Showing results by author "Dennis Wheatley" in All Categories

A classic of the horror genre, Dennis Wheatley’s The Devil Rides Out pits the powers of good against the forces of evil as the Duc de Richelieu wrestles for the soul of his friend with the charming but deadly Satanist, Mocata. Mocata has the power to summon the forces of darkness and - as the Duc and his friends will find - is willing to call upon ever-increasing horror until thundering hooves herald the arrival of the Devil Himself.

It is World War II, and Britain faces increasing pressure and burden as the Nazis swarm across Europe. When the Duke de Richleau is asked to look into how Nazi U-boats know exactly where and when supply convoys in the Atlantic will be, he discovers that evil occult forces are at work. The duke discovers that a voodoo adept from Haiti is travelling on the astral plane to gain information regarding the convoys.

Toby Jugg, a fighter pilot shot down in combat, is now confined to his bed with little hope of walking again. He is also the heir to a considerable fortune—a fortune that is being administered by a board of trustees until he comes of age. But night after night, out there in the moonlight, Something was trying to get in at the bedroom window. A huge malevolent Something. Something not of this world. Inside, Toby thought first that he was hallucinating, then that he must be going mad, finally that this evil Something was real and striving to reach him.

For years Colonel Verney had suspected a link between devil-worship and the subversive influence of Soviet Russia. When they found Teddy Morden's crucified body, he knew his grimmest fears were justified and that world peace was also endangered. Barney Sullivan is a secret agent who, horrified by the death of one of his colleagues whose body was rendered unrecognisable, investigates Communist activities which threaten the security of the West.

Many consider it to be Dennis Wheatley's finest work, which is praise indeed for this world beating novelist. It was a best seller in the 1930s when it first came out, full of 1930s atmosphere, skilfully written and well researched, too - although Wheatley never practiced magic himself, he met with many of the most famous occultists of his day to make the book as authentic as possible. In The Devil Rides Out, the Duke de Richleau and a friend find that one of their number is missing from a reunion, and it turns out that he has fallen under the influence of a black magic sect.

A businessman makes a deal with a satanic clergymen, and has his daughter baptised into Satan's church. Twenty-one years later, provided she is still a virgin, she is destined to be the centrepiece of a hideous satanic ritual. Molly Fountain, a tough-minded Englishwoman who worked for the British Intelligence during the war, has retreated to her French cottage to write. Next door she finds a new, mysterious neighbour, an intriguing young girl named Christina.

With Sir Gifford Hillary and Wing Commander Johnny Norton involved in plans to counter the might of Soviet Russia, interest soon centres on the evil Lady Ankaret and the tragedy which occurred at Longshot Hall, South Hampshire, on the night of the 9th September. A victim is struck down, and from that moment onwards the events which follow seem, at first, fantastic and unbelievable–but are later realised to be entirely logical. What does happen after death? And why should Sir Gifford find himself in prison, on trial for his life?