From the ashes of the Skoob Occult Review rises this new anthology series, from the London esoteric book shop and now publisher Skoob, proclaiming itself “a forum for a diversity of viewpoints.” Highlights of this inaugural edition include the novella “The Stellar Lode” by Kenneth Grant from the mid-1950s, which gives rare insight into his formative philosophy, here structured within a fictional medium; a reprint of the January 1905 edition of The Occult Review; and two reviews of Kenneth Grant’s Hecates Fountain (Skoob), one by Colin Wilson, which is interesting given each’s Lovecraftian connections, and another by Gerald Suster which unceremoniously tears apart each foundation of the book’s assumptions. It’s very refreshing to see a publisher print such a scathing review of one of its own publications, and for that alone this anthology is worthy of support. BW

Publisher: Skoob
Paperback: 240 pages

“This intimate portrait of the relationship between Kenneth Grant and Aleister Crowley is illustrated by personal mementos, many hitherto unpublished. It covers the latter years of World War II and Crowley’s settling into his last abode at ‘Netherwood’ in Hastings. Here we see Crowley at his most human, and his letters to Grant are imbued with that strange interpenetration of the magickal and the mundane which colors the life of a dedicated practitioner.”

Publisher: Skoob
Hardback: 72 pages
Illustrated

Originally published as Hitler: The Occult Messiah, this is a staunchly Crowleyian interpretation of the rise of National Socialism in Germany. Suster sees the Nazis and the Holocaust as prefigured in the revelation of The Book of the Law, which Crowley received from the entity Aiwass in 1904, supposedly ushering in the Age of Horus (the Egyptian god of War). Suster provides some interesting occult tangents of the Third Reich such as the alliance between the Tibetan monks and the Ahnerbe (or Nazi occult bureau), the Nazi campaign against Rudolph Steiner and his Anthroposophist followers, and Hitler’s connections with the Aryan-esoteric Thule Gesellschaft. The highlight of Suster’s spiritual version of World War II is his assertion that Ian Fleming, while serving in the British wartime Secret Service, lobbied for Aleister Crowley to interrogate Rudolph Hess about the magical strategies of the Third Reich. SS

Publisher: Skoob
Paperback: 222 pages
Illustrated

Microwaveable humans that cook from the inside out! Flesh and fireworks! “Billy Thomas Peterson, of Pontiac, Michigan, was found dying in his car after a passing motorist had seen smoke coming from Peterson’s garage. Billy was also burnt: ‘His left arm was so badly burned that the skin rolled off. His genitals had been burnt to a crisp. His nose, mouth and ears were burned.’ And a plastic religious statue on the dashboard had melted in the intense heat. But nothing else was even singed—not even Peterson’s underwear.” An exploration of an astonishing mystery—Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC)—that has been historically shrouded in fear and misunderstanding. Includes plenty of case histories and scientific analysis. The author proposes a psycho-kinetic poltergeist theory as the cause of SHC, and relates it to telekinesis and other psychic powers. GR

Publisher: Skoob
Paperback: 396 pages
Illustrated