STRANGE CULTS AND SECRET SOCIETIES OF MODERN LONDON by Elliott O'Donnell — 1935
Publisher: E.P. Dutton and Company, New York (1935)
The boards and binding are solid and tight save for light shelf-wear. The pages are crisp and clean, and free of interior markings. Chapters include: The Grey Sisters, The Black Brothers, Black Magic, The Cult of the Horrible, Tree Cults, The "S" Society, The Thugs, The Rosicrucians, The Goats and Sophienism, and much more. Please see below for more information on the famous Elliott O'Donnell, his life, and his vast oeuvre in the supernatural.
Biography of Elliott O'Donnell (1872 - 1968)
Elliott O'Donnell was an Irish author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He claimed to have seen a ghost, described as an elemental figured covered with spots, when he was five years old. He also claimed to have been strangled by a mysterious phantom in Dublin.
He claimed descent from Irish chieftains of ancient times, including Niall of the Nine Hostages (the King Arthur of Irish folklore) and Red Hugh, who fought the English in the sixteenth century. O'Donnell was educated at Clifton College, England, and Queen's Service Academy, Dublin, Ireland.In later life he became a ghost hunter, but first he traveled in America, working on a range in Oregon and becoming a policeman during the Chicago Railway Strike of 1894. Returning to England, he worked as a schoolmaster and trained for the theater.
He served in the British army in World War I, and later acted on stage and in movies.As he became known as an authority on the supernatural, he was called upon as a ghost hunter. He became known as an authority on the supernatural, he was called upon as a ghost hunter. He also lectured and broadcast (radio and television) on the paranormal in Britain and the United States. In addition to his more than 50 books, he wrote scores of articles and stories for national newspapers and magazines. He claimed "I have investigated, sometimes alone, and sometimes with other people and the press, many cases of reputed hauntings. I believe in ghosts but am not a spiritualist."