The most recommended books about satan

I have always been a huge Terry Pratchett fan and this biography, by his personal assistant of many years, speaks so strongly with Pratchett’s voice.

A great deal of it is derived from Pratchett’s notes on the autobiography that he began when he was tragically diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Wilkins’ text takes us from Pratchett’s early childhood (when the headmaster of his school decided he wasn’t going to amount to much) through the beginnings of Discworld, and on to his collaboration with Neil Gaiman on Good Omens, among other adventures.

The chapter titles themselves are Pratchettian: Chapter 3 is called “Smutty Magazines, Unfinished Custard and the School Uniform of Satan.” Just go read it.

These stories were picked out by the master of suspense, himself, Alfred Hitchcock. These stories are both horrific and suspenseful. With tales involving a flesh-eating troll, something creepy lurking about in the woods that kills anything that comes into its path, and an uninvited odd boy that comes to a party with evil intentions, one will not be able to put this book down. It might even make you want to leave the lights on during the night.

This is the first book of the three-book Darwath Series. A powerful wizard, in an attempt to save his world, winds up pulling a couple of people over from Earth. The relationships and the struggles, along with the wry humor, make this book great. All of Hambly’s fantasy books that I’ve read have worlds where magic does not come easy, and I always appreciate the price that magic users have to pay. This series of hers has a frighteningly good tale—that ending!

A young college student with confidence issues and a knack for verse is transported to a fantasy world where he finds a beautiful queen under siege by a multitude of malevolent actors, a set of unusual companions, and an environment wherein poetry is literally magical. Stasheff’s treatment of faith and magic is thoughtful, his characters interesting and the plot engrossing. I particularly like rooting for the protagonist as he grows, learns, and overcomes. The magic system based on poetry is pure gold and the series has stood the test of time: it’s still as fun of a read now as it was when it first came out.

If you mention witches, most people think fantasy novels, but this is a factual history about the real life witch-hunts that took place across the East of England in the 17th Century. It unpicks the brutal and most likely self-serving crusade of the original Witchfinder General, Mathew Hopkins and the religious hysteria of the time. It is a worthy counterbalance to classic horror films such as Witchfinder General and to all the varied and imaginative fiction that has been written about witches and witchery over the centuries, my own included.

The depiction in this book is similar to what I have tried to illustrate in my book, where the demonic spirit hijacks the main character, and the center of the equilibrium could no longer hold. Ron Sutton thinks Satan is a regular church attendee. Various ills and devilish intent have taken over the church, which is supposed to be a place of holiness. 

The question is, does Satan go to church? 

I believe this bothered Ron Sutton when he said: "The devil could sit on the front row in many church services throughout America today and never experience an uncomfortable moment."  

Of course, he is right. I believe the Devil sits on the front row and within the altar. He conducts the service, counsels his disciples in high places in the church, and even performs miracles.

Every church and every leader must embrace the truths in the Bible as it's… show more.

Malkom Slaine is the archetypal hot tortured hero, as long as you’re into horns. He may not be the son of Satan but a demon from a demon world isn’t far off. He’s another blood and sex slave, who was sold into slavery by his whore demoness mother and forced to kill his best friend. When he meets his one true mate Caro, a witch, he is being set up for betrayal, yet again. Caro has to trick him into coming to the human plane, to be imprisoned and tortured some more, to save her adopted daughter. He has a lot of healing to do and Cole takes the time to make the process realistic.

Yet again, this book is part of a bigger series, where the many storylines intermingle. There’s a lot of fight scenes and action, but little actual torture, thank goodness. This was a very exciting book… show more.

This is a history of the decade that was published in 1973. What it lacks in the perspective of greater hindsight, it gains in the energy and immediacy that Cockburn brings to the subject. It feels vivid and urgent, and conveys the sense of fear and alarm of that time very well. Parts are almost an eyewitness account. In my reading of history books that deal with the time, this stood out as being accessible and lively. 

This is one of the first stories I ever read with a strong female protagonist at the helm. Dante Valentine is a bounty hunter, necromancer, and a no-nonsense kind of woman. She is stubborn, flawed, and her story is a classic answer to what happens when you make a literal deal with the devil. I appreciate that she is unapologetically human and blatantly admits to her faults as a person. She is honest—perhaps sometimes too much so—and perseveres when things go awry. If anything, I would say she is a stand-out not only as far as female protagonists are concerned, but protagonists in speculative fiction as well.

Though the title was somewhat misleading, Elain Pagel’s book contained a wealth of information not only on the demonization of non-Christian cultures through the centuries, but also on how historical events, like the Jewish Roman Wars of the 1st/2nd Century C.E., affected the writing of the Bible.

By way of example, the Pharisees were a relatively minor sect while Jesus was alive, but by the time the Bible was being cobbled together, they had become much more powerful, and this is why they were referenced so often in the New Testament.

I found Pagel’s information about how the Bible was constructed as interesting as how the dominant faction Christian associated first the Jews, then the Pagans, and, finally, other subversive Christian sects with Satan.