Has a book ever touched and spoke to your soul so much that it brought you to tears? Well, this one did that to me. This book is called 'Life After Death', it's the autobiography of Damien Echols. Damien is a man who was tried and convicted, along with two others, for a crime he did not commit when he was only nineteen years old. Being deemed as the ringleader he was sentenced to death rowe, and spent eighteen years and seventy-six days of his life in prison, thankfully he has since been released. This book has made me smile, cry, laugh, curse, think, and feel more than anything I've ever read. Ever since watching the Paradise Lost documentaries about his case years ago I've been completely enamored with it. I've researched it extensively looking at it from all angles. I've looked at case files, autopsy reports, read books, and even went so far as to study crime scene photos. It's not something that is easy to explain, but I know in my heart, with every fiber of my being that they didn't do it. Damien, Jason, and, Jessie were easy targets. Damien was accused of being satanic because he wore black, liked metal music, read Stephen King novels, and was interested by things such as the work of Alistair Crowley for example. This infuriates me because it could've been me. I'm interested in a lot of the same stuff as Damien and he reminds me so much of myself, if I'd been in that same place at the same time I could have been a target. The people that claim that Alistair Crowley was satanic don't understand what it was he was about and his since of humor. He was definitely not a satanist. The trials against Damien were basically a witch hunt. It was like the Salem witch trials all over again. Damien is incredibly strong and brave, he's single handedly the most inspirational person I've ever seen. I feel so sad I've finished this book because I could honestly read his words, his wisdom, his views and opinions forever, and never tire of it. Reading this has honestly touched my life in a way nothing else ever has, and changed the way I look at life. It's inspired me endlessly and made me realize the kind of person I wan to be. Damien Echols is a hero to me.❤
