Devils, Demons and Witchcraft

I first saw this book showcased in a brief scene in the movie Paranormal Activity; I have been looking for a book that only displayed artwork instead of lots of speculative history on the other "invisible man". This volume is one of the best art books on Devils, Demons and Witchcraft I have ever seen. It can be awing, interesting and even disturbing. One of the things I noticed was that none of the 244 illustrations were in color. For most of the book this is appropriate, especially for the Death and Dance Macabre sections. This mostly adds to the dark and grim atmosphere of the illustrations presented. On the downside, lack of color can also take away from the brutal realism portrayed within this book.The Book:Devils Demons and Witchcraft (FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1971) 174 pages has a table of contents, a complete list of the 244 illustrations in alphabetical order including page number, an introduction of the book and a list of 40 books in the DOVER PICTORIAL ARCHIVE SERIES. It can be found on Amazon for around $14.95 it is a large paperback book with full page illustrations. Beneath each picture is a title and source of the art work. No real reading here, just inspirational sources of Demonic artwork.Devils demons and witchcraft is arranged by chapter and in the following order:Devils and Demons: This section begins with an "express" paragraph describing his looks and placement throughout history, It contains 36 depictions included are demons causing women to "gossip" during Mass. The temptation of St. Anthony, St. Patrick and Jesus, possession of people who engage in "forbidden" acts such as self conceit, servitude to Satan, many portrayals of biblical proportions and devils and demons in their many forms.Casus Luciferi: Starts with a brief paragraph about the fall of Lucifer and his demons, astounding artwork here. Unfortunately it only contains 4 entries.Faust and Mephistopheles: This paragraph briefly describes Faust and how it appears throughout literature. It contains 8 illustrations including an engraving of Faust performing magic by Rembrandt.Hell and Damnation: Brief description of the different concepts of hell such as Dante's Inferno, and many diverse Religious portrayals. It contains 16 illustrations including rare punishments for each of the "seven deadly sins".The Apocalyptic Horsemen: Referencing visions granted to St. John and Recorded in the Book of Revelation chapter 6, verses 1-8, identifying Death, Plague, Famine and War. It contains only 4 illustrations including a famous Allegoric representation from Albrecht Durer's Apocalypse (1498).Witches and Warlocks: Depicts the practice of Witchcraft of the late Middle Ages, Renaissance and later periods. It contains 26 illustrations engaging in different forms of Witchcraft. Allegiances given to Satan in exchange for power, two more fantastic sketches by Albrecht Durer and a 1709 print of Macbeth and the three witches (Act IV, Scene i). From N. Rowe's first illustrated edition of "William Shakespears Workes".Witch-hunting: Opens with a brief statement about Catholic and Protestant involvement in Witch-Hunting. Including the most famous witch hunt in America the "Salem Witch Trials". It contains 15 illustrations including fantastic rare copies and documentation of Cotton Mather's Witch-Hunt.Ars Moriendi: Brief description about the book "Ars Moriendi" (The Art of Dying) and the struggle in the mind of a dying man and the (Good & Evil) spiritual fight over his soul. It contains 6 illustrations including 4 woodcuts from Ars Moriendi.Danse Macabre: A favorite medieval theme depicting Death in the form of a skeleton and the rise of its popularity throughout Europe. It contains 42 illustrations including the woodcut illustrations of the "Dance of Death" by Hans Holbein and features the complete woodcut "Dance of Death" alphabet. The bulk of the artwork lands in this section and some of the most detailed drawings I have ever seen on the illustrative persona of "Death".Memento Mori: This section covers the ancient symbols and glyphs of Death. It contains 38 illustrations of fabulous high detailed artwork including a page from an Egyptian papyrus "Book of the Dead", emblems of Death and rare religious engravings from tombs and literary works are featured, awesome section.Resurrection and Reckoning: Opens with the paragraph "In Christian belief, Christ rose from the dead, and on Judgment Day, the last day of the world, everyone who ever lived will awaken from the dead and be tried by the Lord and His angels. Many great works of art have been based on this theme." It contains 6 illustrations from Christ resurrecting to "The last Judgment". Nice artwork presented here but chapter far too short.Religio-Political Devilry: The final chapter in this book closes with the following paragraph: "Devils, demons and similar infernal figures (including swine) have been favorite material for religious and political pamphleteers and caricaturists of all denominations and convictions for centuries. Writers and artists attacking such real and alleged abuses as drinking, dancing, smoking, gambling, counterfeiting and usury have not hesitated to press Satan into their service. This concluding chapter presents a wide panorama of these polemic graphics with a smell of brimstone." It contains 27 illustrations of random Devils and Demons it was just good enough for me to wish for more, nicely done.My opinion:This book succeeds in what it advertises: Art work and drawings of a sinister nature. If you're looking to read about Devils, Demons and Witchcraft and you are not too big on illustrative art work then this book will probably not be for you. This book is a must have for any Paranormal Activity movie buff and collector of obscure artwork ! I found a way to counter my initial disappointment (at first glance) of non-color images by copying and then coloring (with colored pencils) the images that most strike me visually. This is a very fun way of completely enjoying the massive detail within (most of) the illustrations. It added to my imagination and it seemed to bring the artwork to life.

This book was well written and had a lot of pictures to see. I was watching the movie paranormal activity and immediately recognized the cover and content as the actor researched what could possibly be happening. I found it to be more interesting than I thought when I bought it.

When I was younger, my sister and I would always say how great it would be if there was a book with endless pictures of woodcarvings. Thanks to Paranormal Activity (the book was being read in the movie), I finally found it. It only took me 30 years. There is more to the book than just pictures, but the pictures alone make it worth it. A great find!

My husband asked for this as a gift and her really likes it. We bought it for the art and it is perfect for that. A great coffee table book to have around.

It is an amazing beautiful book, but from the description i expected there to be more demons from other religions than Christianity.

There are a lot of illustrations in here; some may be familiar to you, others not. In any event it is a book of illustrations only. It is a great reference book (I'm thinking of Demonologists, practitioners of witchcraft, artists, historians, etc.).

Nice rendering of illustrations of devils, demons and witchcraft

Some of the images are either too light or too sloppy. They look like they were printed with not enough ink in the machine or there was dirt and grit mixed with the ink. Either that or they were copies of copies of copies. Some of them are so bad they should have just left them out instead of insulting the reader with sub-standard material.Also, I was hoping for more demons. I bought this with the understanding that it had images from the Dictionnaire Infernal, which has 69 illustrations. This book had only 4 of them.There is some good stuff, but this isn't the "one stop shopping" experience I had hoped for.