A Season of Madness takes readers to cultural hinterlands where Carnival is strange, marvelous, and even a bit frightening. Where Spring is welcomed by clowns carrying inflated pig bladders and sheepskin monsters walk the land with clubs covered in hedgehog spines and plows are dragged over cobblestone streets by villagers in masks painted with blood. Folk horror fans take heart as the old world beckons with the coming of Spring!

Readers will learn about regional and local celebrations’ origins, history, and quirkiness from ancient Rome to modern Bulgaria. A Season of Madness explores the interconnectivity of pagan beliefs throughout Europe and how those beliefs and traditions evolved over time and through the Christian conquest.

A Season of Madness is sumptuously illustrated with over one hundred historical and modern images and illustrations in this deluxe paperback edition.

Ridenour’s first book, Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil (2018) is considered by critics the definitive authority on pagan winter celebrations. Aside from his books and podcast, Ridenour is a sought-after expert and lecturer.

Bart Kennedy’s 1908 A Tramp’s Philosophy was written as a distillation of his ideas and experiences into a concept for living. He includes insights on everything from religion to civilization to crime to his ineffable logic for rejecting modern society.  The essays are organized by the themes that Kennedy revisited throughout his writing career: Society, Art and Beauty, Crime, Politics, and Work (or better said, Not Working).

Staid critics of the time often derided his work, “Mr. Kennedy has a wild and whirling imagination, a lurid imagination, and imagination that revels in tragedy. Also, he has declared war against the principle verb.” So said the “The Academy” (a literary review magazine in 1897), but Kennedy’s writing broke new ground in bringing slang and nuanced sarcasm to highlight the pretensions of his “betters.”  His work gives us a rare glimpse into the late-Victorian era when any man of talent could become proclaim himself a Philosopher King.

Bart Kennedy was born in Leeds, England, on March 9, 1861.  He was raised in Manchester, where he began his career at the age of six, working part-time in a cotton mill. He worked in mills and machine shops throughout Manchester before joining the merchant navy as an able seaman in 1881. Jumped ship in Philadelphia, where he tramped and worked odd jobs throughout the United States. He was illiterate until his early twenties until a fellow tramp taught him to read. His travels included all of North America and Europe. Occupations included: oyster fisherman, gold miner, opera singer, actor, writer, lecturer, and builder.

“No social system or state can be really worth anything where the paramount aim is not to allow the individual to develop to the fullest, both mentally and physically. And this aim has never been the aim of any civilized state. … The aim of all civilized states has been to keep the masses in subjugation for the benefit of cliques. And this is as true of republics as it is of autocracies. … The money clique that rules America is more oppressive than is the Grand Ducal clique of Russia. It has a far worse effect on the American character.”

Enlarged and Revised Edition

“Parfrey has edited a new book of Revelation, a collection which is almost as awesome and terrifying as the original biblical text.”

— Edwin Pouncey, NME

“Apocalypse Culture is compulsory reading for all those concerned with the crisis of our times. An extraordinary collection unlike anything I have ever encountered. These are the terminal documents of the twentieth century.”
— J.G. Ballard

Read/Download a PDF excerpt below:

[gview file=”https://feralhouse.com/v3/wp-content/uploads/2005/05/Apocalypse-Culture_excerpt.pdf”]

Los Angeles, CA – Feral House – Underground publisher Adam Parfrey presents a second coming of America’s darkest shadow side in Apocalypse Culture II, the completely new sequel edition to what was called by J.G. Ballard “the terminal documents of the twentieth century.” The original Apocalypse Culture, an underground bestseller since its emergence in 1987, going through 13 printings, has remained a huge influence on popular culture. The sequel delineates further regions of the Forbidden Zone, the psychic maelstrom that everyone knows exists but fearfully avoids.

Subject matter includes:

•  The biological resurrection of Jesus Christ via modern cloning technology
•  Interviews with a convicted murderer and cannibal turned celebrity
• Recipes for cooking babies
• Homunculi
• Pedophilia
• A re-enactment of the 914 deaths that occurred at Jonestown in 1978
• A report on Bobby Beausoleil, his art, and his prison sex life
• The farthest-out conspiracy of all with reasons to take it absolutely seriously
• Letters sent to Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan
• A sample necrocard for those who wish to donate their body to necrophilia
• Steps to overcome masturbation
• The replacement of human mates with expensive masturbatory devices
• Fecal black magic
• Mind control via advertising

And dozens of other compelling examples of our own Apocalypse Culture. Observing that society has been infantilized by being told at every opportunity how to think and what to believe, editor Parfrey refuses to provide easy moral lessons in Apocalypse Culture II, though he supplies pertinent information before and after many articles to assist the interpretation of thoughtful readers. Some will find the contents quite shocking, but that, according to Parfrey, is not his primary purpose. This is an examination of sociological truths that speak of the culture that both created and ignore them.

Contributors include Colin Wilson, Ted Kaczynski, Pentti Linkola, Jim Goad, Peter Sotos, Michael Moynihan, Sondra London, Jonathan Vankin, Irv Rubin, George Petros, Chris Campion, Robert Sterling, David Woodard, Dan Kelly, Wes Thomas, Crispin Hellion Glover, Boyd Rice, Kadmon, Chad Hensley, James Shelby Downard, Rod Dickinson, Steve Speer, Sarita Vendetta, Ghazi Barakat, Kristan Lawson, Issei Sagawa, Rosemary Malign, Danny Rolling, Larry Wayne Harris, Nicolas Claux, Stu Mead, Trevor Brown, George LaMort, and Beth Love.

“This is a black box of a book, spuming to the brim with the overly articulate paranoias of our age. It is impossible to either put it down or keep yourself from throwing it against the wall. There is no denying its dense psychic substance, though. The dark angels sit crowded on every page.”
— Andrei Codrescu, National Public Radio

“I write books, I read books, and Apocalypse Culture II is the best book I have ever read. Pardon me now if I go out on a limb, but if there is no Pulitzer for this man, this work, I will eat my own Nobel. Adam Parfrey is equal parts H.L. Mencken and P.T. Barnum.”
— Richard Meltzer

“Apocalypse Culture II is an instant classic, blasting through the last frontiers of taboo.”
— Rachel Resnick, author of Go West Young Fucked-Up Chick

“Salacious. Visceral. Great. With Apocalypse Culture II, Adam Parfrey immerses the reader in the deep dark sanguinary sanctums of the subconscious.”
— Robert Williams

“Apocalypse Culture II is the New Testament, redefining and satirically exposing the mutations of consensus hypocrisy. Psychoses duel in the hilarious, absurd, provocative and incestuously urban litanies of deformed martyrs. An unexpectedly sacred alchemical tincture.”
— Genesis P-Orridge

“Adam Parfrey’s astonishing, un-put-downable and absolutely brilliant compilation, Apocalypse Culture II, will blow a hole through your mind the size of JonBenet’s fist. This book should be in hotel rooms.”
— Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight

“Adam Parfrey shows himself to be unique among investigative journalists: one unafraid to go where barkers fear to tread.”
— Nick Tosches

“Apocalypse Culture II is a chaos bible of delightful forbidden information that falls somewhere between The Cat in the Hat and Mein Kampf. It’s also thick enough to leave a good-sized bruise on someone’s face after you get pissed-off by reading it.”
— Marilyn Manson

Read more at wikipedia.org.

The Apocalypse Omnibus collects the best of Adam Parfrey’s essays in a single volume.

Adam Parfrey was, before starting iconoclastic publisher Feral House, a writer. His foresight in revealing extreme trends and societal angst long before mainstream media had any inkling of the darkness bubbling just under the surface of American culture earned him praise and derision.  Apocalypse Culture (1987) was hailed by J.G. Ballard as the “terminal documents of the Twentieth Century.”

Many of the included essays are eerily prescient as Parfrey warned about right-wing militias in the early nineties and documented the rise of conspiracy-dominated thinking decades before Republican government officials loudly declared political opponents were satanically inspired drinkers of baby blood. Yet Parfrey’s interests were wide-ranging and Apocalypse Omnibus includes profiles of outré characters, artists, and, yes, some crackpots. Parfrey loved tweaking American mythology by resurrecting lost texts highlighting outlaws and outsiders. He continually sought to expose the absurdity of American culture. His collective writings have become the ur-texts of the “Dirtbag Left.”

“Parfrey was fascinated by the contrast between America portrayed as wholesome freedom-loving peacekeepers and the reality of covert military operations, mass-drug experiments, and the obscured “wizards” hidden behind the curtain pulling the levers of power. His work has been lauded as groundbreaking and criticized as dangerous. In a time when truth has been stretched to the breaking point, Parfrey’s essays remind readers that there is always more to the story.

Apocalypse Omnibus also contains material previously published in the out-of-print books, Apocalypse Culture 2 (2003) and Cult Rapture (1995), as well as new material culled from his extensive private archives. It also contains a selection of Parfrey’s essays and investigations, originally published in the San Diego Reader, Village Voice, Hustler Magazine, and on his own site, and inaccessible for years, are collected here in a single volume.

Bustin’ Balls tells the strange but true story of World Team Tennis (1974-1978) that attempted to transform the prim and proper individual sport of tennis into a rowdy blue-collar league. Billie Jean King and her partners merged feminism and civil rights with queer lifestyle, pop culture and a progressive political agenda to create a dazzling platform for the finest tennis players of the day to become overnight stars.

Iconic trailblazer King infamously played a hyped 1973 Battle of the Sexes against Bobby Riggs proving definitively that women athletes were competitive equals and changed the sports landscape forever. The vision of the World Tennis League with its mixed-sex teams and looser rules that encouraged fast and aggressive play, propelled tennis into a television fixture and the players into household names.

Evonne Goolagong who fought racism throughout her life was the first indigenous woman to win at Wimbledon and a member of the Pittsburgh Triangles was America’s introduction to a person of Aboriginal heritage. Chris Evert of the Los Angeles Strings became America’s sweetheart. Billie Jean King played for the Philadelphia Freedoms at the height of Bicentennial fervor and was feted by Elton John in the song, “Philadelphia Freedom”. And there’s no forgetting the bad boys of the court! Tabloids followed the nightlife exploits and made pin-ups of Ilie Nastase, Jimmy Connors, and Vitas Gerulitis.

Relive the most fun tennis ever had in the photo-filled history, Bustin’ Balls

Cinematic Immunity tells the story of New York City’s movie industry from the crew members who created the sets, lit the scenes, and shot the film. Focused on the golden age (1950-1990) of New York filmmaking, Cinematic Immunity covers On the Waterfront through The Sopranos.

The East Coast film industry, thousands of miles from the Los Angeles executives, existed by its own rules and with little oversight. It was a close-knit and freewheeling community of movie technicians that took on the most outrageous challenges to get the shot.  Readers will hear the unvarnished truth of the New York movie industry—tales about union politics, studio bullshit, movie families, dangerous locations, complex shots, volatile directors, plus anecdotes about actors, pranks, friendships, rivalries, generational shifts, substance use and abuse, technical feats, and more.

Includes stories about classic (and not so classic) films and television shows including: Midnight Cowboy, The Warriors, The French Connection, The Exorcist, The Godfather, The Wiz, The Taking of Pelham 123, Annie Hall, Cruising, Do The Right Thing, When Harry Met Sally, Home Alone 2, The Sopranos, and Law and Order.

Tales of their exploits, what they saw (and did) on these sets was previously only passed among themselves as showbiz lore but now, readers learn of Marlon Brando’s pranks on the set of The Godfather, how crews kept William Friedkin from killing them, the actors, and himself, and how consummate New Yorker Sidney Lumet was the angel to Friedkin’s demons.

Author Michael Lee Nirenberg has worked as a scenic artist in New York since 2006, and in many cases, alongside many of the people featured in the book. This book is a labor of love comprised of over 150 interviews and hundreds of hours of recordings. Cinematic Immunity includes behind-the-scenes images from studio archives and from the technicians who were there.

“Cinematic Immunity chronicles the wild behind the scenes tales from the legendary films made in dirty old New York… but told from an entirely new perspective.  Not the usual stars, directors and publicists but from the people who did all the work and can actually tell the truth – the below the line crews who know where all the bodies are buried!  Fascinating, funny and impossible to put down.” — Larry Karazewski, Academy Award winning screenwriter, Ed Wood, Dolemite, Big Eyes.

“They tell some great stories. The appearance of light-weight Arriflex cameras having made location shooting possible, these NY crews were thrown into diabolically dirty and dangerous and polluted locations where no film was ever shot before… A film could not be shot that way today. It shouldn’t. And yet Pelham 123 remains a very good film.” — Alex Cox, director, Repo Man, Dead Souls, and actor, An Unknown Enemy.

“In amassing these superb, often eye-popping accounts of the Golden Age of New York film, Michael Nirenberg has dug deep under the skin of a scene that was as gritty, inventive and character-filled as the city itself. Cinematic Immunity contains some rollicking stories – camera crews on the tracks dodging subway trains, Albert Finney betting on camel racing, a wild car ride with James Gandolfini – but the shared thread is a burning passion for the craft of filmmaking, even if the realities of this work were rarely as glamorous as the end product seen on screen.” — Oliver Milman, Staff writer, The Guardian

“This book is a dream! Nirenberg gives us the real, juicy, behind-the-scenes lore from all the best movies that New York City gave birth to in the second half of the twentieth century, straight from the mouths of the people who actually made them happen. Fantastic.” — Naomi Fry, Staff writer, The New Yorker

“Michael Nirenberg dresses like a drug dealer – trenchcoat, sunglasses indoors – and his Cinematic Immunity is pure, uncut dope for cinephiles, full of real drugs and fake blood. It’s equally entertaining documenting established classics (The Exorcist, Do The Right Thing) and forgotten curios (Izzy & Moe). Reading it made me want to make a movie, score some drugs, and buy a time machine.” — Matthew Danger Lippman, musician and actor.

“Michael Lee Nirenberg makes art from the everyday. Expanding his decades of years and deep well of connections, he’s assembled the definitive history of New York films and those who make them, which are also—of course—one and the same. Cinematic Immunity will help anyone who’s never stepped on a set just how much work goes into the dream factory, all told with the blunt talk only offered by those who trust you’ll keep a lid on it.” — Nick Newman, Managing Editor, The Film Stage, Star and Co-Creator of Fellas.

“From the harrowing to the heartwarming, Michael Nirenberg’s Cinematic Immunity is more than a simple film history book. This book is about human connection and the amount of blood, sweat, tears, and toil it takes to bring a work of multimedia art to life. It’s easy to focus on the directors and stars, but when it comes to cinema, no one can afford to be an island. Whether you’re a cinephile or simply a lover of non-fiction storytelling, Cinematic Immunity is vital reading.” — Heather Drain, Cultural Archeologist and writer.

“These devils and red-eyed bunnies are powerful, devoid of cutesy charm, and the language and lettering that presents them is integral and key—the “Dukes,” the “Knights,” the “Kings,” the gleeful usage of archaic words like “Thee” never uttered in the United States, except perhaps by cults—and while they crop up elsewhere, they certainly seem to have become more rooted n Chicago than anyplace else. “  From Anthony Haden-Guest’s foreword to Compliments of Chicagohoodz.

A rare, private collection of photos, calling cards, and ephemera serves as inspiration for Compliments of Chicagohoodz.  The book analyzes the unique visual language and graphics of Chicago’s gangs, drawing upon decades of interviews, documentation, and collecting of memorabilia, and featuring commentary from gang members and Chicago artists.

The practice of creating and distributing gang business (“compliment”) cards was popular in Chicago for over fifty years. These displayed the organization and branch, its active and fallen members, and rivalries. Compliments of Chicagohoodz tells the stories behind the names, bringing the reader closer to the individuals who created, owned, and added their personal touches to the card as it passed from hand to hand.

James “Jinx” O’Connor’s photographic documentation of gang graffiti and members captures a lost era of large-scale color promotional murals and an extraordinary style distinct within street art. The book also explores other forms of representation including varsity-style sweaters, patches, and drawings. Through these images, Compliments of Chicagohoodz traces the development and consolidation of the neighborhood street organization from doo-wop to hip-hop, from greasers to gangster rap, from dances, bands, and softball teams to racketeering, narcotics trafficking, and domestic terror.

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A tour de force of darkness, Encyclopaedia of Hell is an “invasion manual” for Earth written by Lord Satan for his invading hordes of Demons, complete with hundreds of unpleasant illustrations, diagrams and a comprehensive and utterly repulsive Dictionary of Earth Terms.

Since the customs and mores of humanity are alien and inconceivable to demons, Satan wrote this strangely poetic military handbook for the enlightenment and edification of his Demon Armies. A masterpiece expressing Satan’s hatred for humanity and himself, the Encyclopedia includes “Techniques of Stalking and Eating Humans”; “Methods of Canning Human Pus”; and “Dicing and Slicing Orphaned Children.”

Why the invasion? During the last century in particular, Hell has become seriously overcrowded. Satan needs more land mass for the damned; and to use the human livestock to feed his hungry demon invaders.

Since this book is the 666th commemorative edition eons after the Invasion was successful, this Encyclopedia contains special commemorative material. (more…)