Greg's Books
All of Greg's books are available from Amazon. Click the images below to see them there.
Vampires and werewolves; phantoms and phantasms: looming out of the fog leaps the menacing spectre of the lycanthrope, ghoul or blood-crazed zombie. Intrigued by some of the most sinister, yet at the same time most compelling, legends of western civilization, Gregory L Reece dusts down his stake and crucifix, loads his silver bullets and takes off into the wilds in search of answers and fresh adventures. Rummaging around in crumbling tombs and cobwebbed sarcophagi, his latest quest leads him into the haunted realm of the dead and the undead: of those carnivorous, nocturnal hunters that might perhaps better be left undisturbed. Why, he asks, is our culture obsessed by the eerie and the macabre? Why, despite its horrors, does the 'dark side' of the supernatural - its seances and ghost-hunting, demonic possession and the occult - call to us with such dangerous allure? Whether tracking night-stalking werewolves, chanting black magic mantras with Satanists, or interviewing a funereal modern-day Count Dracula, Reece is determined to uncover the truth.
A wry exploration of a secret and secretive subculture, "Creatures of the Night" is at the same time a bold and startling journey into a wraithlike world that has so often seemed to lie beyond the limits of rational comprehension - until now. Advance Praise for Creatures of the Night
‘In Creatures of the Night Gregory Reece takes us on a fascinating journey: into the dark forests of our imaginations and through the haunted castles of our deepest fears. Searching for the things that have terrified us for centuries, he peels back the pop culture skin of fantasy to reveal the flesh and bones of myth and history. Vampires, demons, and werewolves are just some of the creatures we encounter in his very entertaining book. More than them, though, he reveals how we meet ourselves, albeit in the oft-warped mirror of literature, film, and the everyday stage.’ – Douglas E Cowan, Professor of Religious Studies, Renison University College/University of Waterloo; author of Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen and Sacred Space: The Quest for Transcendence in Science Fiction Film and Television |
What really lies at the earth's core? Is there truly a beautiful princess in the fiery land of Pellucidar waiting to be rescued from evil winged creatures? Enchanted from his early boyhood by the gripping tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, H G Wells and others, Greg Reece takes us on an epic journey into the bowels of the earth, and beyond, in search of fantasy's deepest and darkest imaginings. Yet, as Reece shows, fantasy and reality have increasingly blurred, and the obsession that so many people now have with the uncanny and unnatural is itself a mystery.
Drinking deep from the wells of esoteric knowledge, the author undertakes a heroic quest for answers. Braving the darkest recesses of cult belief, he stalks the twilight borderlands of contemporary culture, where, at the outer edges of mainstream thought, things become downright freaky and outlandish. Taking his life in both hands, the author explores a subterranean cavern reputed to be the home of elusive blue-skinned troglodytes; goes hiking in the backwoods for a glimpse of Bigfoot; investigates the truth of Alternative Archaeology in search of Atlantis; and tests for himself the time-travel and anti-gravity theories of famed inventor Nikola Tesla. Unashamedly revelling in the unexplained, Weird Science and Bizarre Beliefs is both a penetrating analysis of the hidden underbelly of science, pseudo-science and religion, and an unforgettable journey into the innermost depths of the fantastic and the peculiar. |
Lines laid across the plain near the Peruvian site of Nazca have been explained as ancient roads or features of a long-forgotten religious calendar. So why did Erich von Daniken interpret these markings as the contours of a huge galactic spaceport? In his assessment of the uncanny and frequently eerie world of UFO-logy, Gregory L Reece travels deep into a mindset which believes that the gods of mythology were really visitors from the stars. Venturing into the Mojave Desert to watch the night skies for flying saucers; exploring Nevada's top-secret installation 'Area 51'; and visiting Roswell, famous site of a supposed saucer crash in 1947, the author's quest for the truth brings him more than he bargained for. He has his atomic structure recharged in a machine supposedly designed by extraterrestrial technology, encounters a whole galaxy of alien life-forms, and meets those who claim themselves to have been abducted by UFOs. Along the way, he tries to make sense both of the sinister 'Men in Black' and of lethal 'Tall Whites', deadly aliens who liquidate human beings without mercy.
What is it about flying saucer culture that speaks to people with an apparently religious intensity and fervour? For those looking for the answers, "UFO Religion" is the definitive guide and handbook to one of the most extraordinary and compelling cults of our times. |
The cult of Elvis Presley has, since his death, become ever more pervasive in American culture. From Graceland to Las Vegas, from fans to impersonators, from novels, films and popular music to websites, outsider art and tabloid conspiracy theories, Elvis Religion explores this frequently bizarre phenomenon and investigates how the King of Rock 'n' Roll became a god-like figure. Elvis, we discover, is found everywhere. Not just an icon for late night lonely hearts in Memphis, or Elvis impersonators on a Vegas stage, he is the inspiration behind the violence of movies like Mystery Train and Wild at Heart, the kitsch sanctuary of Graceland Too, the music of Kirsty MacColl and Paul Simon, and the Internet church for whom he is a supernatural being dwelling in the constellation of Orion.
Gregory L. Reece makes a journey to discover the Jumpsuit Jesus for himself, taking him into the heart of fan obsession. Along the way, he discovers that if Elvis Saves, it is because the Memphis Messiah seems like a prophet for our times. |
The concept of irony is difficult to pin down, difficult to capture. This book is a critical examination of how Søren Kierkegaard and the pragmatist Richard Rorty approach the difficult subject of irony. Gregory L. Reece traces the development of the philosophical concept of irony from Socrates to Hegel, Schlegel, Kierkegaard and Rorty, while addressing the very question that is central for both Kierkegaard and Rorty, the question of the relationship of ironic philosophy to an ironic life. Must ironic philosophy result in what Kierkegaard calls infinite, absolute negativity or in what Rorty describes as doubt and meta-stability?
Gregory L. Reece argues that the answer is no, and that the belief that it must is based on an important philosophical mistake which in different forms is committed by both the early Kierkegaard and by Rorty. The insights of these philosophers, as well as those developed by Wittgenstein, are used to develop the beginning of an ironic philosophy of religion. Specifically, this work follows Kierkegaard and pursues these questions with special concern for the relation of ironic philosophy to religious belief. |