Overview: Pagan Portals - Venezuelan Folklore is a collection of articles from the author’s regular column in The Wild Hunt. In concert with an increasing interest in Latin American spirituality, this book is a welcome addition both for those interested in the oral tradition of Venezuela and for those who enjoy folklore and mythology in general.

Verdict: Taking it from the top, Alan U. Dalul is a journalist from Venezuela who now lives in the United States. After exploring various folkloric figures, myths, and legends of Venezuela, he is now interested in incorporating his experiences as an immigrant and multicultural sorcerer.

He has been a freelance journalist for over a decade, loves fantasy books, metal music, and can be found in local bookstores and cafes. Amazingly, this brand new book from Alan, Pagan Portals - Venezuelan Folklore: Spirits and Legends of the Dead is his very first book on Witchcraft.

I say that, because as you read this book, turning each page in a way that you feel the need to indulge in the next chapter each time one has just finished, Alan takes his readers on a most wondrous journey into the story time realm of Venezuelan folklore.

Inclusive of over 20 informative, and descriptive entries within the folklore genre, along with additional chapters such as Honoring My Ancestors Without Visiting Their Tombs, Spontaneous Prayers and Incantations, Prayers for Walking Late at Night and The Tears of Llorona A Tarot Spread for Mental Health, through an all-embracing style of storytelling, what we get are some of the most amazing stories told by a master of the craft.

What we get here are stories told about such legends as El Silbón, which itself translates into whistler and is a tale primarily from the Los Llanos region of Venezuela, but can also be heard in Colombia, and which dates back to the middle of the 19th century; La Sayona, who is represented by the vengeful spirit of a woman that shows up only to men that have love affairs out of their marriages; the bitter lessons of El Encadenado de Michelena; La Llorona, or the Weeping Woman, is a vengeful ghost in Mexican folklore who is said to wander near bodies of water and mourn her drowned children; and amongst others, Momoyes, who can actually be much understood as a type of gnome originated in Venezuelan folklore, although they also have characteristics of other types of magical beings such as water spirits.

About the Author - Alan U. Dalul is an independent author, journalist, and blogger from Venezuela, recently based in Millcreek, Utah. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication, with a concentration in Social Development, and a Master’s in Communications and Development, with a concentration in Information and Communication Technologies for Human Development.

He has published several independent novels, published academic articles on Gothic Studies and folklore for different postgraduate portals, and become a book reviewer for the University of Wales Press. While studying, he kept a monthly bilingual column for The Wild Hunt.

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