In addition to Dante, Schreck credits three other authors with solidifying the modern image of Satan: Christopher Marlowe (The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus), John Milton (Paradise Lost), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Faust). Schreck writes that their works "are the four foundation stones upon which the modern Western image of Lucifer has been constructed. Without this quartet of poetic monoliths, the character of Satan would be nothing more than a dimly perceived aggregate comprised of a handful of Biblical references and a few colourful scraps of folklore."
After analyzing these four works, Schreck discusses Satan's depiction in Gothic Romanticism (the literary roots of supernatural horror), and Satan's changing portrayal by increasingly skeptical modern authors.
Here is the complete list of contributors to Flowers From Hell: Dante, Christopher Marlowe, John Milton, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, William Beckford, Matthew Gregory Lewis, Charles Maturin, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Mark Twain, Anatole France, Max Beerbohm, Aleister Crowley, and Michael A. Aquino.
Aside from Biblical passages, I'd have included excerpts from the Koran (Schreck's Introduction refers to Islam's fallen angel, Eblis), The Devil and Daniel Webster, Rushdie's Satanic Verses, and LaVey's Satanic Bible. (Although the Satanic Bible was ghost-written, LaVey is probably the best-known Satanist among the populace, if not among scholars and occultists.)
Flowers From Hell is beautifully-bound, on heavy slick paper that will not yellow. Seventeen full-page, black-and-white Satanic illustrations through the ages: paintings, wood cuts, and an appropriate Art Nouveau ink drawing for an excerpt from Crowley's The Black Lodge.
Nikolas Schreck is an informed authority on Satanic lore. In this same year, Creation Books has released another Schreck book: The Satanic Screen: An Illustrated Guide to the Devil in Cinema. Lavishly illustrated, in keeping with Creation Book's long tradition of quality film books.
Flowers From Hell largely achieves its goal: tracing the literary development of Satan. One need not be a Satanist or nihilist to find it useful as a literary reference tool.
As most of the selections are written in the turgid, wordy, purple prose of centuries past, teen "Satanists" may find goofy fun in reading aloud passages, but those of an MTV-attention span will find the book a struggle. Ironically, brighter teens may turn to the complete Paradise Lost, their interest having been piqued. Schreck says (hopefully, one senses) that we are living in a "post-Christian" era. An assertion, rather than a given — which Flowers From Hell may make even less given.
Article comments