The Terror That Comes In the Night by David J. Hufford (book review)

Chances are you've heard of sleep paralysis.  Five or ten years ago that might not have been true.  The internet has been a boon to many things, esoteric subject matter such as sleep paralysis being one of them.  But before all the hype, before all that was known or understood about the phenomenon was a well-worn cliche, David J. Hufford was out there, busting his ass, gathering data, shining a much needed light on the, at the time, poorly understood phenomenon.  One of the more substantial fruits of his tireless labors was a book called The Terror That Comes in the Night.  First published in 1982 it's the 'Black Sabbath' (1970) of sleep paralysis research, the first and in many ways still the best book on the subject.  Even after some 30 years it's still the definitive book on the matter.

The book's success lies in its accessibility.  Strictly speaking, it's not an academic book but it's by no means dumbed down "complete idiot's guide" either.  Hufford takes great pains to clearly delineate the definitions and meaning of his statements and the esoteric jargon he uses and all readers are the richer for it, including academics.  The book is full with some 36 case studies which appear in the form of transcripts of dialogues the author had with people who have experienced the phenomenon, which gives what could easily become a high-falutin' book a down to earth approach.  Real people telling real stories, often for the first time to anybody (Hufford met many of his interview subjects after lecture tour dates, but not all of them, many times however oft-embarrassed "confessors" would approach him after these talks).  These case studies are the meat and potatoes of the book, without a doubt, these are the juicy bits.  Most of these stories are simply unforgettable.  Hufford also spends a great deal of the book discussing the dozens(!) of discreet features of the experience, while taking pains to identify those elements which are most common, thus establishing the sleep paralysis narrative so many are now familiar with today.

The phenomenon of sleep paralysis is thought to afflict 30% of people at least once in their life, of course any real data of this nature is probably ultimately unknowable.  Academics now refer to it as sleep paralysis, but the experience has taken many names and aspects throughout the years: The Nightmare; incubus/succubus; vampire, alien abduction are just a few of the associated phenomena just from Western culture alone.  Keep in mind this is a worldwide occurance and is cross-cultural in most of its aspects and all of its major features.  The author refers to it as "'Old Hag' attack[s]" (linguistic origin from Newfoundland, Canada).

Just so you know, Hufford is Professor Emeritus of Medical Humanities, Penn State College of Medicine. Studying folklore while at a University in Newfoundland, Hufford kept hearing stories about an Old Hag experience which were strikingly similar to his own personal experiences, experiences which he had never shared with anyone before (another feature / response common to the phenomenon, that of fear of loss of sanity and/or embarrassment).  Hufford respected the people sharing their stories enough not to dismiss them  as ignorant and superstitious out of hand.  The thesis behind this book is that belief systems are rooted in experience, and though it sounds crazy, belief in an old hag or old witch that visits sleepers in the night to put a crushing weight on one's chest is actually rooted in experience.

It's an idea that might not have been taken at all seriously by academics before this book came along and that in and of itself makes it a groundbreaking work.

Why is it here?

Remember that crazy story about Geezer Butler's nocturnal visitation and how it directly led to the dark and heavy direction Black Sabbath took soon after?  That's a possible sleep paralysis episode right there.  Of course I should be a bit more cautious in assigning explanations to historical events, but this is my blog dagnabbit!  And this is an excellent book and an excellent read besides.  Better than most horror fiction because it's real folks' accounts of real experiences, The Terror That Comes in the Night is an indispensable addition to any paranoid library.

Rating: 5/5

Page Count: 278 pgs

From: Philadelphia, PA

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

ISBN: 0-8122-1305-X

Genre: Non-fiction, Folklore, Sleep Studies, Nightmares, Incubi, Witches, Sleep Parlysis

Release Date: 1982

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Rogue Transmissions - Demons, Fairies & Wailing Guitars: The Best 100 Obscured Rock Acts 1968-1976 by Ra'anan Chelled (book review)

Book reviews aren't the kind of thing normally done on music blogs, but one book deserves special mention due to its thoroughly researched excellence and its relevance.

Demons, Fairies & Wailing Guitars is a guide to 100 of the best underground bands from around the world whose first recordings fell between the years 1968-76.  More than a simple list, author Ra'anan Chelled provides insight, opinion and detailed biographies on each entry and outdoes himself by scoring multiple interviews with many of the featured artists.  Some of my personal favorite bands profiled in the book are C.A. Quintet, Leaf Hound and Blue Cheer, all of whom I've written about on this blog.  So of course, the first thing I did when this book came in the mail was to flip to those entries to compare notes.  Mr. Chelled has a wonderful power to turn an unexpected phrase and his literary powers are made all the more exceptional when you realize that English is not his native language.  It's a wonderful thing when non-English speaking writers have a fresh take on the language and discover many uncovered nuances of the language, normally hidden from native speakers due to lazy thinking and taking their own verbal heritage for granted, it's just human nature.

Some of the more familiar bands to PH readers covered in the book include Captain Beyond, Hawkwind, Budgie, Pentagram, Cactus and Sir Lord Baltimore.  But really, the beauty of a book like this isn't necessarily in reading about the bands you already know and love, although it's certainly interesting to do so and learn a bit more about those bands, it's about discovery.  Every band in this book is worth checking out.  The second thing I did when the book came in was I flipped to the back index and looked up the references to Black Sabbath and without half trying discovered a new favorite band of the period, one by the unambiguous name of Bang.  They play a garage thrashy seventies style of hard rock, bordering on proto-metal and even proto-doom, they are well worth checking out.  Other of my favorite bands with their own entries are Arzachel, The Churchills, Gandalf, The Open Mind, The Plastic Cloud and Tomorrow.

Each entry is between two and nine pages long with discography and lineup information and Chelled goes out of his way to include other references in "If You Dig:" and "Loved It? Try Also:" sections at the front and back of each profile featuring a whole host of other bands not covered in the book, but these lists are also essential in one's trolling through the backbins of time.

The book is illustrated throughout with band photos, fliers and album covers and of course, for lovers of lists there is a section of lists in the back section.  This book is altogether essential reading for anybody interested in underground psychedelic rock and hard rock from the original psychedelic era for the worlds that it opens and makes a beautiful companion piece to any music lover's collection.

Demons, Fairies & Wailing Guitars may be the best book on the subject of underground psychedelic rock since the trio of books compiled by Vernon Joynson (Fuzz, Acid & Flowers [U.S.], The Tapestry of Delights [U.K.] and Dreams, Fantasies & Nightmares [CA, AUS & NZ and S.A.]) in the late nineties, and those were really more encyclopedias but were really comprehensive.  Chelled gives prominent credit to those publications in his Foreword.  I often wonder how future generations will view this underground world of stoner rock / doom metal twenty or forty years down the road and I suspect it will be with the same reverence some of us music nerds view that wonderful period of psychedelic / hard rock from the period 1968-1976.  I can hardly wait for the re-issues, the bonus tracks, the unearthed treasures and compilations and the books like Demons, Fairies & Wailing Guitars.

The print run of this book is limited to a hundred copies and each one is signed and numbered by the author himself.

Rating: 5/5

Page Count: 501 pgs

From: Tel Aviv, Israel

Genre: Non-fiction, Music, Psychedelic, Hard Rock, Prog, Krautrock

Reminds me of: Tapestry of Delights, Lysergia.com

Release Date: January 23, 2013

Suggested reading activity for fellow non-stoners: Sit in a tree and freak out the squares, man!

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OR HERE AS ePUB FOR ADOBE READER

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