Dark Intrusions: An Investigation into the Paranormal Nature of Sleep Paralysis Experiences

Let me preface here that I am neither a skeptic nor am I a wooly eyed believer. What I am is an open minded agnostic seeker of knowledge...which is to say that I am in awe of the Boundless Unknown in which we live. Now we come to Louis Proud's brilliant & terrifying book- DARK INTRUSIONS. It really does shatter the limits on research on Sleep Paralysis. I will try not to give too much away as to the book's content as I think some of the other reviews have nicely summed it up & some of the content is so surprisingly strange it has to be read as if you were journeying with the author for it to have the jarring impact it did with me.I have also had numerous episodes of Sleep Paralysis when I was growing up & they were of the horrifying sort where you wake up paralyzed & the shadowy 'presence' tries to smother you out like a candle. These episodes are the most frightening experiences I have ever had. Seeing this book mentioned online-I knew I had to read it-though I have to admit his premise that the cause of S.P. was paranormal wasn't something I wanted to entertain too much. I have spent many years trying to deny & rationally explain away my own S.P. experiences. But any misgivings I might have had about this book were soon smoothed over by Louis Proud's intensely fascinating & intelligently written explorations of S.P. & such diverse phenomenon as poltergeists-U.F.O.s-Whitley Streiber's Visitors & tying these threads together so that new avenues of research are opened & suddenly the 'world' seems to have been exposed as very much similar to H.P. Lovecraft's Weird Tale-"From Beyond" Once I finished I really did look at the 'world' with fresh eyes & it really did bring on the awe of the Boundless Unknown. Though to be honest while reading this I did start to entertain certain paranoid notions that some events in my life were manipulated starting with those S.P. episodes in the childhood-resulting in a devastating rite of passage in my twenties. I am hoping this will remain nothing but a paranoid notion or a plot for a weird tale rather than an alarming truth about our 'reality'.While Sleep Paralysis can be frightening I have found that certain Spiritual practices have helped me to ward these attacks off. You see initially I hated having S.P. as a child but I do have to say that they did lead me into greater awareness & so does Louis Proud's book. His wide ranging knowledge & well written exciting work is a strong guide in the wild sea of Unexplained Phenomenon. I highly recommend it. It will have you second guessing what you thought you knew about life-the universe & 'reality'.

Anyone who has ever experienced sleep paralysis knows that no amount of professional reassurance that the phenomenon is purely physical is totally convincing to the victim. After all, sight is also a physiological process, but does that mean that the objects of perception (that is, the things we 'see') are not real? Does documenting the physiological process negate the experience of, say, appreciating a painted masterpiece or awe-inspiring sunset?These are age-old philosophical questions, and most of the time few people care about them. They are boring. What is reality? and blah blah blah. It is only when the topic relates to occult phenomena and paranormal experiences that these physiological explanations are used to label the objects of perception false, and to totally deny the experiential quality of the event. The problem is, explaining things away doesn't really explain the things themselves most of the time, and we're left feeling ridiculed and forced into silence about gut reactions and intuitions.Louis Proud's willingness to share his personal experiences with sleep paralysis and his struggle thereafter to understand the phenomenon on his own terms makes for spell-binding reading, but what I found really impressive about his book was not so much his personal sharing as his willingness to then dive headfirst and without apology into careful and serious scholarship on various facets of occult history and tradition.Most people today are not aware that modern Western culture even HAS an 'occult history' much less one that can be seriously researched, but it does, and sadly, researching this parallel tradition without constant apology can mean the death of a serious academic career. For instance, Julian Jaynes never regained his academic standing after publishing The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, and the situation has not improved much in recent decades, despite inroads made by pioneers in the study of consciousness.Aristotle and Plato both had valid points of view, but Plato has been locked in the basement of science for about 500 years, and to no good end. It's about time somebody let that guy out. Finally a number of thoughtful researchers are taking anomalous experiences seriously (and taking experience itself seriously) and coming up with a few answers and even more fascinating questions. This, in opposition to science's kneejerk reaction of just throwing what doesn't fit the dominant paradigm into the trash.This is an awesome book, a quick read, and an absolute 'must have' for anybody who has come face to face with anything that can't be explained. I loved it and hope Mr. Proud writes more, soon.

Worth reading if you've any interest in sleep paralysis. Reviews a lot of spiritist/occult literature (e.g. having to do with channeling, out-of-body experiences), which many readers may be unfamiliar with, and is especially interesting and helpful in that regard. The author obviously favors a spiritual interpretation of sleep paralysis, but regardless of one's conviction in this regard, the book may be recommended as it presents condensed and informative summaries of the material (ie- authors and texts) discussed, and maintains a generally cautious if not skeptical perspective towards interaction with 'lower spirits', or any spirit that attempts to influence/control human subjects. Overall I would say that this book is a helpful introduction to the more speculative (ie- supernatural/spiritual) interpretations of the sleep paralysis experience. If you would prefer a more clinical focus on the sleep paralysis experience itself, without interpretation, I would recommend David Gifford's book The Terror that Comes in the Night, which is restricted mainly to comparative analysis of people's narratives about the experience. The books are complementary, as Dark Intrusions focuses more on investigating possible paranormal causes of the experience.

What an excellent, erudite read. Louis Proud has done his very best to try to find about all aspects of Sleep Paralysis, which leads into a huge number of the surrounding areas of psychic/brain phenomenon.One of the best I have read on this subject. His research has been wholly comprehensive and he is to be sincerely congratulated for taking the time and trouble to put his findings and thoughts into print.An unmissable book - EXTREMELY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

dark Intrusions is an excellent book and looks at the source of the sleep paralyse encounter.having had sleep paralyse for many years now, I agree with Louis has to say on many levels.I would recommend this book to anyone trying to understand this phenomena and tell anyone who experiences SP to be bold and brave and you will turn this event into something wonderful...

I love perspectives that look at things from many different angles as I personally believe that our reality is made of of many different points of view and sources that run in parallel regardless of those points of view. This book makes for an interesting read from a man who over time sees something more sinister and independent in sleep paralysis. He could, in my opinion be correct.

I found this book really elucidating and quite down to earth. I even safely say that is the best in its field that tries to explain the sleep paralysis phenomenon and all that is associated with it in the best way possible.The author expresses his remarkable experiences along the years and the amazing research he has done to cope and understand, if possible, the why of this occurrences take place.it's a must read.

Haven't finished it yet but enjoying it so far. Does tend to refer to the content of other author's books quite a bit as opposed to being purely a personal account but I'll forgive that.Very interesting.