Review: “The Devil Rides Out” – Dennis Wheatley

PODCAST:

S3E11B – The Devil Rides Out (book)* 

*** This episode was also filmed live in High Definition with the help of our special guest, Dole. So if you wish to see the fireplace crackling in the background and watch us slog down make-shift snifters of dark craft brewery while Wilk rants on a tiny monitor via Skype–click the video below or visit our YouTube channel. ***

 

SHOW NOTES:

Dole, Rick and Ryan

Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, 3 Floyd’s Russian-Style Imperial Stout Dark Lord (vanilla bean), Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

This month I had Ryan and Dole over to record. They are great guests. I estimate they brought in $150 worth of craft beer. First time I ever tried the “Dark Lord,” from 3 Floyds Brewing Co.. It was aged a few years and bottle 175 of 800, or something like that. Very special, so much so, I was compelled to ceremoniously place my goat statue on the mantelpiece for the evening’s events. If only my Wiccan cloaks were back from the dry cleaners, I believe we might have conjured the Dark Lord himself. The recording almost didn’t happen as Wilk threatened to prematurely go to bed or watch a movie with Laura (his wife) or something. The technical difficulties Ryan and Dole had were colossal and postponed our start time by about an hour, but they persevered. Despite the late start time and a black hole vortex on the other end of the Skype call in Michigan, we managed to have a quality recording. Come back any time fellas. We need to practice the occult more often!

– Rick

 

WRITTEN BOOK REVIEWS:

Book: “The Devil Rides Out (Black Magic #1) (1934)” by Dennis Wheatley

Ryan: 4 Stars “…Why I’m not giving it five stars is because that…I thought the ending–it wraps up things a little bit too conveniently…”

Wilk: 3 Stars “…I liked the audiobooks…it was kinda entertaining it felt like I was watching a Tarzan movie…with Satan in it…”

Rick:  3 1/2 Stars “…I do appreciate the fact that it was grounded in a lot of research and facts…”

Dole (special guest): 4 Stars “…I felt creeped out by it just because there was so much real stuff in the book I felt like dirty reading it…”

(Click the links to read full written reviews on Goodreads.com)

 

FUN FACTOIDS:

During the episode we talked about the author doing extensive research to add an element of realism to this work. As part of his studies Wheatley interviewed none other than the infamous occultist, Aleister Crowley who had previously gained notoriety with his interest in black magic and residence at the “Boleskin House” (later owned for a time by guitarist Jimmy Page  of Led Zepplin). Rockstar and metal icon Ozzy Osbourne would later have hit a song about this man called Mr. Crowley (here’s a link to a live version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3LvhdFEOqs).

One of the interesting bits of research in the book that was mentioned by Wheatley, was the act of hypnotizing chickens by simply drawing a line in the ground. You can watch demonstrations of this strange phenomena on YouTube videos such as this one: https://youtu.be/sqZZ95L2n7o

Dennis Wheatley was a part of the war effort during World War II when he was engaged to use his creativity to write various war papers including a treatise on how Britain could be invaded. He was a member of the London Controlling Section which worked on secret coordinated strategic military deception and cover plans (see Wikipedia article on Dennis Wheatley). One such famous plan that came out of this department was “Operation Mincemeat,” which involved planting fake invasion plans in a corpse and letting it be discovered to divert Germany’s attention from the real battle plans.  The BBC produced a special (A Letter To Posterity) on Wheatley’s life that discusses a letter written by the author that was sealed in a time capsule and left for the world to discover at a later date. You can check this out on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeXEj2_v6i4&app=desktop. 

Returning special guest, John Doyle (a/k/a Dole), came on the show and talked about some recent studio time with his metal band, “I Decline.” They continue to work on their epic, space trilogy project known as “The Galaxies,” which is being produced by Sandford Parker. Find their music on iTunes and their website: http://www.i-decline.com.

John wrote and composed the theme music for the podcast, helped on our video special (Video Special: Culver Indiana and Vonnegut: a documentary), and has joined us on other past episodes including: “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell (book) and “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury (book).

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.