Kripal, Jeffrey J.2015-05-152015-05-152014Kripal, Jeffrey J.. "Better Horrors: From Terror to Communion in Whitley Strieber's Communion (1987)." <i>Social Research: An International Quarterly,</i> 81, no. 4 (2014) Johns Hopkins University Press: 897-920. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/80216">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/80216</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/80216Trauma, Trick, and Transcendence in the Life of a Horror Writer: The Case of Whitley Strieber. This essay treats the theorization of horror in Whitley Strieber's Communion (1987). It also pushes us to consider more honestly and forthrightly the question of “real monsters,” that is, the phenomenology of encounters with fantastic presences routinely experienced in the environment. Historical contextualization of Strieber's abduction experiences in the Hudson Valley region and theories of other species from Charles Fort to William James are invoked to radicalize the question further.engArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.Journal article