J. K. Huysmans – Down There
Posted by demonik on May 7, 2009
J. K. Huysmans – Down There [# 23] (Sphere, 1974)
Down There is the classic of Satanism. The book caused a sensation when it first appeared, because of its extraordinarily detailed and vivid descriptions of the Black Mass.
At the centre of the story is Durtal, a writer obsessed by one of the blackest figures in history, Gilles de Rais. Each horrifying episode unfolds the legendary crimes, trial and confession of this grotesque child murderer, sadist, necrophile and practitioner of the black arts.
Down There is Volume 23 in the Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult
Sordid Spheres! 
Catherine said
this book is genuinely creepy – not only does the narrator detail the hideous crimes of giles de rais, he does so with a clinical detachment that makes it all the more horrific – on top of this is added the practices of satanists – sordid, desperate, sad, egomaniacal.