Communion: A True Story (1987) is a book by American ufologist and horror author Whitley Strieber. It is based on the purported experiences of Strieber, who underwent a feeling of "lost time" and terrifying flashbacks.
Budd Hopkins later hypnotized the author and suggested his account pointed to an alleged encounter with aliens.Colin Groves in Skeptical - a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, ed Donald Laycock, David Vernon, Colin Groves, Simon Brown, Imagecraft, Canberra, 1989, , p. 4 Communion was a nonfiction bestseller for six months in 1987.
The book was adapted into the 1989 Philippe Mora film Communion, starring Christopher Walken as Strieber and Lindsay Crouse as his wife Anne.
A 2008 trade paperback edition presents a new preface by the author.
Strieber calls the alleged beings "visitors", and compares a specific female individual he claims to have encountered, featured in the book's cover illustration, to the Sumerian deity Ishtar.
Cover art The cover painting was rendered by Ted Seth Jacobs and is considered one of the most widely recognized popular culture images depicting the purported phenomenon of "greys". Jacobs recounts his experience painting the Communion cover:
Popular culture references The X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" parodied the book cover.
Virginia screamo band Pg. 99 included an audio recording of a person reading a short excerpt of the story in their album Document #5.
Swedish progressive metal band Evergrey's album In Search of Truth is a concept album based on the book.
Strieber makes an appearance in the 2009 film Race to Witch Mountain.
Bibliography Communion: A True Story by Whitley Strieber, Avon Books, paperback, 1995.
References
External links