Apocalypse Culture Special Edition

Auteur

Noted for his
foresight as both a writer and publisher, Adam Parfrey’s Apocalypse Culture (1987)
was hailed by J.G. Ballard as “the terminal documents of the Twentieth
Century.” Cult Rapture (1995), subject of a notorious art exhibition
at Seattle’s Center on Contemporary Art, included among its dozen pop culture
investigations, Parfrey’s Village Voice cover story which was the first
published article on militias and domestic terrorism. 

 Apocalypse Culture II (2000),
Parfrey’s lauded sequel, anticipated anthrax terror with a disturbing article
on Biological Warfare. Extreme Islam: Anti-American Propaganda of Muslim Fundamentalism (2001),
“a frightening primer on radical Muslim thought” (New York Press), reveals the
ways in which East Jerusalem has become Ground Zero for a coming World War. 

 In 2012, with
co-author Craig Heimbichner, Adam wrote the seminal book on American secret
societies, Ritual America:  Secret Brotherhoods and Their Influence on
American Society.  

 But writing is
not Parfrey’s sole forte. According to the Disinfo.com website, “Adam Parfrey
is probably the most influential ‘underground’ publisher in post-millennial
America.” In an L.A. Weekly feature, writer Doug Harvey celebrated
“Adam Parfrey’s notorious, perpetually ahead-of-the-curve company, Feral House,
whose encyclopedic interest in taboo (and conveniently forgotten) cultural
phenomena helped define independent media through the ’90s.” 

 Tim Burton's bio-pic on
the B-movie director Ed Wood was based upon the Feral House
book, Nightmare of Ecstasy.  The 2018 Jonas Akerlund film Lords of
Chaos was based on the Feral House title of the same name. Feral House’s
collections of bizarre conspiracy theories, such as Secret and Suppressed:
Banned Ideas and Hidden History, were noted influences on Chris Carter’s
X-Files. Parfrey himself appeared in and co-wrote Crispin Glover’s
controversial What Is It? a 2005 Sundance Film Festival selection. 

 Adam passed
away in May 2018. The impact he made, friends empowered, enemies enraged,
is at the very heart of Feral House, and we will embrace that for as long as we
are able.

Texte du rabat

"What did Adam Parfrey do for me? There are certain books in your life that just blow your f*cking mind. Apocalypse Culture did it! It pulled me into the world of sort of artistic, morbid, fascinating, speculative science, and weirdness, you know, types of art that I've never conceived of or understood. But Apocalypse Culture sent me spiraling into that, into a lot of different areas, and I was just thrilled because he (Adam) was a mythological person to me, some sort of dark overlord of important information that nobody else had." Marc Maron 
 Apocalypse Culture was the first official Feral House publication in 1989 and has remained in print since that day. It has been equally lauded and scorned. Countless artists, writers, thinkers, and publishing companies have cited Apocalypse Culture as opening their minds to entirely new and extreme points of view and ways of being. The book has been blamed for the rise of MAGA, Q-Anon, Alex Jones, and every bad thing about modern American society. 
 How can one book be the catalyst for such a cultural shift? In fact, Apocalypse Culture remains today as it was in 1989 -- a document of our past, present, and future. Within its pages are stories and reportage from the fringes of American society where viewed in hindsight, they were about to break through to mainstream culture. And maybe a few that are yet to slip into the mainstream. What Parfrey did know in 1989 and still holds true is that the story of America and its culture is never as heroically pure as one may believe. 
 The Deluxe Edition of Apocalypse Culture is hardbound and slipcased. It contains updated images, many in full-color, and a new introduction by XXXXX. 
 "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” W.B. Yeats