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Practical Devil Worship
Armageddon in a small town.
The Darkstein's. Your average American family – hardworking, patriotic and devout. The only thing that sets them apart from the God-fearing community of Goat Creek is their chosen faith.
Following the disappearance of local girl Belinda Popejoy, backwater prejudices threaten to blow the tenuous neighbourly peace apart. As tension and bigotry mount on all sides, and private vendettas boil over, the Darkstein's will have to rely on the luck of the devil in order to survive…
‘Edgy and decisive.’
FutureFire Magazine
‘Demonised or dehumanised, Bennett shows us the consequences when people of whatever faith or persuasion begin to believe that others are less than human. Scary satire. Funny and terrifying.’
WriteWords review
The Darkstein's. Your average American family – hardworking, patriotic and devout. The only thing that sets them apart from the God-fearing community of Goat Creek is their chosen faith.
Following the disappearance of local girl Belinda Popejoy, backwater prejudices threaten to blow the tenuous neighbourly peace apart. As tension and bigotry mount on all sides, and private vendettas boil over, the Darkstein's will have to rely on the luck of the devil in order to survive…
‘Edgy and decisive.’
FutureFire Magazine
‘Demonised or dehumanised, Bennett shows us the consequences when people of whatever faith or persuasion begin to believe that others are less than human. Scary satire. Funny and terrifying.’
WriteWords review
48 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 31, 2012
3 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
James Bennett
37 books119 followersJames Bennett is a British Fantasy Award winning author. Raised in Sussex and South Africa, his short fiction has appeared internationally. His acclaimed debut 'Chasing Embers' came out in 2016, the first of the Ben Garston Novels, a series in which mythological creatures fight for dominance in the modern world. Other works include the well-received 'The Book of Queer Saints' and his latest stories can be found in The Dark magazine, BFS Horizons and Occult Detective magazine.
A short story collection 'Preaching to the Perverted' arrives from Lethe Press in September 2024.
James lives in the South of Spain where he's working on a new novel.
'...Inventive and vivid... This is smart action storytelling...'
Publishers Weekly on RAISING FIRE (starred review)
The Ben Garston Novels are available in all good bookshops.
A short story collection 'Preaching to the Perverted' arrives from Lethe Press in September 2024.
James lives in the South of Spain where he's working on a new novel.
'...Inventive and vivid... This is smart action storytelling...'
Publishers Weekly on RAISING FIRE (starred review)
The Ben Garston Novels are available in all good bookshops.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 22, 2012
Book Info: Genre: Satire/Political and Religious topics Reading Level: Adult
Disclosure: I picked up a copy of this book free on Amazon, and am happy to provide an honest review.
Synopsis: Armageddon in a small town.
The Darkstein's. Your average American family – hardworking, patriotic and devout. The only thing that sets them apart from the God-fearing community of Goat Creek is their chosen faith.
Following the disappearance of local girl Belinda Popejoy, backwater prejudices threaten to blow the tenuous neighbourly peace apart. As tension and bigotry mount on all sides, and private vendettas boil over, the Darkstein's will have to rely on the luck of the devil in order to survive…
My Thoughts: This book will probably offend the heck out of a lot of people, but I absolutely loved it. The Darksteins are, from my understanding of Satanism, pretty average Satan-worshippers, although sacrifice of living creatures is not a requirement. Satanism, as created by Anton LeVay, is just secular humanism given a name that was designed to freak out anyone close-minded enough not to do a little research into the topic. And many of the residents of Goat Creek are pretty close-minded. Of course, I could see the happenings in this book taking place in almost any small town I’ve ever been in or heard of, sadly.
I don’t want to turn my review into a platform for lecturing on freedom of religion, but that is what freedom of religion is all about – truly having the freedom to worship, or not worship, as you please as long as you don’t hurt anyone else in the process. And the Darksteins are some of the kindest people in that nasty, little town – them and their wonderful neighbor, Adele Jackson, also known as Mrs. Shor’nuff.
Anyone interested in freedom of religion, alternative means of worship, or simply a well-told story addressing these issues, should enjoy Practical Devil Worship (For all the Family). Highly recommended.
Disclosure: I picked up a copy of this book free on Amazon, and am happy to provide an honest review.
Synopsis: Armageddon in a small town.
The Darkstein's. Your average American family – hardworking, patriotic and devout. The only thing that sets them apart from the God-fearing community of Goat Creek is their chosen faith.
Following the disappearance of local girl Belinda Popejoy, backwater prejudices threaten to blow the tenuous neighbourly peace apart. As tension and bigotry mount on all sides, and private vendettas boil over, the Darkstein's will have to rely on the luck of the devil in order to survive…
My Thoughts: This book will probably offend the heck out of a lot of people, but I absolutely loved it. The Darksteins are, from my understanding of Satanism, pretty average Satan-worshippers, although sacrifice of living creatures is not a requirement. Satanism, as created by Anton LeVay, is just secular humanism given a name that was designed to freak out anyone close-minded enough not to do a little research into the topic. And many of the residents of Goat Creek are pretty close-minded. Of course, I could see the happenings in this book taking place in almost any small town I’ve ever been in or heard of, sadly.
I don’t want to turn my review into a platform for lecturing on freedom of religion, but that is what freedom of religion is all about – truly having the freedom to worship, or not worship, as you please as long as you don’t hurt anyone else in the process. And the Darksteins are some of the kindest people in that nasty, little town – them and their wonderful neighbor, Adele Jackson, also known as Mrs. Shor’nuff.
Anyone interested in freedom of religion, alternative means of worship, or simply a well-told story addressing these issues, should enjoy Practical Devil Worship (For all the Family). Highly recommended.
February 17, 2018
A nice little story with no real surprises about tolerance and hidden evil.
But I hate, hate, hate written dialect. All the speech in the story is rendered that way. Which cost it 1 1/2 stars, rounded down.
But I hate, hate, hate written dialect. All the speech in the story is rendered that way. Which cost it 1 1/2 stars, rounded down.
August 13, 2018
3.5*
Satirical short story - 48 Kindle pages long.
A lot of ideas fitted into a short story - this tale does what all good satire should do...makes you think, exposes hypocrisy and makes you laugh and shake your head at the same time.
Satirical short story - 48 Kindle pages long.
A lot of ideas fitted into a short story - this tale does what all good satire should do...makes you think, exposes hypocrisy and makes you laugh and shake your head at the same time.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews