Subtitled The Complete Story of Hell and Satanism in the Modern World, this may well tell you as much about its subject as you'll ever care to know, but that's not to say that it goes deeply into any of its major areas. For example, the satanic cults connected with Aleister Crowley, Charles Manson, or Adolph Hitler are better explained in recent biographies, while Masters' discussion of modern practices in exorcism hasn't the horrifying immediacy of Malachi Martin's in Hostage to the Devil. Still, this is a spellbinding, at first overpowering, book--overpowering because the quotations from ancient sources come thick and fast before you feel a balance between quotes and comments. Then! you are bathed in the diabolical, take a guided tour of hell as described by the masters of the ages, learn how to hold your own black mass, and learn the Church's position (hell exists), Demonology, possession, witches, warlocks, all are revealed with relish and moral insight--Masters is no panderer for satanism. He hasn't the fervor of D.H. Lawrence's great essay ""Pan in America,"" but there is more than enough grue and stink of the Devil to ice your back now and then.