Apocalypse Culture

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Summary: Apocalypsis Iesu Christi...
Review: "The Apocatastis: We are living during the time of a great apocatastis, the Greek term for the return of all things that have been lost and the revelation of all things at the end of time."

The apparent thesis of Adam Parfrey's APOCALYPSE CULTURE is that all insane, mind-blowing and utterly bizarre ideas, theories and behaviors will be manifested and then the end will come. The book, published in the late 80's, is a collection of essays, short stories, articles, rambling tid-bits and other odds-and-ends from a variety of authors. The prevailing themes in APOCALYPSE CULTURE could be classified as conspiracy theory, paranoia, schizophrenia, apocalypticism, surrealism, ultra-anarchism, nihilism, libertarianism, anti-materialism, Luddite, anti-establishment, occultism, Satanic, and egotism.

A number of the essays stood out. "Infernal Texts" is a collection of quotes from various sources about man's total worthlessness and the need for a massive upheaval to eradicate the false social order that is now in place. "The Invisible War" by ... La Vey is about how constant sensory bombardments upon human beings in the modern world constitutes a collective genocide against humanity. "The Cereal Box Conspiracy" details the negative effects of sugar breakfast cereal marketing towards children, how it takes advantages of their inner fears and sexual ambiguity. "From the Mark of the Beast to the Black Messiah Phenomenon" is about a Christian researcher's theories as to who the antichrist is, and the antichrist will apparently be a black man who will be worshipped by Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others the world over. "Eugenics: the Orphaned Science" presents the pro-eugenics position, and gives quotes of famous people who argued for improving the biological stock of mankind through selective breeding. "The Christian Right, Zionism and the Coming Penteholocaust" is an especially disturbing and interesting study examining the relationship between militant Israelis and their Christian fundamentalist supporters in the US. Their goal is a 'Greater Israel' in the Middle East with a rebuilt Temple and Jewish control of most of Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebannon. This is supposed to be a part of Biblical prophecy, according to the fundies, and it is necessary for this set up to occur before World War III begins and Christ can return. "Vengeance in Secret Societies" studies how secret societies in world history used violence and terrorism to further their political goals, starting with the Assassins in the Middles East during the time of the Muslim Caliphate. "The Call to Chaos" by James Shelby Downard is one of the most ???--huh things I've read--something about a magical bottle at the test site of the first nuclear bomb and it has something to do the the cabalistic/Masonic uniting of the mystical male and female sexual energies. Speaking of nukes, the last essay, "Meditations on the Atom and Time" will blow your mind as it relates how the nuclear bomb has achieved godlike status in our collective psyche.

An important lesson to be learned from APOCALYPSE CULTURE considering the popularity of US meddling in Middle Eastern affairs today: "It is an ancient belief of black magic that manifesting the presence of the diety required sacrifice of human victims. It was also believed that the life energy of the victims would increase the potency and longevity of the sorcerer. A mass sacrifice might even confer enough energy to make the sorcerer immortal. Could this be the reason among the circles of the Christian Right, that the Penteholocaust, the sacrificial burning of death, will invoke Christ the vampire and render his disciples immortal."

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Summary: The book that started it all
Review: Every thought, every crackpot ideology will be revealed -- and then the world will come to an nd. That's the driving point behind "Apocalypse Culture,_ a comependium of extreme, radical and malevolent thought. One wishes that this book, and not RE Search's "Modern Primitives" caught on with the public. We would be looking at some very interesting art and literature right now, in lieu of stupid piercings and tattoos.

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Summary: Now You Know What You Did Not Want To Know...
Review: I am not by any means a squeamish person. In my relatively brief tenure on this planet, I've seen first-hand a great many things the 'average' individual might deem repulsive, repellent, unsavory, unseemly. Finally purchased this book ( a first-edition, no less ) at an independent record store, owing primarily to it's hipster cred as 'the' book to own for those in-the-know. While there is very little in this title that was a complete surprise to me ( in my varying lines of employment, I discovered early on that the human animal's capacity for cruelty and attendent perversion is virtually limitless ), to have all the various pecadilloes ( and their sub-genres ) represented between the pages of a single book that could be carried around as easily as the latest Tom Clancey crapfest was something akin to discovering that you possessed a vial containing every known social disease, and a few that were as-yet unclassified - good to know, but do you really want this thing lying around your house? In my case, no. Interesting book, I 'get' the point ( the human race is bipedal ape scum, and we're all going to hell in a handbasket ), but this is the first time I have ever felt moved to drop a book in the trash, and I am a compulsive book-buyer/reader, with literally thousands of titles lining the shelves. Just not this one. Not anymore.

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Summary: Obscenity and blasphemy at its worst, and end of the world
Review: I bought this book, for two reasons, 1. There's this Independent Thinkers Contest sponsored by Barnes and Noble which has the sequel Apocalypse Culture II as a potential book to write about, and 2. I looked at it, was pretty disgusted but thought maybe there was some potential in the nonsense chapter on the King of the World (Rex mundi), you know the one with the king walking proudly holding his gigantic erect phallus with a crown on top.

Anyway, call me neurotic or hysterical, but the book is so sickening and repulsive that I could barely stand looking at the pictures without feeling like I was going to retch and retch and retch. As far as the writings go, if you like to read the sad and incoherent ramblings of psychopaths, sociopaths, psychotics, drop outs, and the sexually abused, then be brave and go for it. Otherwise, if you want to pity them, but just are too damned repulsed to do it, then you'd better not read any of it.

Is this book saying anything about culture? My opinion is not really any more than a hundred million pornographic internet sites are.

Should this stuff, not the book per se, but the stuff that goes on in it, be banned as obscene? Probably not, there's this First Amendment thing that every maniac likes to use to keep his "art" alive, but hey . . . I wouldn't want to have this garbage stuffed in my face everyday. So as long as it stays on the fringes of society, I guess its kinda sorta alright to be there, maybe.

Are these highly delusional and psychopathic, probably sexually abused people curable? Maybe, but I sure don't want to make it my goal to set out to cure them of their psychoses.

Is the world coming to an end? Maybe.

Rating:
Summary: Get this book.
Review: Reality is mediated, and most people don't have the time orinterest in exploring different realities -- but for those ofus who know that reality is a strange and wonderful place, AC is alot of fun. This book opens up the world for the reader and explores regions of mankind which are ignored by the national media. Get this book and read it, and never again be satisfied with the commodified, safe version of humankind delivered by traditional sources. Conspiracy, freaks, the end of civilization; Take a look.

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Summary: Big deal before the internet
Review: The stories in this book were probably much more interesting before the popularity and surge of the internet, which brought these people together in ways easier than they ever imagined.
The book gets a little boring in the middle but all in all it is interesting, nothing in it worth any hoopla though.

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Summary: apocalypse what?
Review: There are definitely some different strokes for some pretty different folks depicted here--and some of these folks are *not* going to stroke you the right way. But as a look-see into what's really "out there" out there--here's a book that will give you things you haven't seen before. If you don't mind sampling some radical points of view on some pretty way-out things (fetishes and mutilation anyone?), give it a shot. Just remember--this book might shoot back. And they use live ammo during the Kali-yuga.

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Summary: A superlative alternative
Review: When Apocalypse Culture first made its rounds through the publishing industry, it was hailed as a near revelation. Now, over a decade later, it continues to invoke a sense of the underlaying chaos running rampant in the minds of millions. Many of the reactions can be judged en masse; revealing the phycophyciatry of the shadow side of America's most extreme tendrils.

Althrough not as shocking as its successor, it is just as relevant. The main thing one must remember is that this is a Feral House book; it's only for those who are either strong of stomach and/or cynical and looking for a jolt.

One of the highlights about the material covered in this tome is that it comes from such a variety of viewpoints; there are articles by wannabe serial killers, an admitted necrophiliac and and myriad others, all scraping for a place in the sordid landscape of medernism gone awry.

I look at it as mainly a study of subersive counter-culture- nothing more, nothing less. It will most likely continue provoking controversy and igniting sparks of angst, but this is, after all, part of Apocalypse Culture's undeniable charm.

All in all, this is one hell of a ride.

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Summary: the world's going to hell in a handbasket
Review: _Apocalyspe Culture_ edited by Adam Palfrey (second edition)is a hard book to classify; perhaps the closest one could get is to describe it as a compilation of alternative writings on the sorry state of current society.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part points to the evidence of our society's moral decay, with essays ranging from one that encourages self-castration, to an interview with an admitted necrophiliac, to the Muslim program as outlined by Elijah Muhammed. The second part of the book purports to show the sociopolitcal results of the decay of our culture, and includes an essay by the founder of the Church of Satan, much about the supposedly secret role that the Freemasons play in the political arena, and the connection between the atomic bomb and mysticism.

This book isn't for everyone, particularly not the faint of heart because of some of the photos included. However, I found it interesting, if disturbing, reading. Highly recommended for people who think the world's going to hell in a handbasket, or just like to read material about the outer fringes of society.