I’ve always been very intrigued by the notion that underground worlds might exist… by this, I mean extensive cavernous realms beneath the Earth that descend to depths yet unexplored. This realm is, typically, only occupied by creatures that exist in exciting works of fiction by the likes of Jules Verne, and more recently, Jeff Long with his fascinating Descent Trilogy.

There is, however, one man who exists in tandem between the frightening works of fiction that pertain to the underworld, and the reality of strange, anomalous things purported to exist below ground. Wm Michael Mott, author of the book Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures, is a well known graphic artist and author who has written everything from Fortean and paranormal subjects to fantasy novels and short fiction inspired by the likes of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Mike is a very good friend, and I was delighted when he recently shared with me a series of links to interviews with him over the years, including a classic 2004 Coast to Coast AM appearance.

Wm Michael Mott Radio Appearances

Soon I’ll be providing reviews here at the Gralien Report that pertain to some of Mott’s latest releases, including the new Pulp Winds collection (which I’m particularly eager to read). In the meantime, especially having to do with his Caverns book, below is a bit of information excerpted from his website:

Human history and culture are permeated and surrounded by long-standing traditions, folk-beliefs, and purported experiences of encounters, interactions, and conflicts with “others.” These others are not human beings, as we would use the term, and do not always conform to those controlling conditions which we tend to think of as “natural law,” or as more recently defined, “the laws of physics.”

These “beings,” seemingly existing at the periphery of our awareness or our reality, have gone by a variety of names: djinn, ifrits, fairies, elves, trolls, goblins, vampires, incubi….and more recently, as “little gray aliens,” “reptoids” or reptilian humanoids, hairy humanoids, “nordics,” and so on. While some seem to have a more substantial basis in physical reality than do others, a close examination of folklore, mythical, and historical accounts reveal that not only are all such forms inter-related in some way, but they have their origin in an aspect of reality which has been in large part ignored or dismissed as fantasy–a realm which nevertheless has a powerful presence, as far as the mythical and religious traditions of the world are concerned.