Product Description

On December 26, 1985, at a secluded cabin in upstate New York, Whitley Strieber went siding with his wife and son, ate Christmas dinner leftovers, and went to bed early.

Six hours later, he found himself suddenly awake...and forever changed.

Thus begins the most astonishing true-life odyssey ever recorded -- one man's riveting account of his extraordinary experiences with visitors from"elsewhere"... how they found him, where they took him, what they did to him and why...

Believe it. Or don't believe it. But read it -- for this gripping story will move you like no other... will fascinate you, terrify you, and alter the way you experience your world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29687 in Books
• Published on: 1988-02-01
• Released on: 1988-02-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 320 pages

From School Library Journal
YA Strieber has a reputation for writing well-researched nonfiction. Were it not for this reputation, readers would be more tempted to dismiss as fantasy this account of visits he has received from a non-human group. In the winter of 198586, the visits became both more frequent and more visible. Strieber sought the help of a counselor/hypnotist, who did not accept the alien hypothesis. Eventually Strieber's wife was also hypnotized. The accounts both Striebers gave under hypnosis and the memories that surfaced after hynosis, as well as several witnesses to aspects of the visitations all corroborate that something abnormal occurred. Strieber is careful not to jump to any conclusions; in fact, he philosophizes at length about the possibilities which include aliens, an as yet unidentified aspect of the human mind, or some generally invisible earth inhabitant such as fairies. The book is fascinating as long as it sticks to the basic account, and the ways in which the Striebers chose to research the phenomena. The passages of hypothesizing are more longwinded and will be of less interest to young adults, but they do remind readers that the Striebers have not accepted a single answer to the puzzle even now. Any readers who have interest in the unexplained will appreciate this book. Dorcas Hand, Episcopal High School, Bellaire
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Boston Herald
"Strieber comes through as both sensible and sincere...His book deserves to be taken seriously."

New York Times
"Powerfully written and involving!"

Customer Reviews

A very credible, intelligent, and entertaining fraud
The whole topic of alien abduction is a little hard to make an unbiased decision on. Either you "believe" or you "don't". I will start by saying that I do believe in the possibillity of extra-terrestrials seing what I would definetly have to describe as an UFO on one occassion. Regardless of my own experience I do have to say that this book while definetly intelligent, thoughtprovoking, and creepy fell a little flat towards the second half. The reason for this is because Whitley Streiber is far more concerned with establishing the credibility of this phenomenon than the sharing of his experience.
This at times starts to ring really hollow emotionally. He even is willing at times to dismiss his experience as an mental abberation but then point out how he thinks(and knows through research and testimony)that a government cover up is in effect. It's a little like peddling since his website is as impersonal as this book pushing the latest conspiracies, books, dvd's, and of course his wife's journals. Hey everyone has to make a living and maybe the Greys told him to do that!
Without sounding to jaded because I do believe just keep in account that he was an established Horror writer before this. He is very intelligent and entertaining writer and tries to bring an objective point of view to a very polarized topic and that probably accounts for the success of this book. Ultimately though someone who experienced something outside the box doesn't need acceptance or credibility. They know wether or not what they experience happened or not

A Rambling Faux Documentary : The Author Needs Help
Regarding the vast contradictions in Strieber's story even within the pages of this book, its rather amazing that this man still has an audience and a 'following'. Alien Abduction is no doubt interesting, and in theory, also plausible (why not?), but Strieber's steadfast dedication to milking his 'story' for all sorts of commercial worth are definitely suspect, not to mention his occassional psychobabble and philosophical ramblings, all of which make you wonder whether you are reading the diaries of a highly depressed, delusional individual.

Hey, I'm all for 'suspension of disbelief' etc, and am willing to embrace his tale wholeheartedly if it were not for the gigantic plot-holes. Seriously, who edited this book? Did they not notice the glaring contradictions? How can you have THREE versions of a story that you supposedly remember in minute detail? I do not know. Another thing that bothered me about the 'gray' aliens - why do all these aliens look EXACTLY like they are out of some Steven Spielberg production? The long head, huge beady eyes - I mean, come on Whitley, if you're concocting a story, at least be a little creative.

The most stupendous part of the book (not my tone of sarcasm here) was the inclusion of the 'hypnosis' transcripts of Strieber and his wife. His wife does not strike me as terribly bright, nor is she especially helpful. Dear Reader, if wading through pages and pages of this woman answering "I Don't Know" to every pretty basic hypnosis question is the sort of thing that rocks your boat, then fine. It definitely made me look upon this book with revulsion and boredom, two of the finer emotions of life, if you think about it.

Perhaps the worst part is the author attempting to write this entire book in the vein of a 'science fiction novel'. The attempt does not work, primarily because first of all, its supposed to be a true story, and the language he uses to 'evoke a mood' or 'atmosphere' is pretty hokey. He uses typical literary stunts that a NOVELIST would use, and this in no way should be taken as an authentic biography, which is what the author claims it is. Between this and the hilarious Zeta Reticuli book out there (which is written as if its the Bible - check it out), I am sure that aliens, if they did exist, must be pointing at us and laughing at our absolute lack of common sense or story-telling ability.

Heres the thing : As a true story, this sucks. None of this probably even happened, and the author himself spends half the book 'disoriented' and 'confused' (by his own admission). At times he claims he can remember things in patches, at other times he sees detail in the smallest things. When its convenient for him, he blacks out so that he doesn't have to give us any clarity on anything. Add his wife to this mess, and it gets worse. The poor dear doesn't know whether she's coming or going and its obvious her husband hasn't tutored her very well, or she perhaps forgot his 'instructions'.

Idiotic. The sad part is that there are still believers who look up to this phony author. Drop the act, Strieber. It doesn't work, and you just look like a total fool with your vague and abstract story about 'people from the sky'. At one point he even suggests they may not be aliens, but 'fairies living amongst us'. WHAT? Whatever you're on, get off it.

Two Stars, both for the comic value.

Boring
This book is a chore to read. You keep hoping it will get interesting. It is just poorly written. He rambles and repeats himself as if he really doesn't have enough to say about the subject to fill up a book. His experts are mostly others who also believe in alien abduction so their credibility is shaky in my opinion. It's hard to believe you could make a story about alien abduction boring but this guy has done it. Afterward it is hard to say if this guy is just crazy or a hypochondriac or just a writer who came up with a great idea to sell books.