Encounters With Death: A Compendium of Anthropomorphic Personifications of Death from Historical to Present Day Phenomenon

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Summary: Would like to see more on this subject.
Review: 'Encounters' is a darned interesting read and I thouroghly enjoyed it. However it is not without flaws. Possibly the greatest flaw would be the fact that if you've read the author's brilliant webpages on the subject, you've already read about 80% of this book! I guess If you are borrowing from yourself that's okay, but posting huge portions of your book on the web & then charging people to read the left over dregs is not my idea of "cool". On the other hand, This is one of those highly esoteric subjects that you're lucky to find ANY information about, and in all honesty it is possibly to Ms. Wendell's credit that she has simply decided to share this important material with anyone who takes the time to visit her site.
All this aside, I do not regret buying this book, and I believe that books like this are a rare gem in this world. The heart of the text is the large section on first hand "sightings" of the Grim Reaper himself, reported by folks from the usual "all walks of life". unfortunately, there seem to be a few too many letters from pretentious flakes that have somehow survived the editing process, but the vast majority of these accounts are as chilling as they are moving.
To the true Fortean, this book may not strike them as being as "professionally" or objectively written as Mark Chorvinsky's excellent article on the subject from 'Strange Magazine' a few years ago (Grim Reaper Encounters), but it is no less solid and researched an account of weird non-human visitations than John A. Keel's landmark 'Mothman Prophesies'.
Some of the book seems to be composed of "filler" material to fatten the spine. There is a section on Death personified in art through the ages which, though not unwelcome and good for atmosphere, is ultimately far too cursory and irrelevent to warrant it's inclusion in this book. Then there's a section on Death personified in poetry which I frankly skimmed over as being far too melodramatic...

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Summary: Lovingly written
Review: I was looking for a book that described what it was like to "encounter" Death. THIS is it! If you want first person testimonials as to what the Angel of Death is like, I suggest this book very highly.

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Summary: Really nice overview
Review: This book has a bit of everything a history of the Anthromorphic Personification of Death in various cultures, a overview i=of Death in Art, Literature and Movies and a selection of peoples encounters with the Grim Reaper Himself, which was more interesting than you might imagine. It's a nice little volume and I really think that you will not be disappointed in it.