Happy Halloween, kids

I've already reviewed John Michael Greer's "Monsters" twice, but here we go again... :D

According to the author, and he should know, "Monsters" is his best selling book. I'm not surprised. I mean, who can reject an offer subtitled "An investigator's guide to magical beings"? For quite some time, I could - but then I bought it and was, of course, hooked almost at once.

Greer has described his book as a "hybrid", a pretty fair description. The introductory chapter is very serious and philosophical, and deals with the Scientific Revolution, the nature of reality and empirical evidences for the existence of spirit-beings. Greer believes that the mysterious outbreaks of deaths in the Hmong refugee community, dubbed Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) by researchers really is caused by a demonic creature resembling the Old Hag known from North American folklore. The concluding chapters on magic are also fairly serious. At the time, Greer was a practitioner of ritual magic in the Golden Dawn tradition (Golden Dawn was an esoteric order in Britain active over a century ago), and he is at pains to portray the magic worldview as rational and logical. And yes, he describes a number of rituals to protect yourself from monsters!

The main bulk of the book contains chapters on various monstrous beings, the existence of which Greer takes very literally: ghosts, spirits, vampires, werewolves, creatures of fairy, even dragons and mermaids (sic). These chapters are extremely entertaining, for believer and sceptic alike, and are illustrated with drawings that would appeal to any trick-or-treater at Halloween. Greer often attacks popular ideas about monsters, so prepare yourself to get some of your most cherished superstitions ruffled! No, vampires don't don black-and-white suits and live inside coffins, werewolves are really a kind of astral travellers, aliens don't exist at all, and sightings of many Bigfoot-like creatures are meetings with solitary fairies (although Greer admits that Bigfoot might be a real animal in the Pacific Northwest). "Monsters" contain both tips for how to conduct on-the-spot research of monster sightings, how *not* to get media attention, and how to power up various magical implements that might be needed if you ever stumble onto a monstrous creature yourself.

What makes "Monsters" so cool is precisely that it's written by a true believer in spirit-beings and magic, while nevertheless being geared towards a more general audience. Both friend, foe and fence-sitter will get their Halloween treats from this one. Still, a word of warning is in order. If the author is right, then you probably *shouldn't* go out and investigate monster sightings. Come on, if werewolves are actual undead creatures, they probably won't be scared off by the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram...

Five stars.