The Devil Rides Out

The Devil Rides Out

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Editorial Reviews

With an Introduction by Antony Lejeune
The Devil Rides Out is the most famous work of a master storyteller, a classic of weird fiction which has been described as 'the best thing of its kind since Dracula' a genuinely frightening tale of devil-worship and sorcery in modern Britain.
A group of old friends discover that one of them has been lured into a coven of Satanists. They determine to rescue him - and a beautiful girl employed as a medium. The head of the coven proves to be no charlatan but an Adept of the Dark Arts, able to infiltrate dreams and conjure up fearsome entities. De Richleau fights back with his own knowledge of occultism and ancient lore. A duel ensues between White and Black Magic, Good and Evil used as weapons.
Whenever, subsequentley, Dennis Wheatley was asked what he really believed about the supernatural, he would just reply 'Don't meddle!' Few readers will need that warning repeated.

Customer Reviews

the devil may care

Reviewed by silver elves, 2009-09-03

denis wheatley...
dear lovers of occult fiction,
... is quite a good story teller in this genre, however, he also writes at a time when certain prejudices were deem acceptable. Thus in his books you sometimes find his heroic characters making comments about the inferiority of certain races and using derogatory names for other peoples and cultures, such as "wogs" and "fuzzy-wuzzies", etc. The basic inference is that the white race, and particularly the English, are somehow superior to everyone else. If you can get past these bits of political incorrectness, and just plain ignorance and rudeness, then we expect you will find that he's quite a good writer and his stories are otherwise topnotch.
kyela,
the silver elves

good thriller

Reviewed by S. A. Saghbini, 2009-07-19

Written in 1934. Described by many as " the best thing of its kind since Dracula".

The black magic man was the nickname in Britain for Dennis Wheatley since almost all his novels were in the field of devil worship and sorcery..

This is a tale of group of friends who will be dragged into terrifying fight against satanist cult who will need one of them to find the Talisman of Set, a powerful satanic object (representing the phallus of murdered God Osiris !) that will bring destruction to the world if it is possessed by evil hands.

Through the book you will face all kinds of horror figures starting with the goat of Mendes, the red book of Appin, the Sabbat devil ceremony, and many old evil tales.

The book is engaging thriller and full of suspense but I thought the end was abrupt with pretty much predicted "happy ending".

Stands the test of time.

Reviewed by Brian Toothman, 2008-08-16






I heard of Dennis Wheatley's books from a friend. I recalled seeing the Hammer film years ago but didn't make the connection until reading the book.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that while written in 1934 the novel was fresh and the pacing frantic: car chases, plane chases, and well written supernatural suspense.

Doing a little research, I found that through acquaintances, Wheatley actually met Aleister Crowley whom he incorporated as his evil Satanic mastermind, Mocata in the novel.
It is probably the best fictional portrayal of this true-life historical occult character ever done. Although some complain about the long dialogue passages in which our hero the Duke de Richleau goes into detail about the esoteric and occult practices, it is a technique honed by H.P. Lovecraft. It gently lulls the reader into suspension of disbelief and headlong into the world of the supernatural by binding fact with fiction.

I rented the DVD and watched the film in a different light. Christopher Lee, who plays the Duke, says in the commentary that this was hands down his favorite Hammer film. He goes on to say that he only wishes it could be redone with modern CGI special effects and an A-list budget. Plus at the time, Lee felt he was too young to be cast as the Duke, whereas now he would be of the proper age for the role. Here's hoping someone will do a remake.

If you want to be pleasantly surprised by a classic page-turner and terrified this story is for you.








The Devil Rides Out

A Classic Tale of Black Magic.

Reviewed by New Age of Barbarism, 2008-04-30

_The Devil Rides Out_, first published in 1934 and made available here by Wordsworth Editions Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural, is an occult suspense novel by British novelist Dennis Wheatley that features themes of black magic and Satanism. Dennis Wheatley (1897 - 1977) was a British novelist who is perhaps best known for his occult thriller novels. Wheatley was a fierce defender of British royalty, the empire, and the class system and an opponent of Communism, and his novels feature characters who adhere to that particular point of view. This novel features one of Wheatley's central characters the Duke de Richleau, a French royalist living in exile in England, who had previously appeared in _The Forbidden Territory_ (a tale concerning the Soviet Union in which the characters were pursued by the OGPU), including the American Rex Van Ryn, the English Jew Simon Aron, Richard Eaton, and Princess Marie Lou, along with her daughter Fleur. Wheatley's novels feature themes of black magic and Wheatley was to write about this field after encountering such individuals as Aleister Crowley, the Reverend Montague Summers, and Rollo Ahmed. Wheatley was religious and held towards belief in Christianity; although, certain of his beliefs were unorthodox in that he believed in reincarnation (as expressed for example by Joan Grant in her novel _Winged Pharaoh_). When asked about black magic Wheatley would always reply "Don't meddle!", indicating his opinion on the subject and his note at the beginning of this novel notes the dangers of dabbling in the occult.

The novel begins with the Duke de Richleau and Rex Van meeting again and then wondering what has kept their friend Simon from meeting with them. Together they decide to pay a visit to Simon's house, where they find him to have a series of bizarre guests and to have purchased an observatory. Simon's guests include Tanith, a woman whom Rex has seen around the world on numerous occasions, the old crone Madame d'Urfe, and Mocata, the black magician who will play a major part in this novel, along with several other mysterious individuals. At this point, the Duke and Rex conclude that Simon has been dabbling in black magic and decide to rescue him along with Tanith from the evils of the black magic cult they are involved in. In the meantime, the Duke explains the "esoteric doctrine" underlying the world's religious systems to Rex and they encounter a demon in the observatory. The Duke and Rex manage to get Simon out of the house by knocking him out and thus the satanic coven will not have thirteen, the magical number needed to perform the ritual. They realize that in order to stop the satanic cult they will have to rescue Simon and Tanith before the night of Saint Walpurga's Eve. Rex manages to find Tanith after meeting up with Madame d'Urfe and takes her with him to Cardinal's Folly where Richard and Marie Lou reside. However, first he learns that Tanith is doomed to die within the year. In the meantime however, Tanith manages to escape and travels to the Sabbat. Together with the Duke, Rex kidnaps Simon and Tanith and take them back to Cardinal's Folly. There they must fight off Mocata, who proves to be a skilled hypnotist and uses his powers against Marie Lou. Eventually they must create a magic circle where they can fend off the forces of darkness and prevent Mocata and his minions from retrieving the Talisman of Set and unleashing a terror upon the world worse than the First World War. The angel of death appears and must carry off one of them, and initially it appears that Tanith will be that person as she is found dead. However, things are not as they seem and the group must travel to Paris and Greece to fight Mocata and his evils there, after learning from Tanith's spirit that Mocata has kidnapped Fleur and intends to use her in his diabolical ceremonies. There is also an appearance made by the dread Goat of Mendes, who appears after Mocata's satanic rites have summoned him.

This novel is a highly enjoyable read and is recommended to all those who would take an interest in the novels of Dennis Wheatley. The atmosphere is extremely mysterious and the interplay of black and white magic is found throughout. The novel offers an important warning to those who would dabble in the occult and black magic which nevertheless remains a fascinating and enjoyable book to read.

Fun Read

Reviewed by D. Fiorito, 2008-01-03

After seeing the film I really wanted to read the book. I enjoyed it; it was a fun read and original. Recommended for a detective type of novel involving the occult.