New Book Release: Rethinking Gender in Orthodox Christianity

Rethinking Gender in Orthodox Christianity by Ashley Purpura, et al., eds.

What is the role of gender in Eastern Christianity? In this volume, Orthodox experts of different disciplines and cultural backgrounds tackle this complex question. They engage critically with gender issues within their own tradition. Rather than simply accepting pervasive assumptions and practices, the authors challenge readers to reconsider historically or theologically justified views by offering nuanced insights into the tradition. The first part of the book explores normative positions in Orthodox texts and contexts. From examinations of Scripture and hagiography to re-evaluations of monastic, patriarchal, and legal sources, it sheds new light on gender issues in Orthodox Christianity. The second part considers how gendered expectations shape individuals' participation in Orthodox liturgical life and how ecclesial contexts inflect gender theologically. The chapters reflect diverse Orthodox voices brought together to foster new understandings of the ways gender shapes Orthodox religious lives and beliefs. Rethinking what has been inherited from tradition, the authors proffer new perspectives on what it means to be a man or woman within Orthodoxy in the twenty-first century.

New Book Release: Keir Hardie's Creed

Keir Hardie's Creed: Faith in Socialism by Neil Johnson

For James Keir Hardie, founding father of the British Labour Party, Socialism was the Christianity of his day. Keir Hardie realized that the abject poverty of his early years was economic, social, and political oppression, so he dedicated his life to fighting for justice. He found inspiration in the visions, insights, and concepts of figures from Jesus of Nazareth to Robert Burns and Karl Marx. At the heart of Keir Hardie's creed was the belief that human solidarity is sacred. What underpins this study is the understanding that labour history is religious history.

New Book Release: Avoiding Harm

Avoiding Harm: A Muslim Response to COVID-19 by A. Rashied Omar

Research scholars have lamented the fact that most of the extant studies on religious responses to the COVID-19 pandemic focus on a particular religious group, typically Christian. This book fills this lacuna by providing some useful insights into how one Muslim religious institution responded to the pandemic. It portrays the sermons, advice, and guidance provided to the Claremont Main Road Mosque (CMRM) congregation in Cape Town, South Africa, by its Imams and elected board of governors during the course of the pandemic. The book carries a concluding chapter by Professor R. Scott Appleby, an expert in the study of lived religion, who critically reflects on this collection of sermons and the response of the mosque by providing some independent ruminations on the themes of religion, science, and the human person.

New Book Release: Emory University School of Medicine

The Smartest and Most Promising: A History of the Emory University School of Medicine by Armand E. Hendee and Juha P. Kokko

This book traces the distinguished history of the Emory University School of Medicine from its inception to the current day and highlights the intellect, strength, endurance, and hard work of the many who planned and built an internationally renowned health-sciences center. From its earliest days as a small “practitioner’s school” struggling to stay afloat, the Emory University School of Medicine has followed a path to its current place of eminence in teaching, patient care, and research.

New Book Release: Humanism

Humanism: In Command or in Crisis? by Michael A. Schuler

According to bestselling historian Yuval Noah Harari, today's average American has their foot in three ideological camps: nationalism, free market capitalism, and humanism. The first two might seem obvious, but the third? It's entirely possible that most who qualify for that label would be hard pressed to explain its meaning, much less use it self-descriptively. This book is designed to serve two important purposes: First, to provide an accessible resource for anyone curious about the humanist tradition and the arguments advanced by leading contemporary proponents. Second, to address what the author believes is a critical question for our time, the era of the Anthropocene: Is humanism's seemingly benign package of values at least partially responsible for some of the world's most pressing problems? To answer the last question, Schuler draws from an eclectic collection of commentators, including life scientists, spiritual writers, public intellectuals, technologists, novelists, and even poets. In the end, this wide-ranging survey will help the reader determine whether humanism makes sense for them.

New Book Release: Werewolf Stories

Werewolf Stories: Shape-Shifters, Lycanthropes, and Man-Beasts by Nick Redfern and Brad Steiger

Beware the Full Moon! Take a hair-raising tour of werewolf legends. Meet shape-shifters, dogmen, and all variety of human and lupine mixes in this blood curling story collection from two distinguished paranormal researchers!

From today's lycanthropic creatures found in pop culture such as Dracula, Twilight and An American Werewolf in London to the earliest mentions in folklore of the shape-shifting legend, Werewolf Stories: Shape-Shifters, Lycanthropes, and Man-Beasts is an eye-opening tour through the ages of all things werewolf. Along the way, readers land at the doorstep of creatures like serial killer Fritz Haarmann, tiger people and their thirst for human blood, Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome, shapeshifters of all kinds and sizes, and even a spell to repel werewolves. This fascinating tome provides 140,000 years of blood-pounding evidence of strange and obsessional behavior. It tells of stories of becoming a werewolf and the intricacies of slaying the beast. A true homage to the creature, it includes full moon of topics such as …

• Fenrir, the wolf child of the giantess Angrboda and the god Loki, from the Old Norse myth of Ragnarok
• Notorious serial killers, including Peter Stumpp and Michael Lupo, who thought themselves to be—and modeled their crimes on—werewolves
• Coyote people, tricksters, and were-animals of Navajo legend
• The Basque butchers of Louisiana and the loup-garou
• Diana, the goddess of the wilderness and the hunt, and her pack of hunting dogs, who once ruled all the dark forests of Europe
• Leopard creature-men and the deadly cult whose members expressed their were-leopard lust for human blood and flesh that has been in existence in West Africa for several hundred years
• The “werewolf of the Dordogne,” Francis Leroy, and his uncontrollable bloodlust during the full moon
• The secret terrorist group Organization Werewolf, established in 1923, and its possible allegiance to Adolf Hitler
• Ghouls from Arabic folklore, the demonic Djinns that hover near burial grounds and sustain themselves on human flesh stolen from graves
• Tasmania’s thylacine and sightings of the “probably extinct” creature and its remarkable—and frightening—jaw capacity
• Alaska’s Kushtaka and other stories of the Bigfoot man-beast
• Puerto Rico’s chupacabra and its powerful goat-like legs, three-clawed feet, and penchant for sucking blood
• The Doñas de Fuera of Sicily, small fairies who looked human, aside from their paw-like feet, and were cruel and dangerous when crossed
• Enkidu, perhaps our earliest written record of a man-beast that appears on a Babylonian fragment circa 2000 BCE and tells the story of King Gilgamesh and his werewolf-like friend in The Epic of Gilgamesh
• And many more stories and histories of werewolves, night-stalkers, lycanthropes, and man-beasts

Noted cryptozoologists and paranormal researchers Nick Redfern and Brad Steiger share personal stories and encounters with werewolves in Werewolf Stories. They take a deep dive into the legends, the history, the pop-culture take on the man-beast. It's a wild and weird road-trip into the mystery-filled domain of the disturbingly real world of shape-shifters and werewolves!

New Book Release: American Ghost Stories

American Ghost Stories: True Tales from All 50 States by Michael A. Kozlowski and Richard Estep

Take an eerie road trip! A chilling collection of true ghost stories spanning every state in the United States with a full range of ghostly manifestations and haunted locations!

From séances to shiny graveyards, take a ghostly journey across the United States. Visit the highways and byways of the supernatural across the country and in each state in the union. American Ghost Stories: True Tales from All 50 States tours possessed houses, unearthly burial sites, forbidding farms, sinister forests, school bathrooms, and all manner of places haunted by spectral visitors, including …

• Sullivan, Maine, and Nelly Butler, America’s “first ghost.”
• Wilder, Kentucky, and Bobby Mackey’s Music World, which was originally built as a slaughterhouse and then served at various times as a honky-tonk, bingo hall, biker bar, and cocktail lounge before becoming a direct portal to Hell.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and The Pfister Hotel, where every U.S. president since William McKinley stayed—as did Elvis Presley—and its weird noises, flickering lights, malfunctioning electronics, and moving objects.
• Exeter, Rhode Island, and Mercy Lena Brown, the vampire ghost that was caught on a YouTube video.
• San Jose, California, and the maze-like Winchester House, which was allegedly designed to confuse ghosts that haunted the original owner … and have continued to haunt people ever since.
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the Skirvin Hotel, the historic Art Deco hotel, former speakeasy, and location of several gunfights that is haunted full time by Effie, a Prohibition-era chambermaid.
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the numerous sightings at the Betsy Ross House. 
• Huntsville, Alabama, and the Maple Hill Cemetery, the internment site for governors, U.S. senators, representatives, and soldiers that is the site of … a playground!
• Tularosa Basin, New Mexico, and Pavla Blanca, the woman in white roaming the dunes of the White Sand National Monument.
• And many more paranormal experiences, poltergeists, residual hauntings, curses, witches, prisons, bridges, mental institutions of an America plagued with spirits, phantoms and ghosts!

More than merely a collection of 50 true ghost stories, American Ghost Stories puts you in the middle of the eerie action with captivating stories that would be at home at any midnight campfire. The only difference is that these stories aren't urban legends or fantasies meant to scare you. These stories live right next door to every one of us. We suggest you don’t read them when you are home alone and the lights begin to flicker!

New Book Release: Grace Upon Grace

Grace Upon Grace: Holy Innocents at 150

The birth of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church was, to say the least, difficult. Atlanta was trying to rebuild itself in the wake of the Civil War and the city was in ruins. From this dismal scene emerged Mary Ellen “Nellie” Peters, an Episcopalian seeking to do charity work for orphans and the poor, who were “utterly destitute,” as one document noted. By 1872, she had established a Sunday School mission named Chapel of the Holy Innocents.

Grace Upon Grace—Holy Innocents at 150 shows it was not always easy. But the growth of the church continued its march, buying land and erecting new buildings. And as those edifices aged and were outgrown, even more space was sought, which is how Holy Innocents ending up with land in Sandy Springs in 1955.

It’s difficult to reconcile the inspiring, soaring home of Holy Innocents today with its early beginnings. But the work of the church is as apparent as ever. Its efforts are alive in fields as diverse as Civil Rights, hospice support, homelessness, the city’s food bank, poverty, missions in other countries, and its well-tended Annual Giving Fund, not to mention the everyday—but impressive—daily ministry and operations.

Additionally, the church operates the highly acclaimed Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, an institution that itself had a difficult birth and now ranks as one of the premier—and largest—Episcopal schools in America.

New Book Release: William Barnet & Son

William Barnet & Son: 125 Years of Solutions

The story told in William Barnet & Son – 125 Years of Solutions takes you on a geographical and solution-driven journey, the company oftentimes purchasing raw materials with no clear end product in mind, and then creating a product that brings value in a market. This commitment to provide solutions has led to relationships with some of America’s most well-known brands, relationships that still exist today. 

Ultimately, the Barnet story is one of relationships—with its customers and suppliers, with its longtime employees, many of whom have worked over 40+ years with the company, and with the three generations of Barnet family leadership that laid the foundation.  Today’s Barnet team, whose collective experience and longevity with the company is impossible to place a value upon, is poised to move the company forward into an even brighter future. 

New Book Release: Warnings

Warnings: The Holocaust, Ukraine, and Endangered American Democracy by Leonard Grob and John K. Roth

Old friends--one a Jew, the other a Christian--Leonard (Lenny) Grob and John K. Roth are philosophers who have long studied the Holocaust. That experience makes us anxious about democracy, because we are also Americans living in perilous times. The 2020s remind us of the 1930s when Nazis destroyed democracy in Germany. Carnage followed. In the 2020s, Donald Trump and his followers endanger democracy in the United States. With Vladimir Putin's ruthless assault against Ukraine compounding the difficulties, democracy must not be taken for granted. Americans love democracy--except when we don't. That division and conflict mean that democracy will be on the ballot in the 2024 American elections. Probing the prospects, Warnings: The Holocaust, Ukraine, and Endangered American Democracy features exchanges between us that underscore the most urgent threats to democracy in the United States and show how to resist them. What's most needed is ethical patriotism that urges us Americans to be our best selves. Our best selves defend liberal democracy; they strive for inclusive pluralism. Our best selves resist decisions and policies like those that led to the Holocaust or genocidal war in Ukraine or conspiracies to overturn fair and free elections in the United States. Our best selves reject antisemitism and racism; they oppose hypocrisy and autocracy. Our best selves hold lying leaders accountable. Our best selves believe that, against all odds, democracy can win out if we never give up trying to be our best.

New Book Release: Grifters, Frauds, and Crooks

Grifters, Frauds, and Crooks: True Stories of American Corruption by Richard Estep

Power, Money, Sex: The Corrupt Trifecta! This captivating book uncovers the insidious web of deceit that infiltrates every facet of our nation's past and present. Immerse yourself in the stories of 50 of the most audacious frauds, cons, and lies!

Discover the dark underbelly of American history as you delve into the gripping pages of Grifters, Frauds, and Crooks: True Stories of American Corruption. From the heights of Wall Street to the heart of Main Street, from the hallowed halls of the Capitol to the battlefields of the military, and from the glitz and glamour of entertainment to the sanctity of science, no realm is immune to the clutches of corruption. Through meticulous research, this riveting account exposes both notorious figures and obscure swindles, including …

• Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi schemes

• Big Pharma scandals

• the Black Sox

• the dark secrets of the Catholic Church

• Operation ABSCAM

• the seedy underworld of the Mafia

• Harvey Weinstein

• Corruption in the White House

• the Enron deceit

• the shocking depths of NYPD corruption

• Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker

• the Lehman Brothers collapse

• the Watergate break-in and cover-up

• the Clinton/Lewinsky affair

• J. Edgar Hoover’s abuse of power

• the Sackler family’s opioid empire

• and many other dishonest and duplicitous people and organizations!!

With more than 120 photos and graphics, Grifters, Frauds, and Crooks is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness. In the pursuit of money, influence, and fame, the line between right and wrong sometimes becomes blurred, leaving a trail of shattered trust and broken dreams. Take an illuminating journey into the cons, scams, and shady deals that have shaped our nation.

New Book Release: The Afterlife Book

The Afterlife Book: Heaven, Hell, and Life After Death by Marie D. Jones and Larry Flaxman

A profound and fascinating exploration of death and the afterlife! Christian and other religious beliefs, rituals from around the world, quests for immortality, scientists’ conclusions, ghosts, and more!

What happens when we die? Many view it as a mystery, but there are tantalizing clues to be found in the Bible and other religious scriptures, scientific findings, historical writings, literature, reports of near-death experiences, and in many other recorded sources. Facing the contradictions and similarities of beliefs from all over the world and throughout history, The Afterlife Book: Heaven, Hell, and Life After Death shows how death and the afterlife is viewed in a variety of different ways. This engrossing guide looks at the many competing views of the afterlife—and the shared connections between them, including ...

• Where ideas of Heaven and Hell came from and why they endure.

• What happens during near death experiences and out of body experiences,

• What is known about reincarnation and immortality.

• How death is linked to ghosts and apparitions, mediumship, and spiritualism.

• How the quest for immortality and transhumanism may play a role in one day ending death.

• How science and spirituality can often say the same thing—only in different languages and terminologies.

• How death and the dead have been celebrated, memorialized, and honored in the past and present.

• What happens to the human body just before, during, and immediately after physical death.

• What happens to the cells, tissues, heart, and brain as a result of the physical process of dying and decomposition.

• How burial and cremation traditions, rites, rituals, and controversies address consciousness and the existence of a soul.

• What religious leaders, philosophers, and scientists have to say about consciousness and the soul.

• Whether animals and pets have souls.

Is death just a mysterious phase in our journey? Does it lead to Heaven (or Hell)? Is it reincarnation or simply eternal blackness and unconsciousness? Do we continue to exist in some form or other beyond our physical bodies? The Afterlife Book tackles these questions and gives us all hope that our lives do not come to an end but change like the natural cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth! It’s many photos and illustrations help bring the text to life, and its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.

New Book Release: Handy Supreme Court

The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book: The History and Issues Explained by David L. Hudson, Jr.

The U.S. Supreme Court, its decisions, and its nominating process for new justices are often in the news … but are just as often not well understood. Constitutional law professor David L. Hudson, Jr., explains the cases, processes, and important history with this in-depth primer on the U.S. Supreme Court.

How has the Supreme Court justices’ thinking on gun rights, abortion, free speech, freedom of religion, and many other controversial issues evolved? What were some of the court’s most important and monumental decisions … and failures? Which justices have—and have had—the most influence on the court? Has the nominating process always been so political and bitter?

Covering the history, nominating process, and court decisions on individual and other rights as well as a few fun facts, The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book: The History and Issues Explained by David L. Hudson, Jr., J.D. provides you with 600 answers to questions such as …

• How was the U.S. Supreme Court created?
• Under the Constitution, who appoints Supreme Court justices?
• Have any Supreme Court justices been impeached?
• Which president introduced an infamous court-packing plan in 1937?
• Which Supreme Court justice in the 20th century did not have a law degree?
• What are some suggestions for reforming the confirmation process?
• What did the Rehnquist Court decide in the 2000 presidential election?
• Why did Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissent in the Lily Ledbetter case?
• Which justice wrote that he couldn’t define obscenity, but “I know it when I see it”?
• When did the Supreme Court establish the so-called “Miranda Rights”?
• How did the Supreme Court emphasize privacy protection for cell phone searches?
• How has the Supreme Court dealt with the death penalty for juveniles?
• In what infamous decision did the Supreme Court regard African Americans as slaves and property?
• When did the Supreme Court invalidate a ban on interracial marriages?
• Why was the decision in Roe v. Wade not the leading story in many newspapers on the date of its decision?
• Why, according to Justice Samuel Alito, was Roe such a bad decision?
• Why is interpreting the Second Amendment perhaps more of a challenge than other amendments in the Bill of Rights?
• Who was the only Supreme Court Justice to have signed the Declaration of Independence?
• Which Justice wrote a book about the United States as a Christian nation?
• Which Justice wrote a book on civil disobedience and protest?
• What Supreme Court justice was formerly a member of the Ku Klux Klan?
• What is the nickname of the Supreme Court Building?
• Which justice was nicknamed “The Lone Ranger”?

Analyzing controversial issues and various points of view, The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book sheds a light on the differing and changing interpretations of the critical issues before the court, as well as the confirmation process and some of the court’s most important justices. Richly illustrated, it also has a helpful bibliography, glossary, and extensive index. Thoroughly updated since it was last published fifteen years ago, this invaluable resource will help you understand the rulings and importance of the U.S. Supreme Court!

New Book Release: Ghosts of the Arizona

Ghosts of the Arizona by Alan Scott

Why did a scuba diver desecrate a shrine dedicated to the people who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and who killed him?

Hawai'i Psionic Officer Kenny Nu'uani is visiting the USS Arizona National Memorial when a body is found floating above the wreckage.  Kenny realizes that the man had entered the ship, desecrating a shrine, erected in memory of the sailors who perished on the USS Arizona, December 7, 1941. 

With the help of the US Navy, Kenny investigates the man's death and discovers the man was murdered. Two FBI agents are dogging his heels as they try to stay ahead of the psionic officer. Kenny must use all his powers to find out what was the diver looking for, who killed him, and why. If he isn't careful, he could be added to the list of people who died on the Arizona.

What was he doing there?  Was he looking for something?

New Book Release: The Astrology Guide

The Astrology Guide: Understanding Your Signs, Your Gifts, and Yourself by Claudia Trivelas and Katharine Merlin

How does each planetary sign, each house, and the relationships between planetary bodies influence your life? This essential guide lets you harness the energy of your unique astrological influences and gifts!

Building on the basics of traditional astrology with an in-depth understanding of the 12 signs, 12 houses, the planets, and the planetary combinations, The Astrology Guide: Understanding Your Signs, Your Gifts, and Yourself includes interpretations of the asteroid Chiron and the recently discovered dwarf planets Ceres, Eris, and Sedna. Beginner and advanced practitioners will benefit from its mastery of chart interpretation and its understanding of the gifts (and challenges) of planetary energies.

Rather than interpreting planetary influences as "good" or "bad,” thereby putting the individual in a box, The Astrology Guide looks at the "gift" and the corresponding "shadow" each planet, sign, house placement, and planetary combination in the astrology chart offers. The “shadow” is a concept first coined by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung that describes those aspects of the personality that we choose to reject or repress, and embracing the planetary shadow creates personal empowerment. The planets are not doing something to you; instead, you can learn to interact with them, dance with their energy, and exist in harmony with them. This informative guide aids in self-discovery and furthers self-empowerment by helping you answer questions such as …

• Who are you?
• What makes you unique?
• Do you know your unique gifts?
• What needs to be healed before you fully embrace your unique self?
• Are there obstacles interfering with expressing your unique gifts or are these obstacles the gift?
• Is there a story you are reflecting that is influenced by a prominent planet, asteroid, or a newly discovered dwarf planet in your chart?
• How do you relate to the Moon's Nodal influences in your birth chart?
• Is there an archetypal story that resonates with you?
• How do the minor aspects to your Personal Planets enrich your understanding of your talents and abilities?
• What are the flaws or the “shadows” following you around?
• Are those shadows bringing you down …, taking away your joy?
• Do these shadows include traumas, blocks, and wounds?
• And, much, much more!

The Astrology Guide will develop your resilience to life’s cycles and outer influences and show you the unconscious parts of yourself that subtly influence your behavior. Numerous photographs and illustrations, a helpful bibliography, and an extensive index add to its usefulness. Learn about your innate, unique gifts and gain satisfaction, fulfillment, and confidence!

New Book Release: American Cults

American Cults: Cabals, Corruption, and Charismatic Leaders by Jim Willis

America has spawned hundreds of cults. Charismatic leaders periodically burst into the news for the most awful of reasons. We are awash with stories of brainwashed members’ struggles to leave. Meet the messianic leaders, see the indoctrination and manipulation, look at their beliefs, and read the stories of some of America’s most notorious, eccentric, and unusual cults!

From false religions and offshoots of traditional religions to political, financial, sexual, and hate groups, American Cults: Cabals, Corruption, and Charismatic Leaders looks at 40 groups and leaders, including their histories, deceits, manipulations, and twisted ideologies. Some rely on systems of obedience, submission, and dependency. More than a few have mystifying beliefs. Others are dark and murderous. You’ll encounter curious, bizarre, and sometimes upsetting stories of …

• Charming, manipulative, and exploitative leaders—Jim Jones, Jim Baker, David Berg, David Koresh, and many, many others.

• The breakaways from traditional religions—Father Divine and the Peace Mission, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Westboro Baptist Church, the Gospel of Prosperity, and many more.

• Political, Ponzi, metaphysical, and science schemes—the cult of the scientific method, pyramid schemes, political cults, the Unification Church, and much more.

• Aliens, extraterrestrials, and the cosmos—Church of Scientology, Raëlians and Heaven’s Gate, to name a few.

• End-times and doomsday cults—rapture beliefs, Edgar Cayce, the Ant Hill Kids and more.

• Racial, radical, and social media cults—QAnon, Ku Klux Klan, Oath Keepers, Antifa, and others.

• Sex, perversity, and submission—NXIVM, Sullivanians, Rajneesh, and many more.

American Cults looks at why America is such a fertile ground for cults, how some people got caught in their webs, and how some managed to escape! With more than 120 photos and graphics, this tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography provides sources for further exploration, and an extensive index adds to its usefulness.

New Book Release: Muscle Bound

Muscle Bound by Alan Scott

What if your best friend is a murderer?

Pryce Nolton, a good friend of Josh Chambers, Utah's Psionic Officer, is found holding a bloody knife next to three bodies, all of them stabbed to death. Pryce has no memory of the crime, and even Josh's powers cannot determine if he did or did not commit triple-homicide.

Salt Lake City police are convinced they have the right man and do not buy into the memory-loss excuse.  They think Pryce experienced a roid rage incident and stabbed his friends to death.

Josh is not convinced that Pryce could murder his friends in cold blood, but all the evidence points to Pryce's guilt.

While Josh is dealing with the investigation, his efforts are impeded by a series of drug thefts from hospital pharmacies.

Josh must find out what happened that deadly evening or else his friend might be sentenced to death.

New Book Release: The Witches Almanac

The Witches Almanac: Sorcerers, Witches and Magic from Ancient Rome to the Digital Age by Charles Christian

Real Witches. Real Lives. Real Magic. Real History. Take a magical tour through the lives and times of 359 of the most important sorcerers and witches throughout history.

For millennia there’s been a fascination and a fear of people possibly wielding magical powers and a stigma surrounding practitioners of ancient rituals and practices. Yet, in the last 70 years, witchcraft, as well as Wicca, have gone from taboo beliefs pursued by a handful of eccentrics and misfits to major global, spiritual movements. Meet the troublemakers and rebels who pushed for change in The Witches Almanac: Sorcerers, Witches, and Magic from Ancient Rome to the Digital Age. You’ll be introduced to the history, persecutions, conjurings, and magic of some of history’s most consequential witches, sorcerers, wizards, and mavericks, including … 

• Circe, Medea, Hermes Trismegistus, the Chaldean Magi, and other Ancient Roman and Classical Greek witches
• Merlin, Morgana le Fey, Nimue, the 10 Queens of Avalon, and sorcery and witchcraft in the Arthurian legends
• San Cipriano, the obscure 4th century bishop whose influence today still plays an important role in folk magic and Hoodoo practices
• Baba Yaga, Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais, Alice Kyteller, Lord Soulis, Michael Scott, the Golem of Prague, and medieval witchcraft
• King Henry VI, Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII, Catherine de Medici, John Dee, Queen Elizabeth, and witchcraft in the British royal court
• Isobel Gowdie, illusive Scottish witch whose voluntary confessions provided the template for traditional witchcraft beliefs
• Isaac Newton, Friar Roger Bacon, Nicholas Flamel, Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, Robert Boyle, and other alchemists
• The Burning Times of the late 16th to early 18th centuries
• The Berwick witch trial
• The Salem witch trial
• Aleister Crowley, W. B. Yeats, MacGregor Mathers, Eliphas Levi, the Golden Dawn, Thelema and ritual magic, and the rise of esoteric movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries
• Jack Parsons, described as the “Jet-Propelled Antichrist” whose life of sex, rockets, and magic ended prematurely in a mysterious explosion
• Gerald Gardner, Old Dorothy Clutterbuck, Alex Sanders, Robert Cochrane, Raymond Buckland, Lady Sheba, Marjorie Cameron, and others in the modern Wicca and witchcraft movement
• And much more!!

You’ll get a deeper understanding of the obscure history of witches with this enchanting and bewitching tome! The Witches Almanac brings you their rich histories and extraordinary biographies, plus it includes a helpful bibliography, an extensive index, and numerous photos, adding to its usefulness.

New Book Release: The Serial Killer Next Door

The Serial Killer Next Door: The Double Lives of Notorious Murderers by Richard Estep

How well do you know your neighbors? Maybe you should get to know them better! Growing up, we are taught that monsters are easy to identify, but the truth is very different. Too often, the serial murderer does not stand out. Otherwise, he, or she, would get caught.

The contrast between the ordinary-seeming lives that provided cover for their cruel secrets is exposed in The Serial Killer Next Door: The Double Lives of Notorious Murderers. To their coworkers, neighbors, and others who knew them, they led unremarkable lives. They had careers as military pilots, police officers, landscapers, small business owners, farmers, realtors, reporters, authors, veterinary technicians, nurses, doctors, handymen, painters, and chefs, while they simultaneously stalked city suburbs, college campuses, trailer parks, and red-light districts. This chilling book looks at the horrifying stories of nearly 30 malevolent killers (and hundreds of innocent victims) who were mistakenly trusted, including …

• Genene Jones, a nurse responsible for the murder of 60 infants and children in her care. She’s said to be the inspiration for Stephen King’s iconic character of Annie Wilkes, in Misery – and her nephew broke into King’s home, threatening to blow up the writer and his family because of it!
• Robert Lee Yates, a helicopter pilot in the Army National Guard who, when caught, buried one body outside his bedroom window as his wife slept.
• Gary Ridgway, also known as the Green River Killer, went undetected for 20 years, working for 30 years as a painter for a truck company and married for 17 years.
• Kathleen Folbigg, whose three children were at first thought to have died from natural causes. She only got caught when her husband found her personal diary.
• Joseph James DeAngelo, who worked various jobs, including as a police officer and a truck mechanic. He went on a decades-long crime spree and was finally caught with the help of DNA evidence. His case was instrumental in the establishment of California's DNA database.
• And dozens of other serial killers!

It’s chilling to realize that many serial killers have created second lives that are completely divorced from the brutality and evils they commit. It’s incomprehensible to think that they are able to flip a switch, transforming them from apparently loving, ordinary men and women into torturous, homicidal slaughterers. With more than 120 photos and graphics, The Serial Killer Next Door is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness. We trust our neighbors, coworkers, and acquaintances. Of course, we do. It's ominous to think that we can't!