As promised, here is the first installment of the background articles for Evensong, my new paranormal horror story. Today I will give a brief background and history of the Paraphysical Research Department aka the PRD.

History of the PRD

The Paraphysical Research Department was formed during World War 2 as a response to reports of the Third Reich dealing with the occult. Originally created as a shadow department and never made known to the public, the PRD was known only to a select few within the higher echelons of government and made up of the top occult and paranormal experts of the time. The department was intended to be disbanded at the end of the war; however, discoveries made during it early years were enough to convince those with enough influence to maintain funding. What these discoveries are have been kept locked up within the departments files but at least one founding member is quoted as saying:

The greatest threats we face may not come from man, but rather what he invites in from outside; through doors never meant to be opened.

Prof. John Harris, Personal Journal – 1946

Over the following decades, the PRD undertook several cases of the paranormal and the bizarre which no other authority could possibly handle. And while these were mostly kept out of the public eye, a few stories leaked out and found the ears of those in certain circles of conspiracy theorists and fans of the obscure. Legends of a secret government group appeared in fringe magazines and of more recently on websites and even podcasts.

Of course all of these stories are dismissed as wild fantasy by most people so for the most part are ignored. To this day the department remains largely unknown.