The Book of the Damned: A Quick Read edition

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read.
This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter.
- Reading time of the complete text: about 10 hours
- Reading time of the summarized text: 21 minutes

"The Book of the Damned" is a nonfiction work by Charles Fort, published in 1919. It explores various anomalous phenomena such as UFOs, strange falls of materials from the sky, odd weather patterns, and mythical creature sightings. Fort argues that mainstream scientists are close-minded and conformist, only accepting beliefs that align with popular opinion. He compares their mindset to religious fundamentalists and suggests that science itself is a de facto religion. The book's early chapters explain Fort's thesis, including his belief that scientists used the eruption of Krakatoa as an explanation for a phenomenon they couldn't understand. Fort discusses strange falls of fish, frogs, and unidentified materials, as well as thunderstones and evidence for giants and fairies. He also covers poltergeist phenomena, disappearances of people, UFO sightings, and the "Devil's Footprints" mystery. Fort's theory is that lost objects are found in a stationary "Super-Sargasso Sea" and occasionally rain back down to Earth. Critics argue that Fort lacks positive explanations for the phenomena he presents. "The Book of the Damned" is available in various formats and has been influential in the study of paranormal phenomena.