Raising Hell: A Concise History of the Black Arts - and Those Who Dared to Practice Them [Paperback]

Robert Masello (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1996

Here, in one spellbinding volume, is a history of the major occult arts as they have been practiced from ancient Babylon to the present day. Raising Hell weaves history with myths, quotes, anecdotes, and illustrations, to provide a vivid chronicle of the evolution of the occult arts. This definitive source offers a compelling look at the black arts and those who risked their lives to explore them.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's always a pleasure to find a book of history so well written that I lose track of time while I'm reading it. Masello has collected the exploits of prominent sorcerers and alchemists, secret societies, rituals and key tools of black magic, without sinking into a subjective analysis of the morality of these occult arts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade; 1st edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399522387
• ISBN-13: 978-0399522383
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,043,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent For Beginners!, December 22, 1999

By 

J. Robbins "JohanTheMighty" (Nacogdoches, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising Hell: A Concise History of the Black Arts - and Those Who Dared to Practice Them (Paperback)

This book is a history of the black arts, and those who practiced them, as the title states. It goes into everything from alchemism to palmistry, to raising demons, to wizardry, and much more, with excellent examples and stories as well. The books format was easy to follow, easy to understand, and yet still managed to provide a cornecopia of information. I found this book quite fascinating, I found it very difficult to put down.

Trust me, I'm a pretty harsh judge of books, I don't hand out 5 stars for it unless theres something there. This book is a definate "must buy" if you, like myself, are generally new to the studies of the occult.

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brief Review of 'Raising Hell', June 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Raising Hell: A Concise History of the Black Arts - and Those Who Dared to Practice Them (Paperback)

I don't know which is worse: this book, or the fact that it is the best work for novice's to come out in a long time. The disgusting drivel that floods the modern-day market is appalling. Oh well, thats the price we pay for living in a more 'enlightened' age. It is a very commercial book, obviously geared twords (apply called) "naughty teenagers". It contains good information, but has a very swift 'spin' to it - sometimes nausiatinly so. All in all, though, it is informative - and should make any fan of Mr. King drool. If you are further interested, I would suggest reading:

The Black Arts

The History of Magic

The Powers of Evil

Encyclopedia of the Unexplained

The World of Ghosts and the Supernatural

Man, Myth, and Magic (12 vol.)

(all by Richard Cavendish - the leading authority on magic, mythology, and the supernatural)

History of Magic and Experimental Science

(Lynn Thorndike - one of the best - 8 vol.)

The History of Magic

(Kurt Seligmann)

Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology

(Rossell Hope Robbins - Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature)

Witchcraft, Magic, and Alchemy

(Grillot De Givry - translated by J. Courtenay Locke)

The Book of Black Magic

(Arthur Edward Waite)

The Secret Teachings of All Ages

(Manly P. Hall - a virtual tome of info. from a true believer)

Witchcraft and Black Magic

(Montague Summers)

Satanism and Witchcraft

(Jules Michelet)

These are some of the better books that grace Mr. Masello's bibliography. It is just unfortunate that he seemed to sacrafice scholorship for a quick 'rise' from his readers. He could have done alot better.

Sincerly, Shawn W. Ooten

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Raising Hell? How about "Misunderstanding Hell"?, November 4, 2001

By 

D. De Gruijter (Leiden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising Hell: A Concise History of the Black Arts - and Those Who Dared to Practice Them (Paperback)

The subtitle of this book, "A Concise History of the Black Arts", is adequately chosen indeed, since about seventy percent of Masello's book is taken, in some instances almost verbatim, from the book "The Black Arts" by Richard Cavendish. Quotes, anecdotes, even examples given or questions asked in "The Black Arts" return with a savour faire in "Raising Hell", severely hampering the reading enjoyment and learning, and having very little new to add.
Now, this is not a good book. Masello either treats subject matter that has been treated better and more thoroughly in "The Black Arts" (and this book antedates "Raising Hell" almost 30 years!). The remaining writing seems info that has been snatched from encyclopedias, book blurbs, or other pop occult books, and is very shallow. For instance, Masello very superficially explores 'secret societies' such as Freemasons, Templars, Rosicrucians, etc., devoting about a page and half to each of them, giving some quick info about how/when they emerged, what they supposedly did, and who had a bone to pick with them. There's no analysis, there is no further investigation (resulting in some errors here and there), no association with other events or orders. Five minutes and a web browser will give you more detailed and interesting knowledge.
Since this is clearly a pop book it also has some rather toe-crooking 'humor' and jokes that doesn't befit the subject. In fact, my personal opinion is that approaches such as these to occult philosophy, hermetism, alchemy, and mysticism are for a large portion to blame for the well-nigh absense of academic or serious interest in the shadowy side of our history of thought and experience. From our (though decaying) typically western rational ideologies and philosophy we do not look kindly upon "irrational" practices such as The Black Arts, and hapfully bestow them on deluded mortals, heretics, madmen, deceivers, or circus artists, oblivious to the intertwining of occult philosophy and thought with our history, from pre-Biblical times to the Enlightenment and beyond.
Apart from some nice reproductions of illuminated art, this book has very little to offer to anyone that has either a strong interest, scholarly attention, or just someone that wants a quick read on 'Black Arts'. Cavendish's broad-sweeping study "The Black Arts" still is an authoritative and daring introduction into something as confusing and intruiging as occult philosophy. Go for that one instead, and leave this one behind.