Dead Names, Dead Dog: The Story So Far, Part 2

So it was that Dead Names:  The Dark History of the Necronomicon appeared in bookstores across the nation. Not only did "Simon" insist the Necronomicon was real, he used the new book as a platform for attacks on John and I, challenging our conclusions, our scholarship, and our motivations.

Now, I won't pretend that John's section of The Necronomicon Files didn't go after "Simon" and his own claims in a way intended to be entertaining, yet firmly based on the evidence.  We can take what we dish out – and we certainly have had to many times before.  Still, the question became how to answer such an attack.

After the book came out, I looked on the Web for the responses.  For the most part, all was quiet.  Then I found "Simon" on the Sacred-Magick website forums.  He had turned up briefly a little while before, but he showed up again, asked for questions, and started to criticize our supposedly shoddy research. This seemed to be an invitation, in more ways than one, so I posted.  The moderators and participants there were kind enough to allow me to do so and ask questions of "Simon" in hope of getting his responses.

This has been going on for about two months, with me posting questions and "Simon" answering, sometimes with plain answers, and others with evasions, accusations of bias, proclamations that I was a hack writer, and so forth.

While this has been enlightening, the forum itself is closed to non-members.  People can't read that I was responding, so some were concluding that I had no response, and my friends were asking when I'd make things public.

That's why I'm posting here.  I will be going through Dead Names systematically, providing my assessment of it.  It may take a long time, because I'd like to be thorough in my critique.  Still, clearing the air is important enough to deserve such attention.