Colin Wilson, Beyond the Occult

Colin Stanley (University of Nottingham)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Domains

Parapsychology/ Occult

Dates

First circulation or publication Dec 1988

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-fictional prose

Resources

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Beyond the Occult

, the third book in Colin Wilson’s “Occult Trilogy”, was published late in 1988, both in the UK and the US, by Bantam Press. It was the culmination of twenty years’ research into the paranormal which commenced with the publication of a huge volume,

The Occult

, in 1971 and was followed by the equally bulky

Mysteries

in 1978. The decision to write a book about the occult, against the advice of Robert Graves (1895-1985), turned out to be advantageous to Wilson as the books were, mostly, well received and spawned many popular spin-offs. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine how he could have supported himself and his growing family, post-1970, without undergoing more arduous lecture tours of the United States, if he had not taken this bold step.

Some readers, however, had

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3348 words

Citation: Stanley, Colin. "Beyond the Occult". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 March 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23994, accessed 26 November 2024.]