Angel Heredia

English 102

Professor Batty

November 15, 2017

Contact from Beyond

In the novel The Communion, by Whitley Strieber the narrator describes a series of

unfortunate events he experienced in his life. These events as he describes are focused on a

supposed abduction by an unknown species. The nature of his experience exemplifies the

unknown truth we face towards what is real and what is not. The monstrous thing about the novel

is that the writer could not tell whether most of his experiences were real, or just his mind

playing tricks on him. Sometimes when we are afraid or we are afraid of a certain situation, we

become in denial of what is real and what is not. Take for example, when the narrator of the

story believes that the individuals who have abducted him are from a different dimension or even

time travelers, but then he believes to himself that he might even be making it up in his head,

simply because he is afraid to believe what might be real. The horrific thing about certain things

that happen to us, or for example the narrator in this story is that we might get it confused for an

event that wasnt real, and this is all due to the fear we have and hold on to from such an

experience.

The monster in this novel would be identified as the extraterrestrials who Strieber

thought were taking over his mind. Strieber has had constant contact with these supposed beings

that he even began to call them visitors. These visitors caused many stressful situations in the

Striebers life, therefore causing the visitors to become the monstrous individuals in the setting
of this mans unpredictable conditions. The monstrous visitors caused Strieber to trouble his

own life and beliefs, making it difficult for Strieber to live a normal life without constant fear.

Strieber believed that he was losing his mind at one point. There is something named UFO

Abduction Syndrome and this determines the supposed abductees mental condition and

examines it from an outsider point of view. But since Strieber knew there was nothing wrong

with him mentally, it is still unknown whether his experiences are real or not.

Another thing the fear distributes among Striebers life is the fear of living in his own

home and destroying the environment he once thought to be safe. Fear is a horrible thing to live

with because it controls you and you have no power over it. The fear takes over you, and makes

you believe things that certain things are not real. Strieber, at times expresses his concern over

his own life, whether he'll be able to function right in society after these strange encounters. The

fear of being rational is something that he cannot comprehend due to his traumatic experience. A

theory that can be proposed to try and describe Striebers experience is sleep paralysis, many

individuals claim to see shadowy figures while in this state. What if instead of those shadowy

figures, they see an animal or a being not from this planet as many abductees have claimed to

have seen. Many of Striebers experiences were frightening, but of course not all of it was bad,

there were times in which he believed contact with these beings were beneficial towards him

because it gave him a sense of clarity, whether it was real or simply in his head.

One of the many reasons why the visitors were the monstrous beings in this novel,

is because it makes us question whether such things can actually happen to us. Whether if such

things are real, and most importantly what damage it can do to us and those we love. Sometimes

we might think fear is just a feeling, but it is much more than that. Fear is what fuels the mind, it

leads us to be a fully functional being, but too much of it can drive anyone mad. Take for
example, the authors fear was that he didnt know whether this was actually going on, or it was

all in his head, and that really changed his life, because he couldnt function or sleep. . It is

argued that abductees may be more prone to false memories than the general population(Holden

2002). What Holden says here is that those who claim to have been abducted by extraterrestrial

beings are often more likely to create false memories or memories of things that never even

happened. Certain things can happen in our lives and completely change us unconsciously.

Striebers many encounters often had to do with a wand like object that the visitors would

tap on his head with and this can very well be a device of some sort that can cause amnesia

towards another living being or it can simply be in his mind. The visitors obviously took interest

into Strieber and many other individuals and each person who claimed to be abducted witnessed

very similar characteristics in their abduction. Many of them claim to have seen a type of animal

before forgetting everything they were doing afterwards. ... he remembered little From Terror

to Communion in Whitley Striebers Communion 903 of the events of December 26 when he

awoke the next morning, except for the uncanny memory of a barn owl staring at him in the

window during the night. But he knew that there was no barn owl (Kripal 2014). This definitely

caused Strieber to question reality even more. Was what he saw truly an owl who is never seen

in his area, or was it something far more terrifying and sinister.

What makes Striebers situation terrifying is that he is dealing with this on a day to day

basis. He does not know what to believe anymore and this leads him to question himself often.

Even after meeting with a psychiatrist and becoming hypnotized, he still has a small sense of

doubt in the back of his mind. This is why he mentioned theories to try and make sense of his

experience. Although the fear is fueled by the uncanny visitors he has met face to face with, it is

also fueled by his mental state. I believe that when ones mental state is tampered with, it is the
most terrifying of all. To not understand the brain inside your skull, to feel invaded and

unconsciously frightened at all times, to be filled with self doubt and vivid memories is far more

intense than anything we claim to be a monster.

There are many theories that can try to explain the experiences Whitley Strieber has

faced. None can be proven to be true, but none can either be proven to be false. And since there

is no right and wrong to the situation Whitley Strieber faced, he lead himself to believe that

something out of this world is taking over his mind in the night time. We do not yet even

completely understand the human brain. The human brain can very much be the cause of every

supposed alien abductee. Perhaps it is a coincidence in which many of these victims claim to

have seen similar objects or animals. Or perhaps their mind links these items to amnesia in a way

we do not yet understand. Either way, there is no denying the fact that what Strieber encountered

or imagined was a strange phenomenon that has yet to be discovered. The nightmare fuel that we

call fear in its deepest form is the unknown. We fear everything we do not understand, therefore

we create these ideas in our head to try and make some sense to the madness our brain creates

trying to wrap itself around nothing. Because we dont fully understand ourselves as human

beings, we may even fear our own minds for creating things we do not yet understand.

Works Cited
ipal, Jeffrey J. "Better Horrors: From Terror to Communion in Whitley Strieber's 'Communion'

(1987)." Social Research, no. 4, 2014, p. 897. EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=

edsgcl.404717691&site=eds-liveKr

Holden, Katharine J. and Christopher C. French. "Alien Abduction Experiences: Some Clues

from Neuropsychology and Neuropsychiatry." Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, vol. 7, no. 3, Aug.

2002, pp. 163-178. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/13546800244000058.

DAVIS, TED, et al. "The UFO Abduction Syndrome." Journal of Scientific Exploration, vol. 27,

no. 1, Spring2013, pp. 25-42. EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=86

247702&site=eds-live.

Blackmore, Susan. "Abduction by Aliens or Sleep Paralysis?." Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 22, no. 3,

May/Jun98, p. 23. EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=56

2762&site=eds-live.