Stare In The Darkness

Critiquing the true impact of hip-hop culture on politics.

Prior to the 1960s, when African Americans had little access to formal political power, black popular culture was commonly seen as a means of forging community and effecting political change. But as Richard Iton shows, despite the changes politics, black artists have continued to play a significant role in the making of critical social spaces.

Guts, the Black Swordsman, goes from the frying pan to the fire as he must enter the mating chamber in the horrifying lair of trolls to rescue his love, Casca, and the Lady Farnese from the loathsome attentions of the hideous beasts. But while even an army of trolls cannot stand against Guts's boundless fury, the mightiest of warriors is no match for a demon lord. And so when Slan of the Godhand manifests from the entrails of slain trolls and takes Guts into her deadly embrace, Guts discovers he may not only be fighting for his life, but for his very soul!

Now a major film, starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Jeff Bridges, this New York Times bestseller is a disturbing and often hilarious look at the U.S. military's long flirtation with the paranormal—and the psy-op soldiers that are still fighting the battle. Bizarre military history: In 1979, a crack commando unit was established by the most gifted minds within the U.S. Army. Defying all known laws of physics and accepted military practice, they believed that a soldier could adopt the cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and—perhaps most chillingly—kill goats just by staring at them. They were the First Earth Battalion, entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries. And they really weren’t joking. What’s more, they’re back—and they’re fighting the War on Terror. An uproarious exploration of American military paranoia: With investigations ranging from the mysterious “Goat Lab,” to Uri Geller’s covert psychic work with the CIA, to the increasingly bizarre role played by a succession of U.S. presidents, this might just be the funniest, most unsettling book you will ever read—if only because it is all true and is still happening today.

What if all you knew about fairy tales was wrong?Ever wondered why Snow White's mother wanted her to have lips red as blood? Why the Evil Queen really wanted to have her heart? Whose voice it was in the queen's mirror? Did you ever wonder if the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales were different, or if the story was real and happened in a certain period in history?From Bestselling author Cameron Jace (The Grimm Diaries Prequels amazon.com/dp/B00AA4JIWC) comes the first book of a dazzling new fantasy series that questions everything you knew about fairy tales. SNOW WHITE SORROW (Book #1 in The Grimm Diaries where fairy tale characters expose the truth about fairy tales) presents the coming of age epic story of a special 15 year old boy who lives in the town of Snoring. Loki Blackstar is learning how to become a Dreamhunter, a special talent to kill dark creatures by entering their dreams. He has no no memory of his past; his best friend is a car that talks and sings to him, his mother is a ghost who tries her best to be scary, and his guardian is a happy pipe-smoking teacher called Charmwill Glimmer--who claims to be friends with Santa Claus.Loki is told he is a half-angel who was banned for falling in love with a human girl by roaming the world of Minikins where ordinary people live. The only way to regain back his memory is to kill a 15 year old vampire girl that lives in a mysterious castle called the Schloss in a crazy island that resides on the back of a whale called Sorrow.They say the vampire girl is Snow White. The real Snow White...She is described as darkly beautiful, terrifyingly enchanting, and wickedly lovely. She kills ruthlessly, and doesn't spare anyone. Loki will have to confront her to learn who he really is and the truth about the real fairy tales that the Brothers Grimm kept from us.In their first confrontation, Snow White whispers TWO WORDS in Loki ears while gripping him by the throat that will change both their lives forever.Warning: these Grimm Diaries are like poisoned apples. Once you taste them, you will never see fairy tales in the same light again.Snow White Sorrow - 125'000 words

Now a New York Times Bestseller. The creator of the wildly popular award-winning podcast Hardcore History looks at some of the apocalyptic moments from the past as a way to frame the challenges of the future. Do tough times create tougher people? Can humanity handle the power of its weapons without destroying itself? Will human technology or capabilities ever peak or regress? No one knows the answers to such questions, but no one asks them in a more interesting way than Dan Carlin. In The End is Always Near, Dan Carlin looks at questions and historical events that force us to consider what sounds like fantasy; that we might suffer the same fate that all previous eras did. Will our world ever become a ruin for future archaeologists to dig up and explore? The questions themselves are both philosophical and like something out of The Twilight Zone. Combining his trademark mix of storytelling, history and weirdness Dan Carlin connects the past and future in fascinating and colorful ways. At the same time the questions he asks us to consider involve the most important issue imaginable: human survival. From the collapse of the Bronze Age to the challenges of the nuclear era the issue has hung over humanity like a persistent Sword of Damocles. Inspired by his podcast, The End is Always Near challenges the way we look at the past and ourselves. In this absorbing compendium, Carlin embarks on a whole new set of stories and major cliffhangers that will keep readers enthralled. Idiosyncratic and erudite, offbeat yet profound, The End is Always Near examines issues that are rarely presented, and makes the past immediately relevant to our very turbulent present.