Dec. 1997 issue of the Fortean Times

This is the first post-suicide book on the Heaven's Gate group we've seen, and it turns out to be a very pleasant surprise. Far from being a ghoulish cash-in, this is a well researched piece of journalism which wouldn't look too out of place in Fortean Studies. Perkins and Jackson examine both the beliefs and dogma of the group and the personalities involved, from Ti and Do to the surprisingly numerous surviving members. A little of the material will be familiar to anyone who read FT's report on the cult, but there's a lot here of value, including much Heaven's Gate literature and Applewhite's autopsy report. The book's strength is in the way it puts the cult's beliefs in context, both in terms of their millenarian tendencies and of the curious SF themes that informed their cosmology. It gives a history of heresy and millennial beliefs, from Zoroastrianism's apocalypse of molten metal to the People's Temple, Aum and the Branch Davidians. Similarly, it examines assorted religious-themed science fiction, taking in Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land - which was a source of inspiration for both Applewhite and Charles Manson and the VALIS experiences of Philip K Dick.

Overall, this is well assembled, commendably neutral and probably as good a book as there is to be written about Heaven's Gate.

Joe McNally

Issue 16 of Eye magazine, 1997

Marshall Applewhite - or Do, or Guinea, or Bo, or Shrill Pravnha, or whatever- created quite the tidy cult phenomena and media sensation in March of this year. That, of course, is when the former minister led his black-garbed followers on the charged to Hale-Bopp - via phenobarbitol and vodka - in an extremely wealthy suburb of San Diego.

Until now, we've had only the overwrought and often inaccurate media coverage and some solid, if limited Internet info dispersal to enlighten us as to what really happened.

Until now.

Cosmic Suicide is no weighty tome; its 122 pages won't bore a hole through your book bag. But its clear, insightful reporting and solid writing make it an essential for anyone interested in cults.

Perkins and Jackson waste no time in punching holes through the inept media coverage, weighing in with thorough research and excellent documentation to support their broader points.

This is no light, sensationalistic treatment of one of the major media events of this decade. Rather, its a well-considered analysis of the vestiges of Americana that contribute so freely to just such a spiritual fnaticism -sci-fi euphoria, a blind need for for any flavor of hype, and "persecuted minority"groupthink In other words, the same factors that contributed to the inception of Christianity and every other major religion.

Cosmic Suicide is an outstanding debut from a new small press that deserves your consideration. If your Heaven's Gate questions remain unanswered, pick up this well-wrtten piece of investigative reporting.

Sam Gaines