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Duke de Richleau #10
Gateway to Hell
The door was not locked, and opened easily. He switched on the light, and Richard followed him into the room. Nella lay on the bed. She had on the nightdress she had been lent, but the bedclothes had been pulled halfway down. Her head was twisted back grotesquely. Her mouth gaped open and her tongue had been cut out. It had been carefully placed in the valley between her naked breasts.
The Duke de Richleau and his friends had faced many dangers in Russia, Spain and Nazi Germany. Now, a new and unexpected menace confronts them: the fourth member of their group, Rex van Ryn, is missing � and he has made off with more than a million dollars from the Buenos Aires branch of his family bank.
Behind the conventional courtesy of Argentinian society lies a conspiracy of terror and silence � and a trail that leads straight to the Devil himself . . .
The Duke de Richleau and his friends had faced many dangers in Russia, Spain and Nazi Germany. Now, a new and unexpected menace confronts them: the fourth member of their group, Rex van Ryn, is missing � and he has made off with more than a million dollars from the Buenos Aires branch of his family bank.
Behind the conventional courtesy of Argentinian society lies a conspiracy of terror and silence � and a trail that leads straight to the Devil himself . . .
325 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1972
10 people are currently reading
266 people want to read
About the author
Dennis Wheatley
380 books248 followersDennis Yates Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) [Born: Dennis Yeats Wheatley] was an English author. His prolific output of stylish thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors in the 1950s and 1960s.
His first book, Three Inquisitive People, was not immediately published; but his first published novel, The Forbidden Territory, was an immediate success when published in 1933, being reprinted seven times in seven weeks.
He wrote adventure stories, with many books in a series of linked works. His plots covered the French Revolution (Roger Brook Series), Satanism (Duc de Richleau), World War II (Gregory Sallust) and espionage (Julian Day).
In the thirties, he conceived a series of whodunit mysteries, presented as case files, with testimonies, letters, pieces of evidence such as hairs or pills. The reader had to go through the evidence to solve the mystery before unsealing the last pages of the file, which gave the answer. Four of these 'Crime Dossiers' were published: Murder Off Miami, Who Killed Robert Prentice, The Malinsay Massacre, and Herewith The Clues.
In the 1960s his publishers were selling a million copies of his books per year. A small number of his books were made into films by Hammer, of which the best known is The Devil Rides Out (book 1934, film 1968). His writing is very descriptive and in many works he manages to introduce his characters into real events while meeting real people. For example, in the Roger Brook series the main character involves himself with Napoleon, and Joséphine whilst being a spy for the Prime Minister William Pitt. Similarly, in the Gregory Sallust series, Sallust shares an evening meal with Hermann Göring.
He also wrote non-fiction works, including accounts of the Russian Revolution and King Charles II, and his autobiography. He was considered an authority on the supernatural, satanism, the practice of exorcism, and black magic, to all of which he was hostile. During his study of the paranormal, though, he joined the Ghost Club.
From 1974 through 1977 he edited a series of 45 paperback reprints for the British publisher Sphere under the heading "The Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult", selecting the titles and writing short introductions for each book. This series included both occult-themed novels by the likes of Bram Stoker and Aleister Crowley and non-fiction works on magic, occultism, and divination by authors such as the Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, the historian Maurice Magre, the magician Isaac Bonewits, and the palm-reader Cheiro.
Two weeks before his death in November 1977, Wheatley received conditional absolution from his old friend Cyril ‘Bobby’ Eastaugh, the Bishop of Peterborough.
His estate library was sold in a catalogue sale by Basil Blackwell's in the 1970s, indicating a thoroughly well-read individual with wide-ranging interests particularly in historical fiction and Europe. His influence has declined, partly due to difficulties in reprinting his works owing to copyright problems.
Fifty-two of Wheatley's novels were published posthumously in a set by Heron Books UK. More recently, in April 2008 Dennis Wheatley's literary estate was acquired by media company Chorion.
He invented a number of board games including Invasion.
-Wikipedia
His first book, Three Inquisitive People, was not immediately published; but his first published novel, The Forbidden Territory, was an immediate success when published in 1933, being reprinted seven times in seven weeks.
He wrote adventure stories, with many books in a series of linked works. His plots covered the French Revolution (Roger Brook Series), Satanism (Duc de Richleau), World War II (Gregory Sallust) and espionage (Julian Day).
In the thirties, he conceived a series of whodunit mysteries, presented as case files, with testimonies, letters, pieces of evidence such as hairs or pills. The reader had to go through the evidence to solve the mystery before unsealing the last pages of the file, which gave the answer. Four of these 'Crime Dossiers' were published: Murder Off Miami, Who Killed Robert Prentice, The Malinsay Massacre, and Herewith The Clues.
In the 1960s his publishers were selling a million copies of his books per year. A small number of his books were made into films by Hammer, of which the best known is The Devil Rides Out (book 1934, film 1968). His writing is very descriptive and in many works he manages to introduce his characters into real events while meeting real people. For example, in the Roger Brook series the main character involves himself with Napoleon, and Joséphine whilst being a spy for the Prime Minister William Pitt. Similarly, in the Gregory Sallust series, Sallust shares an evening meal with Hermann Göring.
He also wrote non-fiction works, including accounts of the Russian Revolution and King Charles II, and his autobiography. He was considered an authority on the supernatural, satanism, the practice of exorcism, and black magic, to all of which he was hostile. During his study of the paranormal, though, he joined the Ghost Club.
From 1974 through 1977 he edited a series of 45 paperback reprints for the British publisher Sphere under the heading "The Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult", selecting the titles and writing short introductions for each book. This series included both occult-themed novels by the likes of Bram Stoker and Aleister Crowley and non-fiction works on magic, occultism, and divination by authors such as the Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, the historian Maurice Magre, the magician Isaac Bonewits, and the palm-reader Cheiro.
Two weeks before his death in November 1977, Wheatley received conditional absolution from his old friend Cyril ‘Bobby’ Eastaugh, the Bishop of Peterborough.
His estate library was sold in a catalogue sale by Basil Blackwell's in the 1970s, indicating a thoroughly well-read individual with wide-ranging interests particularly in historical fiction and Europe. His influence has declined, partly due to difficulties in reprinting his works owing to copyright problems.
Fifty-two of Wheatley's novels were published posthumously in a set by Heron Books UK. More recently, in April 2008 Dennis Wheatley's literary estate was acquired by media company Chorion.
He invented a number of board games including Invasion.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 25, 2020
I'd forgotten how odd Dennis Wheatley's books are. You go in expecting horror but instead find yourself in a rip-roaring Boy's Own-type adventure with the Devil leering in the background and our decidely un-PC heroes dashing around the world as they seek to foil the dastardly forces of evil. It's like reading Ian Fleming with the part of James Bond played by Doctor Strange. Dated but fun!
November 10, 2021
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars = "Meh." Was pretty disappointed with this one. I love the movie "The Devil Rides Out" which is based on one of Wheatley's earlier novels and so I wanted to actually read one of his "Black Magic" books. I don't have a lot of time at present to read so I chose this one as it was shorter than the other ones I have. The first half of the story dragged on forever and when it finally got going it had way too many WTF moments that just didn't work. There seemed to be too much of Wheatley's personal politics and bizarre spiritual opinions as well; the book was also pretty racist, equating the "Black Power" movement with Satanism (yikes!). The story also emphasized that "Black Magic" was primarily performed in Africa, Haiti, South America, etc. whereas "White Magic" was mostly practiced in Europe (yikes No. 2). Finally I just have a hard time with stories where you can just pull a "magic" solution out of the air to solve a problem. For me a story of this type needs to have some cohesive boundaries and not just be able to create made up "anything goes" "magic" solutions. I heard this was one of his worst novels in comparison to his earlier work so I *might* give his books another try but I'm definitely not chomping at the bit to get to one any time soon.
June 23, 2012
Wonderfully opinionated and politically incorrect, as always with Wheatley. This time he has an axe to grind about the Perons (the beginning takes place in Argentina), the civil rights movement, and the godless design of the new Coventry Cathedral! The storytelling is wooden at best and I think might be worse than the other Satanist books. Good for aspiring writers as an example of what _not_ to do. But, entertaining still, in it's own way.
February 15, 2019
Review on Audible com
October 13, 2025
Once upon a time, one autumn season perhaps a year or two ago, I asked my wife to pick out a Hammer Horror production film for us to watch. She took to the internet, and a movie called "The Devil Rides Out" generally topped the lists.
We watched it, and a good time was had, with Christopher Lee punching satanists in the face and chanting mystic spells. There were car-chases, giant spiders, spectral knights, and a satanic orgy. What wasn't to love?
Cut to this year. In a used bookstore, amid dusty, beetle infested stacks (literally) I found "Gateway to Hell" by Dennis Wheatley. It was to my surprise to learn that this was part of a series of books that included the novel "The Devil Rides Out" upon which the film was based, concerning the adventures of the Duke De Richeleau and his buddies, who were a bunch of globe-trotting nazi-punchers! "Wow!" I thought. "How could this go wrong?"
Alas, 'racism' and 'lunch' is the answer.
As a lover of sci fi and fantasy I cannot help but be somewhat intrigued by real-world conspiracies, the idea that there are sorcerous cabals at work, hidden behind the scenes that must be opposed. Yet, inevitably, the problem with looking into that sort of thing in any genuine capacity is that sooner or later all you turn up is anti-semitism. Even the truly creative stuff about shape-shifting lizard people from the inner earth is just a thinly-veiled cover for being able to say "...And that's why we need to exterminate the jews and the blacks and everyone else who isn't a nice, upper-middle-class white person!"
Such is the case here with "Gateway to Hell". Things felt fine enough for the first fifty or so pages, the crew of adventurers pursuing their missing friend around the world in an attempt to locate and aid him in whatever trouble caused him to abscond away with millions from his bank. But the first hint that something was horribly wrong came to me during one particular encounter:
The heroes, talking to a lead, were told "Oh, your friend is wanted for murder! He was sleeping with a negress, and then he killed her!"
...to which our heroes, to one another, say "That can't possibly be true. Our chap is just too good of a fellow to have EVER slept with a negress, so it must be a lie!"
Hoo boy.
From there things only take an even deeper nose-dive when the heroes ("Hero" being a term I must use in an increasingly clinical fashion as it concerns these 'good, white men') peep upon a furry convention- ah, I mean, a satanic sabbat (everyone garbed in animal costumes and animal suits) - and rescue a woman fleeing from it. She tells her story, about how she was a schoolteacher from a small-minded community who dared to voice that black people should be given equal rights. When she was kicked out of her town, she joined up with a movement working further to promote such equal rights, and from there was poached by satanists who abducted her to their sabbat orgy.
"Stupid do-gooder!" ...is what one of our 'Heroes' thinks of her after this. Because yes, in the world of satanism and black magic, the equal-rights movement is just a cover for the devil's machinations, seeking to spread chaos and dissent through the world, led by such wicked figures as 'a well educated, black lawyer'. Now, this isn't to say of course that our heroes are RACISTS, no no no, of course not, they protest! "I welcome the black man as my brother," De Richeleau says later. ...Before continuing on to say "...but not as my brother in law." So, you know. Of course our good guys want equal rights for all. ...Within reason.
As I continued to read, whilst De Richeleau faced off with satanic priests in polite, convivial battles of debate (In which the satanists made one good point after another), I couldn't help but be overcome with the chilling feeling that this book is exactly the way that modern nutballs think about liberals. "Poor misguided fools," the nutballs might say. "Of COURSE the libtards have good intentions, but they're so naive thinking that all-gender bathrooms, mixed-race and same-sex marriages won't lead to global chaos, as orchestrated by the devil himself! Wake up from the matrix, sheeple!" If you then respond to them with a cogent and well-reasoned argument, stating facts, they only have to shake their heads and say "Good thing the powers of righteousness clued me in on your baby-eating and rape-rituals, otherwise I might just be tempted to side with you!"
So, does this pulp novel written in the 70s have problems with racism, like every other pulp adventure story written in the 70's and earlier? Well, duh. Yet, while some stories just kind of have racism as a little side-platter you can tuck under your napkin to get it out of the way (gross though it will be later, to shake out a bunch of linens stuffed with cold, rotten racism) as is the case of Jules Verne or Edgar Rice Burroughs, here in "Gateway to Hell" racism is the main course, where siding with the main protagonists of the tale means siding with guys who outspokenly think children born from black and white parents would be "Suffering under a terrible handicap", and their old chum who has gone 'round to the other way of thinking (that actual equality is pretty keen) is the BAD guy, who has been seduced by the promise of unholy power and baby-eating (good thing it was all just an act, eh?).
So, that's problem number one I had with this book.
Problem number TWO is 'Lunches'.
The first fifty pages of Gateway to Hell are polite as heck. Two of the main characters (excluding the Duke De Richeleau, who was the one I was actually interested in) go traveling around in search of their missing friend, and what a pleasant time they have of it. They stay in the best hotels, they eat lunch, they get drinks, they chat with people, they get drinks, they have a wonderful breakfast, they get on a plane or a boat or a bus and go somewhere else to go have dinner and more drinks with more lovely conversation. And then, once they've done that, they rest up, go somewhere else, and get more drinks and more lunch.
Adventure ho.
I think that if either of these two problems were isolated by themselves I MIGHT have found some entertainment in this book, if first we had a slow and polite build-up followed by satan-punching action, or some collar-tugging racism that had been preceded by action and adventure, but taken altogether it was a slog, watching these rich white guys have a lovely time abroad before expounding their "no no, I don't HATE black people! I just think they should know their place!" ideals. Just when things seemed like they were going to get exciting following the satanic sabbath, the story immediately grinds to a halt as the protagonists get caught up in a tedious murder investigation, where they're arrested, questioned, go to court, go on trial, yada yada yada.
Adventure ho indeed.
We watched it, and a good time was had, with Christopher Lee punching satanists in the face and chanting mystic spells. There were car-chases, giant spiders, spectral knights, and a satanic orgy. What wasn't to love?
Cut to this year. In a used bookstore, amid dusty, beetle infested stacks (literally) I found "Gateway to Hell" by Dennis Wheatley. It was to my surprise to learn that this was part of a series of books that included the novel "The Devil Rides Out" upon which the film was based, concerning the adventures of the Duke De Richeleau and his buddies, who were a bunch of globe-trotting nazi-punchers! "Wow!" I thought. "How could this go wrong?"
Alas, 'racism' and 'lunch' is the answer.
As a lover of sci fi and fantasy I cannot help but be somewhat intrigued by real-world conspiracies, the idea that there are sorcerous cabals at work, hidden behind the scenes that must be opposed. Yet, inevitably, the problem with looking into that sort of thing in any genuine capacity is that sooner or later all you turn up is anti-semitism. Even the truly creative stuff about shape-shifting lizard people from the inner earth is just a thinly-veiled cover for being able to say "...And that's why we need to exterminate the jews and the blacks and everyone else who isn't a nice, upper-middle-class white person!"
Such is the case here with "Gateway to Hell". Things felt fine enough for the first fifty or so pages, the crew of adventurers pursuing their missing friend around the world in an attempt to locate and aid him in whatever trouble caused him to abscond away with millions from his bank. But the first hint that something was horribly wrong came to me during one particular encounter:
The heroes, talking to a lead, were told "Oh, your friend is wanted for murder! He was sleeping with a negress, and then he killed her!"
...to which our heroes, to one another, say "That can't possibly be true. Our chap is just too good of a fellow to have EVER slept with a negress, so it must be a lie!"
Hoo boy.
From there things only take an even deeper nose-dive when the heroes ("Hero" being a term I must use in an increasingly clinical fashion as it concerns these 'good, white men') peep upon a furry convention- ah, I mean, a satanic sabbat (everyone garbed in animal costumes and animal suits) - and rescue a woman fleeing from it. She tells her story, about how she was a schoolteacher from a small-minded community who dared to voice that black people should be given equal rights. When she was kicked out of her town, she joined up with a movement working further to promote such equal rights, and from there was poached by satanists who abducted her to their sabbat orgy.
"Stupid do-gooder!" ...is what one of our 'Heroes' thinks of her after this. Because yes, in the world of satanism and black magic, the equal-rights movement is just a cover for the devil's machinations, seeking to spread chaos and dissent through the world, led by such wicked figures as 'a well educated, black lawyer'. Now, this isn't to say of course that our heroes are RACISTS, no no no, of course not, they protest! "I welcome the black man as my brother," De Richeleau says later. ...Before continuing on to say "...but not as my brother in law." So, you know. Of course our good guys want equal rights for all. ...Within reason.
As I continued to read, whilst De Richeleau faced off with satanic priests in polite, convivial battles of debate (In which the satanists made one good point after another), I couldn't help but be overcome with the chilling feeling that this book is exactly the way that modern nutballs think about liberals. "Poor misguided fools," the nutballs might say. "Of COURSE the libtards have good intentions, but they're so naive thinking that all-gender bathrooms, mixed-race and same-sex marriages won't lead to global chaos, as orchestrated by the devil himself! Wake up from the matrix, sheeple!" If you then respond to them with a cogent and well-reasoned argument, stating facts, they only have to shake their heads and say "Good thing the powers of righteousness clued me in on your baby-eating and rape-rituals, otherwise I might just be tempted to side with you!"
So, does this pulp novel written in the 70s have problems with racism, like every other pulp adventure story written in the 70's and earlier? Well, duh. Yet, while some stories just kind of have racism as a little side-platter you can tuck under your napkin to get it out of the way (gross though it will be later, to shake out a bunch of linens stuffed with cold, rotten racism) as is the case of Jules Verne or Edgar Rice Burroughs, here in "Gateway to Hell" racism is the main course, where siding with the main protagonists of the tale means siding with guys who outspokenly think children born from black and white parents would be "Suffering under a terrible handicap", and their old chum who has gone 'round to the other way of thinking (that actual equality is pretty keen) is the BAD guy, who has been seduced by the promise of unholy power and baby-eating (good thing it was all just an act, eh?).
So, that's problem number one I had with this book.
Problem number TWO is 'Lunches'.
The first fifty pages of Gateway to Hell are polite as heck. Two of the main characters (excluding the Duke De Richeleau, who was the one I was actually interested in) go traveling around in search of their missing friend, and what a pleasant time they have of it. They stay in the best hotels, they eat lunch, they get drinks, they chat with people, they get drinks, they have a wonderful breakfast, they get on a plane or a boat or a bus and go somewhere else to go have dinner and more drinks with more lovely conversation. And then, once they've done that, they rest up, go somewhere else, and get more drinks and more lunch.
Adventure ho.
I think that if either of these two problems were isolated by themselves I MIGHT have found some entertainment in this book, if first we had a slow and polite build-up followed by satan-punching action, or some collar-tugging racism that had been preceded by action and adventure, but taken altogether it was a slog, watching these rich white guys have a lovely time abroad before expounding their "no no, I don't HATE black people! I just think they should know their place!" ideals. Just when things seemed like they were going to get exciting following the satanic sabbath, the story immediately grinds to a halt as the protagonists get caught up in a tedious murder investigation, where they're arrested, questioned, go to court, go on trial, yada yada yada.
Adventure ho indeed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2015
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. After enjoying The Devil Rides Out, I was excited to “read” (I listened to the Audible Audio Edition) this sequel.
Set in the late 1950’s out heroes from 1934’s Devil Rides Out have again found themselves tangled with a cult of Satanists. However, unlike the first book, that spends the first half primarily following the Duke and Rex racing across England, Gateway to Hell spends the first half following Simon and Richard, who are by far the weakest and least interesting of the four characters.
They travel to South America to find Rex, who has gone missing after stealing a million dollars. This turns into lengthy narratives about Argentina and Chile that reminded me more of a 1950’s travel guide than a novel. Finally, around the midpoint, Duke de Richleau comes onto the scene. From that moment it dramatically improved and I enjoyed listening to the Duke’s debates and lessons on the occult and theology. However, even that was not enough to fully save this book. Long parts dragged and had trouble keeping my interest. The portions I enjoyed, I thoroughly enjoyed, but I would find it difficult to recommend this book to most people.
Set in the late 1950’s out heroes from 1934’s Devil Rides Out have again found themselves tangled with a cult of Satanists. However, unlike the first book, that spends the first half primarily following the Duke and Rex racing across England, Gateway to Hell spends the first half following Simon and Richard, who are by far the weakest and least interesting of the four characters.
They travel to South America to find Rex, who has gone missing after stealing a million dollars. This turns into lengthy narratives about Argentina and Chile that reminded me more of a 1950’s travel guide than a novel. Finally, around the midpoint, Duke de Richleau comes onto the scene. From that moment it dramatically improved and I enjoyed listening to the Duke’s debates and lessons on the occult and theology. However, even that was not enough to fully save this book. Long parts dragged and had trouble keeping my interest. The portions I enjoyed, I thoroughly enjoyed, but I would find it difficult to recommend this book to most people.
December 15, 2021
lmao what?
Dennis Wheatley has some terrible, outdated takes which can't really be ignored, as they are pretty crucial to the plot. Considering the book revolves around the equality of races... and it was written a while ago, there were always going to be some *spicy* political takes. Openly expressing your opposition to interracial marriage is a definite way to make the reader question whether the good guys are really that great and maybe the Satanists do have a point... of course one of those Satanists is also a Nazi so the real conclusion should be both sides are terribly wrong about the whole thing.
We follow Simon and Richard, who are painfully typical British gentlemen. Thank the lord the Duke comes through to save us halfway through.
The plot? A mission to find a missing friend, being wrongfully accused on murder and then trying to escape remarkly hospitable Satanists. Sounds fun? WRONG. It was surprisingly dull on that front.
HOWEVER
We are gonna semi-ignore all that because the Duke just peacing out and going to the astral every so often is just so funny to me. As a horror it fails but as a comedy, it thrives. It's just classic British men behaving as such in exceedingly bizarre circumstances.
Will I be reading more by this man? Sadly yes
Dennis Wheatley has some terrible, outdated takes which can't really be ignored, as they are pretty crucial to the plot. Considering the book revolves around the equality of races... and it was written a while ago, there were always going to be some *spicy* political takes. Openly expressing your opposition to interracial marriage is a definite way to make the reader question whether the good guys are really that great and maybe the Satanists do have a point... of course one of those Satanists is also a Nazi so the real conclusion should be both sides are terribly wrong about the whole thing.
We follow Simon and Richard, who are painfully typical British gentlemen. Thank the lord the Duke comes through to save us halfway through.
The plot? A mission to find a missing friend, being wrongfully accused on murder and then trying to escape remarkly hospitable Satanists. Sounds fun? WRONG. It was surprisingly dull on that front.
HOWEVER
We are gonna semi-ignore all that because the Duke just peacing out and going to the astral every so often is just so funny to me. As a horror it fails but as a comedy, it thrives. It's just classic British men behaving as such in exceedingly bizarre circumstances.
Will I be reading more by this man? Sadly yes
April 29, 2021
I've always been a Dennis Wheatley fan. Fifty million readers must be attracted by something. His standby is Black Magic and his hero is a a remarkable man called the Duke de Richleau, who possesses psychic, not to say magical powers.
In this book one of his friends goes missing, having embezzled a million pounds.
The plot is the finding of him.
Good pits itself against evil. I won't tell you who wins.
The book is ultra slow, even tedious, for a long time. We are treated to descriptions of exotic drinks and gourmet meals.
After halfway the pace picks up at last and you understand that the Master was just rusty and hadn't lost his magic touch.
There are numerous better Wheatley books. Don't start on this one. Read the earlier ones. There are glimmers of quality, but on the whole this is a poor book and he doesn't do himself justice.
In this book one of his friends goes missing, having embezzled a million pounds.
The plot is the finding of him.
Good pits itself against evil. I won't tell you who wins.
The book is ultra slow, even tedious, for a long time. We are treated to descriptions of exotic drinks and gourmet meals.
After halfway the pace picks up at last and you understand that the Master was just rusty and hadn't lost his magic touch.
There are numerous better Wheatley books. Don't start on this one. Read the earlier ones. There are glimmers of quality, but on the whole this is a poor book and he doesn't do himself justice.
November 10, 2024
The rightwing mind is extraordinarily limited. It has to be. There is no other way rightwing tenets can be accepted. There is however and with good education a rightwing mind can become workably articulate and while lacking imagination - another rightwing necessity - able to harvest enough of other people's ideas or their own deranged fantasies about sexuality to become fiction authors or pompous old windbags or both. Enter Dennis Wheatley.
Wheatley might never have been as audacious in all of his MOR rambling as he was with Gateway to Hell, in which the Civil Rights movement is in fact a ploy by Satan to destabilize the good, white, Christian world. Yeah. Interrupted frequently by meandering episodes of luncheons and champagne and a general revulsion of all but the upper classes and long-winded monologues on how leftwing do-gooders are stupid and under the spell of Satan, Wheatley manages to weave the misogyny of Rollo Ahmed's insane grifting, Nazi ideas about lost superior races building pyramids, yet more misogynistic apologies for witch burning, eugenics, homophobia on the level only the closeted could display, and the kink fantasies of Christian dogma into one ridiculous rant.
The kind of snorefest that could only have been successful in times when people had really nothing better to do. Sadly, the rightwing still have nothing better to say.
Wheatley might never have been as audacious in all of his MOR rambling as he was with Gateway to Hell, in which the Civil Rights movement is in fact a ploy by Satan to destabilize the good, white, Christian world. Yeah. Interrupted frequently by meandering episodes of luncheons and champagne and a general revulsion of all but the upper classes and long-winded monologues on how leftwing do-gooders are stupid and under the spell of Satan, Wheatley manages to weave the misogyny of Rollo Ahmed's insane grifting, Nazi ideas about lost superior races building pyramids, yet more misogynistic apologies for witch burning, eugenics, homophobia on the level only the closeted could display, and the kink fantasies of Christian dogma into one ridiculous rant.
The kind of snorefest that could only have been successful in times when people had really nothing better to do. Sadly, the rightwing still have nothing better to say.
June 9, 2024
This was the first Dennis Wheatley novel I've read so I was very much looking forward to it. I was however deeply disappointed. Written when he was over seventy this was one of Wheatley's last books, and might represent a writer well past his prime. First published in 1970, you'd be forgiven for assuming it was written 30 or even 40 years before that. The plot is stagey and melodramatic, the characters stereotyped and flat, the overall narrative forced and punctuated by lengthy and frankly muddled passages in which various characters expound on their beliefs about the occult. I'm deeply sceptical about so-called 'cancel culture', particularly when applied retrospectively, but when you read this sort of ultra-reactionary nonsense you start to have second thoughts. There's little to redeem this book. The central thrust of the plot is that the Black Power movement is/was a Satanic plot to cause global unrest! The text is thoroughly, and frequently explicitly, racist. To quote one example: 'White men are stronger than negroes'. An awful book. Avoid.
January 3, 2020
Not particularly horrifying to a modern audience perhaps, but I found it interesting to read. It's written in the early 70s and set in the 50s. The main characters have distinctly political opinions coloured by the views of the day. I've always found this deeply fascinating, to see how the "truth" changes with the times.
October 24, 2021
Picks up in the second half, after a very slow first 100 pages or so. This one has aged badly, and some of the attempts to write dialogue for non-English speaking characters borders on comedy. As with a lot of Wheatley's novels, this one also ends very abruptly.
October 2, 2017
A man a head of his time.
May 17, 2021
Abracadabra, Wheatley did churn them out.
July 7, 2021
Good book. Read it once, probably wouldn't read it again.--
July 16, 2022
WHAT A STEAMING AUTHOR
April 28, 2023
The first two thirds of the book were trying to solve the mystery of a missing friend and the last third compared religions with satanic beliefs. I expected this book to shock me more than it did.
March 5, 2017
Great book meet up with old friends who I haven't read about for an out 20 years
March 25, 2014
Many years ago, I was an avid fan of the DR. STRANGE comic book series, and the interest in occult stories has never gone completely away. Because of this, folks often recommended the Black Magic and Occult books of Dennis Wheatley to my attention. Although I have seen the Hammer movie versions of two of them, this is the first one I've read.
The writer's style is...not to put too small a point on it...perplexing. It opens as an intriguing mystery thriller. Then, it has the feel of an Ian Fleming James Bond novel, complete with extensive details (albeit more of them here) and two operatives tracking down an unknown, yet powerful, mastermind. Finally, we are placed squarely in Fu Manchu territory, with horrific vengeance and diabolical tortures.
Interspersed among all of this is the writer's authoritative voice, and I do mean authoritative. He has very strong opinions, and there is a sense that anyone who would argue these points with him would be verbally thrashed. These opinions range from the Peron rule in Argentina to the proper interpretation of religion. The Black Power movement he details does give more than a moment's pause.
All of this left me with a sense of imbalance. The story was readable, yet there were many "Aw, c'mon" moments that are presented as if no reader would have the temerity to question them, especially with policemen who readily accept the supernatural as an explanation for crimes, and a humdinger of a plot hole at the end that frankly astonished me.
I don't know if I'll be visiting any of the writer's other works. I'm curious about two titles. We'll see.
The writer's style is...not to put too small a point on it...perplexing. It opens as an intriguing mystery thriller. Then, it has the feel of an Ian Fleming James Bond novel, complete with extensive details (albeit more of them here) and two operatives tracking down an unknown, yet powerful, mastermind. Finally, we are placed squarely in Fu Manchu territory, with horrific vengeance and diabolical tortures.
Interspersed among all of this is the writer's authoritative voice, and I do mean authoritative. He has very strong opinions, and there is a sense that anyone who would argue these points with him would be verbally thrashed. These opinions range from the Peron rule in Argentina to the proper interpretation of religion. The Black Power movement he details does give more than a moment's pause.
All of this left me with a sense of imbalance. The story was readable, yet there were many "Aw, c'mon" moments that are presented as if no reader would have the temerity to question them, especially with policemen who readily accept the supernatural as an explanation for crimes, and a humdinger of a plot hole at the end that frankly astonished me.
I don't know if I'll be visiting any of the writer's other works. I'm curious about two titles. We'll see.
February 21, 2023
Great fun - exciting to the end, what I like is that he keeps the suspense right to the very last page, not an easy task. It's the story that makes this book so enjoyable.
October 30, 2014
** donated to CCU 30/10/2014
March 31, 2015
Gateway to Hell
Good flow and plot not allowed to drag. Good descriptions of Satanic material. An interesting book I would recommend to read.
Good flow and plot not allowed to drag. Good descriptions of Satanic material. An interesting book I would recommend to read.
February 21, 2016
Book 10 in the series.
Probably the least entertaining of the set.
How our heroes defeated these villians and survived is stretching beyond the scope of miracles.
Probably the least entertaining of the set.
How our heroes defeated these villians and survived is stretching beyond the scope of miracles.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews