Born in 1955 in New Jersey, Gary Lachman moved to London in 1996. He has contributed to Fortean Times, Mojo, TLS, Bizarre, Literary Review and Gnosis. Aside from writing he has been a bass player and composer for Blondie, a guitarist with Iggy Pop, and the leader of his own groups The Know and Fire Escape.

His first book, Turn Off Your Mind - The Mystic Sixties and The Dark Side Of The Age Of Aquarius (Sidgwick and Jackson, £12:99) charts the popular growth of occultism followed by a descent into the violence and madness exemplified by Charles Manson and his Family.