Communion (book)

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Communion: A True Story
Communion book cover.jpg
Front Cover
AuthorWhitley Strieber
LanguageEnglish
PublisherAvon
Publication date
February 25, 1987
Media typePaperback
Pages320
ISBN978-0-380-70388-3
OCLC17375661
Followed byTransformation
Communion: A True Story is a book by American ufologist and horror author Whitley Strieber that was first published in February 1987. The book is based on the claims of Whitley Strieber, who experiences "lost time" and terrifying flashbacks, which hypnosis undertaken by Budd Hopkins later links to an alleged encounter with aliens.[1]
The book was later made into a film directed by Philippe Mora and starring Christopher Walken as Strieber and Lindsay Crouseas his wife, Anne. A 2008 trade paperback edition presents a new preface by the author.
Strieber compares the "familiar" being he sees, whom he describes as female, to the Sumerian goddess Ishtar.

Cover art[edit]

The cover painting of an alien was rendered by Ted Seth Jacobs. The painting is considered one of the most widely recognized popular culture images of alleged "grey" aliens. "The Communion cover," Jacobs recounts,
"was painted in my small apartment on East 83rd St, in New York City. Whitley sat with me first for a drawing of the Alien. As I sketched, he would indicate how to change the portrait so that it would more match what he saw. It was, I believe, the process used by police sketch artists. Every last detail was corrected according to his instructions. At one point, he said the image corresponded exactly to what he had seen. With Whitley beside me for the subsequent session, I began to paint the image on a wooden prepared panel, going through the same process as for the drawing, until Whitley finally said the image was exact. ... As to the gender of the Alien image, to tell the truth, the subject didn't come up. I don't even know if the 'greys' have gender as we understand it. Whitley corrected the developing image to have a certain fragility, a vulnerability. I suppose we Earthlings usually associate these qualities with femininity."[2]

Popular culture references[edit]

The X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" parodied the book cover.[3]
Virginia screamo band Pg. 99 included an audio recording of a person reading a short excerpt of the story in their album Document #5.[4]
Swedish progressive metal band Evergrey's album In Search of Truth is a concept album based on the novel.[5]

Bibliography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Colin Groves in Skeptical - a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, ed Donald Laycock, David Vernon, Colin Groves, Simon Brown, Imagecraft, Canberra, 1989, ISBN 0-7316-5794-2, p. 4
  2. Jump up^ Bueche, W., "Ted Seth Jacobs: An interview with the artist" Archived 2008-08-21 at the Wayback Machine. URL accessed Aug 18, 2008(1999)
  3. Jump up^ Genge, Ngaire (1996). The Unofficial X-Files Companion II. Avon Books. p. 175. ISBN 0-380-79024-6.
  4. Jump up^ http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/129519/
  5. Jump up^ "Evergrey – In Search of the Truth with Thomas Englund". Metal-Rules.com. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

External links[edit]