The Black Magic Murders: The Untold Story of Lucifer's Fork

by Mark Steensland

WHEN THE SUMMER OF LOVE BECAME THE YEAR OF FEAR

In 1967, San Francisco was known the world over as home to the Summer of Love. Three years later, the city was paralyzed by fear as the Zodiac taunted the police with a series of threatening letters and brutal slayings. When prominent citizen Malcolm Dorrance is murdered, homicide inspectors Will Michalson and Frank Paducci eliminate the Zodiac as a suspect and narrow their focus to one man: self-professed devil-worshiper Ian Cuthgert. But instead of denying involvement, Cuthgert confesses, telling the cops he used witchcraft to murder Dorrance and he intends to kill again. Michalson dismisses this explanation as drug-induced delusion, but Paducci, a devout Catholic, is convinced Cuthgert is telling the truth. After the autopsy confirms an inexplicable cause of death, the partners race to prevent the next murder even as the conflict between their beliefs threatens to derail the entire investigation. Long overshadowed by the more prominent hunt for the Zodiac, the complete account of what would come to be known as the “Black Magic Murders” is told here for the first time by those who lived through it.

Genres: Horror, True Crime

About the author

Mark Steensland self-published his first book while in fourth grade and has been telling stories ever since—some of them true. He became a professional journalist before graduating high school, writing about movies for such magazines as Prevue, Millimeter, and American Cinematographer. His award-winning films (including Peekers and The Ugly File) have played in festivals around the world. His first novel—Behind the Bookcase—was published in 2012 by Random House. A movie based on The Special, a novella co-written with James Newman, was released in 2020. Jakob's Wife, a film starring Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, and Bonnie Aarons, was released in 2021. His most recent novel, The Black Magic Murders, was released in December 2025.