The Secret History of Whitby

When I began the incredibly popular series of reports now known as The Whitby Sequence I had no idea where my investigations would lead. That sinister forces permeated the dying town of Whitby and were influencing events there was something I sensed early on, though I badly and dangerously underestimated the magnitude of the forces at work.

Why Whitby I could not explain, until by accident (or by dark design?) a strange chapter in Whitbian history was revealed to me...

“IN THE LATE nineteen seventies there was something of an occult convergence upon the English coastal town of Whitby. The reason for the movement of so many occultists, ex-hippies and pothead pixies, could probably be identified only by a thorough examination of the occult current of the time, along with a good analysis of the spirit of the nation. The result, however, was not only that there was a sizeable occult population in the area, but that many other occultists were in the habit of visiting the place.”

“[D]uring the summer of 1979, at a house in Cliff Street, along with a few local pubs no doubt, there occurred what has since become known as The Whitby Conclave. This three story house overlooking the harbour, which is said to be the house in which Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, was the abode of one Graham Fenn-Edwards, a ritual magician and sculptor, who had moved to Whitby the year before. As is the tradition with the likes of occult communities, visiting magi descend upon any suitable lounge floor to crash for a few days, while escaping from the rigours of a world largely unsympathetic to their various models of reality.”

“Several experimental rituals were performed, both in a temple at Cliff Street and at Boggle Hole, an outdoor setting nearby. The rituals performed used dance and physical exhaustion as a method of achieving the desired altered states of consciousness. What resulted was a magic with more feel and less thought. It was generally decided that any technique for raising power was to be considered fair game. This was experimental magic with no rules and no boundaries. It was realised that with such an unstructured approach there was a likelihood that there could be a high casualty rate, at least in the form of unexpected or imprecise results.”