Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures: A Study of Subterranean Mysteries in History, Folklore, and Myth

Expanded THIRD Edition, with 4 NEW CHAPTERS, and dozens of new and additional images! Grave Distractions Publications is proud to announce the publication of the 3RD EDITION of the cult classic CAVERNS, CAULDRONS, AND CONCEALED CREATURES, is the first book of its kind to examine the striking similarities between folklore, religious, mythic, "new age," fictional, and first-hand eyewitness and historical accounts of anomalous beings, entities, cryptids, hidden civilizations, and related anomalies. Drawing from scientific facts, folklore, comparative mythology and eyewitness/anecdotal sources, it is demonstrable that the structure of our planet, the history of our species, the underlying truths disguised as our myths, legends, folklore and " pop culture " imagery, are not quite what we have been led to believe. The Earth itself is much more complex in structure than we have realized, and our species has perhaps experienced, through the ages, encounters and conflicts with "others"— non-human intelligences or beings of various types who have seldom been our friends. Memories and accounts of these encounters have come down to us in the form of folklore and mythology, often viewed with superstitious terror or awe through the conditioned lenses of religions, religious interpretation or "folk traditions." Such encounters are continuing today. The theories put forth in this book are based on two types of evidence: very strong circumstantial evidence based on folklore, mythology, religion, legends, archeology, geology, and related areas, and first-hand or witness accounts, both ancient and modern. Often these two areas of source material or even anecdotal evidence overlap. It is possible that these various phenomena and beings are in fact modern representations of those who have traditionally been considered fairies, gnomes, trolls, nagas, djinn, "aliens" and their "magic" is a technology of such antiquity, advancement and complexity that it is, to our limited understanding, "magical." With UFOlogy, cryptozoology, Fortean phenomena, and all the rest, we are in fact seeing, perhaps even participating in, an ongoing contemporary " update of "folklore," which is in actuality the way our human minds attempt to gather, categorize, assimilate, comprehend and decipher (as well as "cover up" with terror-masking simplifications) the very REAL evidence for the existence of such beings and their ongoing yet seemingly inexplicable activities. From ancient myths to modern experiences from credible witnesses, it is ALL folklore, and ancient folk traditions may contain much more truth than has previously been believed, just as "forteana" and related topics do today. Once we make the leap of understanding that the creation of folklore is part of the process of comprehending these mysteries, and even may be caused by them, the whole picture of our culture, literature, fairytales, Jungian archetypes, and so on takes on an entirely different light. The creation of folklore, based on very real " others " and their parasitical or otherwise peripheral activities, has become an instinctive, mind-protecting function for the collective human mind. Throughout our oral and written history as a species, folktales and folk traditions have either hinted at or indicated the reality of this "hidden world" which surrounds us. The furtive and parasitical nature of this "alternate reality" leaves no doubt as to the intrinsic hostility of these "others," or at best, the indifference that some of their "racial types" or subspecies exhibit toward humankind. This book has been previously published in a First Edition, an expanded Second Edition, and now is offered EXCLUSIVELY in a greatly-expanded, magnum opus 3rd Edition presentation by Grave Distractions Publications with introductions by Brad Steiger, Micha Hanks, Brian J Allen, and Dean de Lucia.

Wm. Michael Mott is a writer and artist who has five books and many magazine features in print. He's written about paranormal phenomena; comparative myth, religion and folkore; UFOs; cryptozoology; pulp, adventure, scifi and fantasy fiction; and art and education topics. He's been a guest on in excess of 30 national and internationally-syndicated radio programs, and currently he's one of the co-hosts at Unraveling the Secrets, a weekly program at Paranormal Soup Radio (soupmedianetwork.com). He's also been Creative Director for a national toy and manufacturing company, a software company, the Art Director for a city newspaper, has worked as an artist/designer for Fortune 500 companies, an NSF Engineering Research Center, and for a variety of clients such as book and magazine publishers. He's also a freelance artist and writer, and writes both fiction and non-fiction. His work has appeared or been featured in many publications, such as Computer Graphics World Magazine, Computer Artist, IEEE Computer, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Syllabus Magazine, PHOTO-Electronic Imaging, DRAGON Magazine, FATE, NEXUS, World Explorer, and others. He's created artwork and graphics for book covers, posters, brochures, packaging, CD-ROM covers and art collections, digital/ and web-based media, and has won several design awards, from Addy and other awards, to awards for web site graphics and design. His artwork has been featured in various art shows, several one-man exhibits, and digital galleries in various venues. He loves his kids and really, really likes books on myriad topics, as well as dogs and edged weapons. In addition to illustration work and writing, he crafts hand-made shillelaghs and walking-sticks, upon occasion. Mike's personal web site is mottimorphic.com, where info about his writing and a gallery of his artwork can be found, and he also has a Facebook fan page (linked from the web site). He can be reached through the web site.