From the day the earth first shook under the feet of early Man, he has maintained a tradition of an underworld. Although the heavens with their fiery displays of Sun, meteors and fearsome comets have figured in the religions and traditions of mankind, it is somewhat surprising that a mysterious realm that cannot be ordinarily viewed should hold such a reign upon the imagination.
To the Christian the Underworld is Hell. To the Greek pantheonists it was a world of shadow accessed by the boat of Charon, and legion were the coins placed upon the eyes of the departed to pay that fearsome passage.
To many an untutored savage, the world of caverns is the abodes of their ancestors, a truism common, perhaps to all of us, if we believe our for-bearers were cavemen and women.
To Richard S. Shaver the Hollow Earth was the abode of debauched Dero;
- to others, it was the home of the Serpent Race or Agharti;
- still, others saw it inhabited by a society with a Utopian model.
To some, the Inner Earth may represent only caverns, a few hundred feet, or a few miles down. To other theorists, it may represent a miniature cosmos of its own, complete with a Central Sun. But however we view it, the Inner Earth remains one of our strongest, if unproved, traditions.
And like Religion in general, it is highly adaptive. The spiritualist can (supposedly) communicate with subterranean entities. Occultists can associate it with astral beings who exist in a “lower” place. Even the Flat Earthers can incorporate its concept into their own cosmogony.
And today the Flying Saucer affiliates can identify it as either the source of secret hiding places of the UFOs!
I first became aware of the Inner Earth tradition as a UFO enthusiast and publisher of literature in the field. After Dr. Raymond W. Bernard published “Flying Saucers from the Earth’s Interior” to the widespread readership in UFOlogy, I published his “The Hollow Earth“, the all-time best seller in my publishing efforts.
I followed this with Timothy Green Beckley’s “The Subterranean World” and “The Shaver Mystery and the Inner Earth” (both currently out of print) with good success. So due to the commercial success alone of Inner Earth literature, my ears always perk up when I hear about the subject.
But imagine my amazement when, a year ago, I received a bulky manuscript from Bruce Walton which not only contained references to hundreds of books and magazine articles on the subject but lively synopses of most entries as well. Putting aside my first impressions that this young man could have accomplished more material benefits from devoting his talents to something “practical” like a better mousetrap or organizing a rock band, I fired off a letter to him saying I believed we should re-edit, add to, and publish it!
Just why I can’t be certain. It probably will never be a “best seller“. It is not a work that Doubleday would be interested in. Despite the view held by some that the denizens of the Hollow Earth may pop up to the surface any moment, it is probably not vital to our National Security or the lessening of Unemployment, High-Interest Rates, or Inflation. It could be that I relate to Walton’s project as an admirer of the bizarre, but more likely because of my drive to be as impractical as possible while still eking out a living. Somehow I was never mushing interested in doing what most everybody else did – why duplicate their efforts?
Although author Walton to me has been an unseen, un-met personage, I am convinced that he is a remarkable young man. Although I have assisted in the final organization of this work through the aid of data and word processing, the Herculean task of gathering these hundreds of references has been almost totally his.
Walton is no flashy fiction writer. In fact, he has foregone royalties to encourage the publication of this book which is certain to enjoy limited sales because of its specialized subject. The free copies he will receive in lieu of cash will be given away to other seekers. Nor is Walton likely to become a “burned out” researcher after completing this great task. In fact, I now have five additional Hollow Earth manuscripts from him awaiting publication, along with a massive regional guide to underworld entrances which he is now completing!
(Note: This has evolved into my PROJECT REDBOOK database which can be accessed at … http://www.angelfire.com/ut/branton/redbook1.html – “BRuce AlaN walTON” a.k.a. “BRANTON“)
I hope that, as a publisher, I can exhibit similar stamina in eventually bringing all of this into print!
And so here is Walton’s project. In titling it “A Guide to the Inner Earth“, we tried to escape the intellectual onus of labeling it an “Annotated Bibliography,” which, of course, it actually is. It purports to be even more. What other Bibliography could give you so many practical “tips” on how to do something, in this case, being to locate the ACTUAL ENTRANCES to the underworld!
Unfortunately, the average reader of this work cannot rush out to the Public Library and locate many of the books and publications cited herein. But with Walton’s lively annotations, the reader can explore this great body of literature in excerpted or synoptic form.
We have tried to keep the organization of material informal, and neither the author nor myself claim to be professional bibliographers. Although we have tried to maintain a consistent style in all of the entries, the editing of such bizarre material while conforming to a style is often difficult, even with the assistance of computer word processing.
Throughout the editing and keying it to a computer, the manuscript has constantly undergone revisions, along with many additions. This process will go on until the day when a final printout is run for paste-up. Whether or not there are future editions, we can be certain that dozens or even MANY prospective additions and corrections will present themselves. Although the entire text has been run through a computer “dictionary” of 50,000 words plus several hundred specialized words we have added, I’m certain there will remain typographical and spelling errors.
No standard “dictionary” could include the exotic and obscure geographical locations involved in Hollow Earth entrances for checking spelling. So we appeal to readers to correct us when errors are discovered. Since the text is stored on computer discs, additions to and corrections of the data will be easy, and I suspect that Walton and I will keep adding to and correcting this material. So if you, the reader, can send us additional references, or point up errors we have made, we’d like to hear from you.
Write to the author: ( Bruce Walton, @: alan dewalton @ hot mail . com )
In our efforts to”clean up” repetitions and make the text “read” more easily, we have dropped the addresses of many publishers and other sources in the body copy, electing to publish one master list of such information. We cannot guarantee that these references and addresses are current, and many works referred to herein may be long out of print.
Do either Walton or I really BELIEVE that the Earth is hollow, or that exotic races live below in underground caverns? I have never personally met the author, talked to him by telephone, or corresponded with him on this matter. With his great zeal to research and publish such a large body of data on this subject, I rather suspect that he does.
As for myself, I am still skeptical about the physical, “3-D” reality of the Hollow or Inner Earth. I suspect that if you drilled a physical hole down through the Earth and were able to accomplish the anti-gravitational feats of drilling “up” after you got to the center, you would eventually come out in China without hearing a single cry of rage from underground dwellers whose cavern households you breached!
To me the concept of an Inner Earth is largely “fourth dimensional” or “spiritual“. Many of us believe in alternate, yet physical existence. The spiritualists have their “astral” world. The fundamentalists have their “Hell“. Flying Saucers seem to originate from a source of “4-D” entities somewhat outside our physical plane and represent legions of interlopers not unlike “Dr. Who’s” -some of them exhibiting even British accents in need of subtitling! And somehow the Inner Earth seems to fit into this unfathomable puzzle!
But despite my skepticism of ‘physical‘ Hollow Earth realities, as the publisher of this work I must register a Disclaimer, should you be tempted to put this work to a physical test:
Neither I, the publisher, nor Bruce Walton, the author, are responsible for any harm that might come to you by your seeking locations of caverns, Hollow Earth, or entrances to any kind of subterranean world. ANY CAVERN, whether the entrance to a possible Shamballah or the portals of a Grizzly Bear’s winter home is potentially hazardous.
DO NOT ENTER ANY CAVERN ALONE OR WITHOUT THE COMPANY OF AN EXPERIENCED SPELEOLOGIST!
Although it is remotely possible that a Dero could get you, chop you up to make a tasty stew, it is more likely that a rockslide might cover you up, the hole you slid through DOWNWARD could be impossible to renegotiate UPWARD, that your flashlight failed or that you simply got lost! Confine your exotic explorations, Dear Reader, to your armchair and your intellectuality, and with the latter, especially, you will see more unbelievable and rewarding sights than you could in a hundred actual expeditions!
Now shut your eyes, as your chair spins and we travel through time and space to “Cacibugiaua” and “Amaiura,” in a certain mountain of Hispaniola! Or scoot along with vast “man“-made tunnels in fantastic scooters. Or have a private audience with the King of the World!
Entertain “I am the Man” on a midnight visit; consort with Etidorhpa, the backward Venus (Aphrodite-etidorhpA); travel with Admiral Byrd to that magical land beyond the Sun, the main portal of the Hollow Earth!
Gray Barker – Publisher, 1983