approached this with somewhat of a fresh eye. And what I appreciated the most is that, believe him or not, Whitley Strieber is a skilled writer who approaches his subject in a reasoned, almost cerebral way. I don't care how skeptical you are; it's hard not to get absorbed into Strieber's narrative.
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