Howard Storm (born October 26, 1946, in Flushing, New York) is a former atheist and art professor and chairman of the art department at the Northern Kentucky University, best known as the author of the book My Descent Into Death about his near-death experience (NDE). According to Nancy Evans Bush, a near-death researcher specializing in "distressing" near-death experiences, Storm's NDE is the best known of contemporary distressing NDE accounts. Storm's account has been termed probably the most complete description among NDE accounts of evil spirits in another world. Storm's NDE has been cited frequently in near-death studies literature both before his book was published and afterward.
The book was originally published in 2000 and, after being noticed by author Anne Rice and supported by her, was acquired by Doubleday and re-published as a hardback book in 2005. Storm has told his story to numerous audiences and appeared on NBC's Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, 48 Hours, Discovery Channel and Coast to Coast AM.
In June 1985, Storm took a group of his students on a field trip of Europe. After returning to his Paris hotel room with his wife around 11:00 a.m. after a morning excursion, he experienced what he would later learn was a sudden puncture to his duodenum caused by an ulcer or foreign object. He was transported immediately to the biggest and best hospital in Paris, had a diagnosis within an hour, and was told he needed surgery immediately. Because the hospital was understaffed on weekends, however, surgery did not occur until around 9:00 p.m., causing Storm to suffer severe and debilitating pain for several hours after initial injections of morphine given him when he first arrived wore off.
Storm describes in his book that as he lay waiting for surgery, he believed he was going to die, gave up the will to live and mentally prepared himself to die. After saying goodbye to his wife, he eventually passed out and believed he was dying. He states he did not understand what was happening when he opened his eyes again and found himself standing outside of his body. He was allegedly drawn by seemingly-friendly voices calling his name and he followed them, but eventually realized that they were malevolent. They turned on him and attacked him savagely in the darkness. His book chronicles an experience that involved him being severely beaten, bitten and torn to pieces by many of these shadowy creatures, and though he managed to survive he experienced severe pain. His overall impression was of a process of "initiation".
He later felt a voice within him telling him to "Pray to God" and half-heartedly recited fragments of religious material mixed with fragments of the Pledge of Allegiance. He claims this recitation gradually drove away the malignant beings. After a time of deep despair, he resorted to calling out "Jesus, please save me!". He was rescued from that dark place by a being of light that he believes was Jesus, and he was also visited by other "spiritual beings of light" as well. He soon experienced a life review, which he found to be intensely discomforting because it highlighted the selfishness of his life. To his surprise they were more interested in his relationships than his personal achievements. he was then asked by the beings if he had any questions, and he says that he proceeded to ask them every question that he could think of.
He states that at one point he asked about the near-future of his country (the United States) and says that he was told that the US was a "blessed nation", but if it did not change its ways it would lose its prosperity. This was in no way portrayed as a punishment of God but rather as a natural consequence. He saw visions of a future plagued by war, natural disasters and despair. It is important to note that he was told that this scenario was avoidable if there was a major spiritual "shift" in the consciousness of the world.
The core of his message was primarily about the importance of love and peaceful unity among people, who he says are "all loved by God". He constantly reiterates the importance of caring for others and seeking spiritual truth. In his book he states that he was informed by these beings of light that the "correct religion" is that religion that "brings you closest to God", negating his attempt to force them to say that one specific religion or denomination was "the only correct one". . He states that the deepest desire of these beings is only to serve "the One" (which humans refer to as "God"), and part of their acts of service include assisting humanity to "return to the One".
Storm concedes there is no medical evidence that he ever died. His alleged NDE occurred while he was unconscious in a hospital bed awaiting surgery. He regained consciousness as nurses arrived to prep him for surgery, and he was so not near death that he was able to speak to the nurses, asking them to be more careful when moving him because of the extent of physical pain he was suffering.
Storm's surgery that evening was successful and he appeared to be healing rapidly, but 'a Voice' told him to ignore the advice of doctors and buy tickets to return to the U.S. only a week post-surgery (doctors advised no travel for at least a month post-surgery). Traveling against doctor's orders caused Storm to develop multiple complications which debilitated him for close to a year. According to Storm's statements, most of the doctors stated that there was no way that he should have been able to live through the amount of damage his body sustained during the trip back to the U.S. Storm credits his supernatural experiences as leading to the fact that he is alive today, yet sidesteps the fact that it was only because of a supernatural experience (i.e., listening to 'the Voice') that his life was put into danger in the first place.
Storm's experience had a major transformational effect on him. When he went unconscious in the hospital, he was a complete atheist and somewhat emotionally cold and distant. When he woke up a few hours later, he was unable to control his powerful emotions of love and his desire to talk about his experience. He would often break down and cry from his deeply felt emotions and would spend hours expounding on the Bible and God to anyone who would listen. The personality change was so extreme that his wife threatened to leave him.
Storm stated that over time he "became more tempered" about his experience. He became involved with a church that he felt "brought him closer to God", entered the seminary and was ordained. He served as pastor of Zion United Church of Christ in Norwood, Ohio from 1992 to 2005.
Storm has made a number of television appearances to describe what he now calls a Near Death Experience (NDE) and is presently pastor of the Covington United Church of Christ in Covington, Ohio.
In a 2002 recommendation on her website, widely-read author Anne Rice called Storm's story "absolutely incredible" and called Storm a mystic. My Descent into Death was first published in Great Britain and was not readily available in the U.S. Rice saw Storm on a television show where he asked for help in finding an American publisher. She helped arrange for the book to be acquired by Doubleday and re-published as a hardback. Rice stated that the process moved quickly, "as though angels were kicking open doors. ... I'll do anything to help get his book to the public, because he has something important to give people." Rice wrote the foreword for the new edition:
Make no mistake: this man's a mystic. This is a book that fulfills a calling. This is a book you can devour from cover to cover, and pass on to others. This is a book you will quote in your daily conversation. Storm was meant to write it and we were meant to read it.
