Peter Haining – Witchcraft And Black Magic

Peter Haining – Witchcraft And Black Magic (Hamlyn, 1971)

Illustrations: Jan Parker

Foreword

The History Of Witchcraft to 1736
The Facets Of Witchcraft
Modern Witchcraft & Black Magic
Books To Read
Index

Blurb:

Peter Haining has been writing about witchcraft and Black Magic for ten years now. It all began when he was working in Essex as a journalist and was asked to cover an outbreak of church desecration in the county. He met self-confessed witches and witnessed many ceremonies in the course of writing that article and, as a result of what he had seen, he became very dissatisfied with the mixture of half-truth, rumour and sensationalism surrounding the subject. Since then, in his many broadcasts and newspaper articles and now in this he has argued for a more practical realistic attitude to witchcraft.

Fertility rite or devil worship? The true purpose of witchcraft has always been debated. Peter Haining believes that witchcraft is an ancient fertility religion and has written a refreshinglystraightforward survey of the subject. He tells the story of witchcraft from prehistory to the present day, explains its association with Black Magic, and investigates many of the strange practices and phenomena which have been attributed to the craft. Exciting illustrations contribute to this lively account of one man’s most intriguing, most misrepresented, activities.

Mike Jarvis & John Spencer – Echoes Of Terror

Mike Jarvis & John Spencer – Echoes Of Terror (Hamlyn, 1980)

Gordon Crabb

Charles Dickens – A Madman’s Manuscript
Lord Halifax – Three In A Bed
Edgar Allan Poe – Masque Of The Red Death
Bram Stoker – Dracula (Extract)
O. Henry – The Furnished Room
William Mudford – The Forsaken Of God
Frederick Marryat – The Werewolf
Matthew Lewis – The Midnight Embrace (Extract from “The Monk”)
William Makepeace Thackery – The Devil’s Wager
W. W. Jacobs – The Monkey’s Paw
Saki – The Seventh Pullet

As ade has pointed out elsewhere, this over-sized collection isn’t about the largely over-familiar written content, but the marvellous illo’s, many of which would go on to become cover paintings themselves.

For the record, the artists showcased are Jim Burns, Gordon Crabb, Les Edwards, Bob Fowke, Peter Goodfellow, Stuart Hughes, Terry Oakes and George Smith.