"A vigorous strand of interest in the occult, the spooky and the mysterious has been part of our history since 1840. Shadow Worlds takes a lively look at communicating with spirits, secret ritualistic societies, the supernatural, the New Age - everything from The Golden Dawn and Rosicrucianism to Spiritualism, witchcraft and Radiant Living - and introduces the reader to a cast of fascinating characters who were generally true believers and sometimes con artists. It's a fresh and novel take on the history of a small colonial society that was not quite as ploddingly conformist as we may have imagined." --Back cover.

For nearly two decades cultural mercenary Andrew Paul Wood has been one of Aotearoa New Zealand's leading writers on matters art-historical and aesthetic. His work has appeared in publications in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Europe and the US. His range runs the gamut from critically acclaimed translations of the poetry of German-Jewish author Karl Wolfskehl with Friedrich Voit to teasing out the history of the pavlova to international media interest with Annabelle Utrecht. He is art editor for takahe magazine.