Peter Mackay Quotes

Ever reviled, accursed,-n'er understood, Thou art the grisly terror of our age. "Wreck of all order," cry the multitude, "Art thou, and war and murder's endless rage." O, let them cry. To them that ne'er have striven, The truth that lies behind a word to find, To them the word's right meaning was not given. They shall continue blind among the blind. But thou, O word, so clear, so strong, so pure, That sayest all which I for goal have taken. I give thee to the future! -Thine secure When each at last unto himself shall waken. Comes it in sunshine? In the tempest's thrill? I cannot tell......but it the earth shall see! I am an Anarchist! Wherefore I will Not rule, and also ruled I will not be!   -John Henry Mackay.

And Mrs. Mackay gave me a right rollicking for not paying attention. That was my problem, she told me, I had no concentration. I was a dreamer. Plenty of ability, but no will to work. In truth, I had no will to do much of anything. I was like some sad, lovesick little puppy locked away on its own in a cupboard. It is strange, looking back, to remember how early I was afflicted by such emotions.

Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one! —CHARLES MACKAY

The following books proved invaluable in the research and inspiration for this novel: The Dictionary of Demons by M. Belanger. United States of Jihad: Investigating America’s Homegrown Terrorists by Peter Bergen. Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon by Mia Bloom and Sophia Moskalenko. We Need to Do Something by Max Booth III. The Bewdley Mayhem Omnibus by Tony Burgess. Pontypool (the play) by Tony Burgess. The Violence by Delilah Dawson. And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin. The Passage by Justin Cronin. Dark Persuasion: A History of Brainwashing from Pavlov to Social Media by Joel E. Dimsdale. Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America by Joan Donovan, Emily Dreyfuss, and Brian Friedberg. In the Skin of a Jihadist by Anna Erelle. A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans. Domestic Darkness: An Insider’s Account of the January 6th Insurrection, and the Future of Right-Wing Extremism by Julie Farnam. Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi. Come Closer by Sara Gran. Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory. Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale. All These Subtle Deceits by C. S. Humble. The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease by Charles Kenny. Cell by Stephen King. Doppelgänger by Naomi Klein. The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir, translated by Mary Robinette Kowal. “Hyphae” by John Langan, featured in the anthology Fungi. The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family by Lorien Lawrence. The Penguin Book of Exorcisms, edited by Joseph P. Laycock. Spirit Possession Around the World, edited by Joseph P. Laycock. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay. Daphne and Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman. Demon Possession: A Medical, Historical, Anthropological, and Theological Symposium, edited by John Warwick Montgomery. The Demonism of the Ages, Spirit Obsessions, Oriental and Occidental Occultism by J. M. Peebles. American Girls: One Woman’s Journey into the Islamic State and Her Sister’s Fight to Bring Her Home by Jessica Roy. Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt. Deliver Us from Evil: A New York City Cop Investigates the Supernatural by Ralph Sarchie and Lisa Collier Cool. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay. Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic and Respect by Mick West.