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The evil people: being thirteen strange and terrible accounts of witchcraft, black magic and voodoo;
Containing: Nocturnal Meeting; Peabody Heritage; Witch's Vengeance; The Snake; Prince Borgia's Mass; Secret Worship; Devil Worshiper; Archives of the Dead; Mother of Serpents; and others.
CONTENTS
Introduction (The Evil People) essay by Peter Haining
The Nocturnal Meeting (excerpt from The Lancashire Witches) by William Harrison Ainsworth
The Peabody Heritage by H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth
The Witch's Vengeance by William B. Seabrook
The Snake by Dennis Wheatley
Prince Borgia's Mass by August Derleth
Secret Worship by Algernon Blackwood
The Devil-Worshipper by Francis C. Prevot
Archives of the Dead by Basil Copper
Mother of Serpents by Robert Bloch
The Witch by Shirley Jackson
Cerimarie (variant of Voodoo) by Arthur J. Burks
Homecoming by Ray Bradbury
Never Bet the Devil Your Head by Edgar Allan Poe
CONTENTS
Introduction (The Evil People) essay by Peter Haining
The Nocturnal Meeting (excerpt from The Lancashire Witches) by William Harrison Ainsworth
The Peabody Heritage by H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth
The Witch's Vengeance by William B. Seabrook
The Snake by Dennis Wheatley
Prince Borgia's Mass by August Derleth
Secret Worship by Algernon Blackwood
The Devil-Worshipper by Francis C. Prevot
Archives of the Dead by Basil Copper
Mother of Serpents by Robert Bloch
The Witch by Shirley Jackson
Cerimarie (variant of Voodoo) by Arthur J. Burks
Homecoming by Ray Bradbury
Never Bet the Devil Your Head by Edgar Allan Poe
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
251 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
62 people want to read
About the author
Peter Haining
331 books99 followersPeter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 27, 2009
Peter Haining published great collections of pulp era horror stories back in the ‘60s and ‘70s and this collection sits neatly alongside The Unspeakable People and The Midnight People as a wide-ranging anthology of more unusual horror outings. The quality of the writing is changeable, but it’s worth reading in the spirit of discovering previously unknown authors. The theme of this one is witchcraft in all its forms.
Things kick off with an early outing, THE NOCTURNAL MEETING by William Harrison Ainsworth, written back in the 1840s. Avoiding the sometimes leaden style of the era, this is good stuff, with a black mass presided over by the rotting ghost of an evil priest. How can you go wrong with that? It’s followed by Lovecraft’s THE PEABODY HERITAGE, except, guess what, this isn’t a Lovecraft story at all but rather one of the August Derleth pastiches. The long-winded and analytical style work against this effort and make it rather boring.
W. B. Seabrook was a travel writer much in tune with the ways of the world and thus THE WITCH’S VENGEANCE is a story imbued with a level of realism missing from other stories collected here. I found it eerie and strange. Next up is Wheatley’s THE SNAKE, a fine combination of thrills and horror set in South Africa. If you can ignore the inherent racism you’ll have a ball with this one. PRINCE BORGIA’S MASS is an example of Derleth at his finest: pure pulp writing, with lots of atmosphere and a good backdrop in Spanish antiquity.
Up next is a trio of outstanding stories that form a strong core within the anthology. Algernon Blackwood’s SECRET WORSHIP is a masterful work of atmosphere and subtlety, while Francis Prevot’s THE DEVIL-WORSHIPPER is gruesome, shocking stuff written at the turn of the 20th century. Basil Copper employs the somewhat typical plot of having a new secretary uncovering sinister things about her employer in ARCHIVES OF THE DEAD, but draws a truly sublime effort out of it.
Robert Bloch’s MOTHER OF SERPENTS is another example of pure pulp horror, detailing horrible voodoo antics in Haiti. Strong stuff for this writer. We stay in Haiti for CERIMARIE by Arthur J Burks, which is as cold and vengeful as you can get. Sadly, I found Shirley Jackson’s THE WITCH to be rather unengaging after all of that nasty stuff, while Ray Bradbury’s HOMECOMING seems to miss the point and is one of the author’s most lightweight efforts.
Things finish on a high with Poe: NEVER BET THE DEVIL YOUR HEART is a darkly funny, macabre ‘deal with the devil’ effort as rare as it is well written.
Things kick off with an early outing, THE NOCTURNAL MEETING by William Harrison Ainsworth, written back in the 1840s. Avoiding the sometimes leaden style of the era, this is good stuff, with a black mass presided over by the rotting ghost of an evil priest. How can you go wrong with that? It’s followed by Lovecraft’s THE PEABODY HERITAGE, except, guess what, this isn’t a Lovecraft story at all but rather one of the August Derleth pastiches. The long-winded and analytical style work against this effort and make it rather boring.
W. B. Seabrook was a travel writer much in tune with the ways of the world and thus THE WITCH’S VENGEANCE is a story imbued with a level of realism missing from other stories collected here. I found it eerie and strange. Next up is Wheatley’s THE SNAKE, a fine combination of thrills and horror set in South Africa. If you can ignore the inherent racism you’ll have a ball with this one. PRINCE BORGIA’S MASS is an example of Derleth at his finest: pure pulp writing, with lots of atmosphere and a good backdrop in Spanish antiquity.
Up next is a trio of outstanding stories that form a strong core within the anthology. Algernon Blackwood’s SECRET WORSHIP is a masterful work of atmosphere and subtlety, while Francis Prevot’s THE DEVIL-WORSHIPPER is gruesome, shocking stuff written at the turn of the 20th century. Basil Copper employs the somewhat typical plot of having a new secretary uncovering sinister things about her employer in ARCHIVES OF THE DEAD, but draws a truly sublime effort out of it.
Robert Bloch’s MOTHER OF SERPENTS is another example of pure pulp horror, detailing horrible voodoo antics in Haiti. Strong stuff for this writer. We stay in Haiti for CERIMARIE by Arthur J Burks, which is as cold and vengeful as you can get. Sadly, I found Shirley Jackson’s THE WITCH to be rather unengaging after all of that nasty stuff, while Ray Bradbury’s HOMECOMING seems to miss the point and is one of the author’s most lightweight efforts.
Things finish on a high with Poe: NEVER BET THE DEVIL YOUR HEART is a darkly funny, macabre ‘deal with the devil’ effort as rare as it is well written.
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November 6, 2025Placeholder review
William B Seabrook's "The Witch's Vengeance" - A young man in rural France makes the mistake of falling for a local girl whose mother is the town witch.... well, I enjoy reading all kinds of stories from all kinds of time periods and this is a perfectly adequate version of a familiar yarn that seems to specifically exist to make the "belief" argument of "magic/witchcraft" and its effects, in a straightforward way. But that's about it. IE - a perfectly straight-line, bland and forgettable little thing
"The Snake" by Dennis Wheatley is probably the first piece of short (or long) fiction I've ever read by the author - Wheatley being a figure most familiar to me as having written the source for the fun film THE DEVIL RIDES OUT. Outside of that, I'm not really in a rush - descriptions of his novels make me feel like he's some sort of reactionary Robert Ludlum writing supernatural novels. But here we have a story, told over drinks, where a rich man explains why he believes in black magic, relating a story that goes back to his poverty-stricken beginnings in South Africa, where his bootlegging/arms-dealing boss runs afoul of the local witch doctor when he tries to collect on a debt. This is one of those traditional "native magic works on unbelieving white man" stories (see the much better "Pollock And The Porroh Man" by H.G. Wells) which plays out mostly like you'd expect (although there's a final, dramatic, unexpected twist) but pretty much does so in a workmanlike way - and Wheatley lives up to my low expectations by insulting Italians, Jews and Black Africans within the first few pages. Eminently forgettable.
"Prince Borgia's Mass" by August Derleth has the Prince Borgia deploy his plan to foil a plague of body-snatchings through the help of a mage, René. He leads a troop of men to a Black Mass in progress, whose participants are captured.... Strange half-story, as it doesn't have an ending so much as just stops.
William B Seabrook's "The Witch's Vengeance" - A young man in rural France makes the mistake of falling for a local girl whose mother is the town witch.... well, I enjoy reading all kinds of stories from all kinds of time periods and this is a perfectly adequate version of a familiar yarn that seems to specifically exist to make the "belief" argument of "magic/witchcraft" and its effects, in a straightforward way. But that's about it. IE - a perfectly straight-line, bland and forgettable little thing
"The Snake" by Dennis Wheatley is probably the first piece of short (or long) fiction I've ever read by the author - Wheatley being a figure most familiar to me as having written the source for the fun film THE DEVIL RIDES OUT. Outside of that, I'm not really in a rush - descriptions of his novels make me feel like he's some sort of reactionary Robert Ludlum writing supernatural novels. But here we have a story, told over drinks, where a rich man explains why he believes in black magic, relating a story that goes back to his poverty-stricken beginnings in South Africa, where his bootlegging/arms-dealing boss runs afoul of the local witch doctor when he tries to collect on a debt. This is one of those traditional "native magic works on unbelieving white man" stories (see the much better "Pollock And The Porroh Man" by H.G. Wells) which plays out mostly like you'd expect (although there's a final, dramatic, unexpected twist) but pretty much does so in a workmanlike way - and Wheatley lives up to my low expectations by insulting Italians, Jews and Black Africans within the first few pages. Eminently forgettable.
"Prince Borgia's Mass" by August Derleth has the Prince Borgia deploy his plan to foil a plague of body-snatchings through the help of a mage, René. He leads a troop of men to a Black Mass in progress, whose participants are captured.... Strange half-story, as it doesn't have an ending so much as just stops.
February 5, 2018
A horror collection, by the late Peter Haining, one of the master anthologizers of horror, that I read a long time ago, most of which I vaguely remember at best. But I do remember it as an entertaining read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews