The Viridian Book of Occult Fiction, the fifth volume of the books of occult fiction of many colors, brings together twenty-two tales, dating from 1824-1917, from the American occult revival. Tracing the history of the occult fiction of the United States from its beginnings, with writers such as Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe, the book marches forth through the mystical texts of occultists like Paschal Beverly Randolph, Freeman B. Dowd, and Belle M. Wagner, the scribe of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, into the first part of the twentieth century, where Blanche Cromartie and Max Heindel, of the Rosicrucian Fellowship, spin their astrological magic.
Containing a diverse and splendid assortment of stories, about mysterious initiations and magnetism, hierophants and soul-transfers, The Viridian Book of Occult Fiction, edited by Brendan Connell, who also supplies a fine, erudite introduction, is an indispensable addition to any library of the supernatural and occult.
About the Editor Brendan Connell was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1970. He has had fiction published in numerous places, including McSweeney’s, Adbusters, and the World Fantasy Award winning anthologies Leviathan 3 (The Ministry of Whimsy 2002), and Strange Tales (Tartarus Press 2003). His works of fiction include Unpleasant Tales (Eibonvale Press, 2013), The Architect (PS Publishing, 2012), Lives of Notorious Cooks (Chômu Press, 2012), Miss Homicide Plays the Flute (Eibonvale Press, 2013), Cannibals of West Papua (Zagava, 2015), and Against the Grain Again: The Further Adventures of Des Esseintes (Tartarus Press, 2021). As editor he has worked on various projects, including The Neo-Decadent Cookbook (Eibonvale Press, 2020), which was co-edited by Justin Isis.
