Encyclopaedia of Hell: An Invasion Manual For Demons Concerning the Planet Earth and the Human Race Which Infests It

by Martin Olson, Tony Millionaire (Illustrator), Mahendra Singh (Illustrator)

A tour de force of darkness, Encyclopaedia of Hell is a manual of Earth written by Lord Satan for his invading hordes of demons, complete with hundreds of unpleasant illustrations, diagrams, and a comprehensive and utterly repulsive dictionary of Earth terms.

Since the customs and mores of humanity are alien and inconceivable to demons, Satan wrote this strangely poetic military handbook for the enlightenment and edification of his demon armies. A masterpiece expressing Satan's hatred for humanity and himself, the Encyclopaedia includes "Techniques of Stalking and Eating Humans," "Methods of Canning Human Pus," and "Dicing and Slicing Orphaned Children."

Why the invasion? During the last century in particular, Hell has become seriously overcrowded. Satan needs more land mass for the damned and to use the human livestock to feed his hungry demon invaders.

Since this book is the 666th commemorative edition, this Encyclopaedia contains special commemorative material.

Martin Olson's savage wit provides the firepower for a preposterous literary feat unaccomplished since Mark Twain passed—channeling the real voice of Satan. Over the past fifteen years, Olson has written and produced nine comedy specials, inflicted on the populace via CBS, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and A&E.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Horror, Mythology, Satire

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Scrivener, plunker, strummer.

My first book was published by the wonderful and notorious Feral House: "Encyclopaedia of Hell: An Invasion Manual for Demons Concerning the Planet Earth and the Human Race Which Infests It"

My 2nd book was published by Abrams NY: "The Adventure Time Encyclopaedia: Inhabitants, Lore, Spells, and Ancient Crypt Warnings of the Land of Ooo Circa 19.56 B.G.E. - 501 A.G.E."

My 3rd book, also with Abrams, is "Adventure Time: The Enchiridion & Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook", which I wrote with my daughter Olivia Olson.

The fourth and most recent is a sequel to "Encyclopaedia of Hell" called "The Conquest of Heaven," also from Feral House. This is intended to be a trilogy, and the last book will be called "The Triumph of Nothingness," and is about a group of angels, demons and humans setting sail in a time ship into the Time Void to save Lord Satan. Along the way the crew stumble onto the ultimate secret of how Everything somehow sprouted from Nothingness. Let's see if I can finish it before I croak.

My poetry books are available for free here: http://issuu.com/emartin888

If anyone has read my first book, or the French translation, please drop me a line at martinolson888@gmail.com and let me know what you think.

Kind regards,
Martin Olson

Reviews

[Cate (The Professional Fangirl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Reading Good Books review.

Encyclopaedia of Hell makes fun of EVERYTHING in the human race from acne to zippers. It is an invasion guide proposed by the Ruler of Hell, Lord Satan himself. This is how we humans seem to the demons.

Think along the lines of Max Brooks’ Zombie Survival Guide. It is not to be taken seriously. The terminologies are described in the most sarcastic and surreal ways meant to show that humans are lesser beings to demons. It also talks about eating humans, diseases that make human flesh “taste better”, mentions of suicide, stupid politicians, etc. It’s not for the faint of heart… and those without a sense of humor.

My favorite parts are editor Zyk’s memo. His affair was so hilarious! His narration was so animated and just flat out funny. I honestly found myself just breezing through the encyclopaedia part just so I can get to his letters sooner. There were parts of the book that got a bit redundant. They were still funny but as it went on, I got a little bored and it didn’t quite have my attention anymore.

I also liked the illustrations. Again, not to be taken seriously. Many are grotesque representations of the key demons mentioned. You’ll be transported as if you’re reading Satan’s manuscript from the cover, to the layout, even the spelling of some words!

Rating: 4/5.

Recommendation: Go into this with a sense of humor.

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book literally had me laughing until I was crying!!! I never expected that a book with this title could make me laugh this hard but that is exactly what it did. The book is a manuscript written by Satan himself and from the "manual of earth terms" to the "guide to eating humans" there was never a dull moment. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book that will keep them laughing from beginning to end. This will definitely be a book that I read numerous times throughout my life.

[Martin Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: Encyclopædia of Hell: An Invasion Manual for Demons by Martin Olson. Feral House. Spring, 2011. By Michael Yank

Purported to be authored by the greatest critic humanity has ever dreamed up, Satan himself, Encyclopædia pushes satire to a new, ferocious level. While the text might not actually originate from another dimension as alleged, it may as well have, so surreal and inspired is Olson's wit.

At its core a twisted Twain-ian takedown of modern society, Encyclopædia approaches our culture from the perspective of Satan and his demon associates, who try to make sense of mankind in preparation for a full scale invasion of Earth. Olson meticulously constructs an entire new (and highly blasphemous) mythological framework to satirize human folly. Money and television are plagues conceived and engineered by demons to weaken the population of "human livestock." 23 percent of all people, it is claimed, are actually Demons in disguise, setting the stage for Satan's invasion of earth.

Olson delivers his barbs through an impressively intricate meta-narrative representing one of the fresher approaches to storytelling structures. The sprawling "Encyclopædia" is replete with countless introductions, publisher's notes, weird secret codes and "invisible messages" from God. The treatise itself is peppered with footnotes and commentaries from Satan and no fewer than nine distinct infernal "executives," each with a unique background and personality. The result is a dense, multi-layered assault on the mind exceptionally well-tailored to the deranged subject matter.

The text consists of two "Books." The first is an Invasion Manual, with instructions for an unholy takeover of Earth by Satan's fleets of "pentagonal hellcrafts." Annexing earth's land-mass to hell is necessary, it is explained in Voltairean deadpan, because Hell has become too crowded. The nuts and bolts of the invasion are relayed in precise, detailed fashion, from the Mapquest-esque directions through space-time to Earth from the City of Hell. The second Book dissects earth through the lenses of Satan and his minions. Here Olson is at his best in channeling Twain, at no point shying away from any topic or taboo in his mission of cultural subversion.

The rich, macabre illustrations of Tony Millionaire and Mahendra Singh (with contributions from other artists) are the perfect backdrop for this impressive work. Their elaborate classical illustrations create an air of authority to the Encyclopædia's descriptions of fantastical entities and cosmos-turning Wheels.

Highly recommended.

[John Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

[An inferno] is probably just where Martin Olson was sitting when tasked with translating The Encyclopedia of Hell. How he learned to speak demonic is anybody’s guess. What’s more puzzling is where Olson got the nerve to actually translate the text in the first place. After all, it is An Invasion Manual for Demons Concerning the Planet Earth and the Human Race Which Infests It. Hardly the kinda thing one wants to bring home to baby.

Maybe Olson’s a demon himself. Why else express the “magnanimity of Lord Satan’s evil”? And if the Dark Lord’s “Pure Hatred of Idiot Mankind” is truly pure, how the hell does Olson get away with working it over for us sundry humans?

The answer eludes me. But since this tome is compiled by (and designed for) an “Invasion Commission composed of Hell’s Most Notable Experts” (aka “Perpetually Warring Executives of Evil Who Forever Despise Each Other”), I’m thinkin’ that no answer is really required. If you wanna learn how the evil see us, this Encyclopedia is all you’ll need.

Taken from
Bound: South of Purgatory
Three Evil Ways to While Away an Evening
SunPost Weekly July 28, 2011 | John Hood
http://bit.ly/oJ4IGk

[Mahendra Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to confess that I was one of the illustrators of this amazing book and that I laughed so hard on this job that I was unable to draw straight on some pages.

If you loathe the pre-packaged bilge that passes for most of modern literature, if you eschew the comatose drivelings that pass for rational thought these days and above all, if you think man is a very, very, very bad animal who usually deserves what he gets, read this book.

Very much in the vein of Ambrose Bierce, Twain and Nathanael West, but MORE FUNNY and MORE DIRTY.

[Thomas Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Encyclopaedia of Hell by Martin Olson

I've heard strange things about this book. Manuscripts left out and read by people like Lars from Metallica and others. They have hailed it as the greatest book ever written. I cannot wait until this damn thing is released.

Sincerely,,Sidney Black

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bizarre, cynical and funny social commentary about the paradoxes in human civilization. I think of it as an updated Devil's Dictionary for our time. It was an amusing read.

[Kelly Wilkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that you can't put down. I have started reading this last night, and the humor and metaphors in this book are second to none. I can't tell anymore due to being an advanced copy, but once I am finished, I will properly review it.

Well it's been a while since I last logged into here, but suffice it to say that this book is a hell of a lot of devilishly well constructed bursts of laughter and chuckles. Not for the simple minded

[Tym · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Giveaway Winner, review coming very soon!

[Giselle]

Everyone's talking about it; now I'm curious

[NeatMillieBliss]

I just bought this, so have only read a portion, but I had to take a moment to rant. This is a relatively new book, released in July 2011, with the electronic version being released in 2012. I really like Feral House publishers in general. A large majority of their authors are conspiracy theorists and mad men, and while that isn't my sort of thing, I've always been glad that FH gave these authors a platform. However, I find the layout of this electronic copy inexcusable! Come on folks, it's 2012! Hire someone with some skills. Having personally prepared dozens of scientific papers for electronic publication (with graphs, photos, footnotes, etc.), I could and would have done better. In this age, with people increasingly going paperless, it's simply, well, as I said before, INEXCUSABLE! Pardon the caps, but I'm really annoyed about it. I might send an email to FH.

That aside, what I have read is amusing, particularly the parts about preparing humans for demon consumption. And Lilith's (the only demonic female contributor to the ancient text) notes are excellent! In general, unless it falls apart, I'd recommend, but only in the physical book version.

November 2nd: I'm not giving this book stars because overall, I'd give the author high marks, but the ebook is absolutely the worst formatted that I have ever downloaded. I'd have to go into negative numbers, so I'm just not bothering. Quite frankly, if I had downloaded a sample first, I wouldn't have purchased. It is gratifying that the author emailed me immediately to let me know he agreed. So, buy this book, support the author and Feral House, but absolutely get a physical copy.

The commercials for the book are great! I haven't checked but I'm sure the links are probably posted on his profile. The one with Ed Asner is priceless!

[Traummachine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a tough book to review. On one hand, I absolutely loved parts of it, laugh out loud funny, especially at the beginning when the concept for the whole book is being outlined. It’s very clever, and apparently includes 6 “secret codes”, such as the Wheel of Kadab that must be read in a mirror. There are several cute pun names, such as Abra Kadab, Llu Cipher, and Zyk of Asimoth. The book also has a great, odd way of telling a linear story, despite the fact that it’s laid out like an encyclopedia.

But…it’s laid out like an encyclopedia (well, for most of it). Yes, I knew this going it, and I think it’d be fine if it was either shorter or more consistently funny. But reading entry after entry gets tedious, especially when they quickly start to cover the same ground over and over. I would definitely say it’s worth reading unless you’re easily offended, but it’s much more enjoyable in smaller chunks…maybe as a replacement for one of the Bathroom Reader series.

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is completely irreverent and heretical and right on target. In this 'reference' book are entries and definitions and very short essays from imps and demons all they way up to the Prince of Darkness himself on the follies of humankind, and how much we think we are actually in control of our own fate.

The irony is so sharp, it will stab you in the gut and laugh maniacally while you bleed to death. If you are a depressive, it will make you feel oh so much worse. If you have evil tendencies, it will teach you how to hone them to master class levels.

We are, in fact, living in hell. But this helps make it somewhat more palatable, somehow.

[Shadi Hussein · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Encyclopaedia Of Hell has some humor for EVERYONE!!! Martin Olson (Writer for Rocko's Modern Life & Phineas and Ferb) makes fun of the myths and some weird and humorous descriptions of Satan's plan to invade Earth (even though In Real Life this would never happen). It's a mixture of Fiction, Horror and Comedy that is the perfect time to read in October or any other month.

[Christiane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't quite get through the whole thing...it's funny though, especially the pictures. Maybe not recommended for your religious friends.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, bathroom book. Very funny, totally irreverent.

[Gintarė Voraitė · Rating 3 out of 5]

lol

[RecensioniVere · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bizarre and entertaining fictional encyclopaedia that explores the concept of Hell through a satirical and humorous lens. Published in 2011, the book is structured as a comprehensive encyclopaedic guide to the realm of Hell, presenting detailed information on demons, punishments, daily practices and other infernal curiosities.

Martin Olson, known for his dark humour and quirky creativity, creates an imaginary world that mixes mythology, history and fantasy to offer a unique and entertaining view of the afterlife. "Encyclopaedia of Hell" is richly illustrated with drawings and graphics that add further depth and humour to the narrative.

Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/bU_MYHBl3Yo

The book not only entertains with its humorous style and comic gimmicks, but also invites readers to reflect on the nature of human darkness and the various cultural interpretations of Hell through the ages. It is a work that stands out for its originality and its ability to make people smile while exploring classic themes of folklore and mythology.

[Hydra Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book no doubt has its humorous moments, but I personally feel it would have worked better had it been structured a bit differently. As it is all the entries are presented from A-Z and I found reading them in this order to be more than a little tedious. I ended up just "skimming over" most of it. For me the book would have worked better if it were written more like a manual with a short glossary of terms attached at the end or if the entries were divided into categories; different types of humans, politics, locations, etc..

I'd only suggest this book as bathroom reading or as a coffee table book. Something you pick up and flip through, read a little bit of, and put back down.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A personal favourite. Phenomenal is every aspect.

[Kevin Pitchford · Rating 5 out of 5]

If “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s” manual was written about humans with the angst and detest of a Yelp reviewer, but by Satan, then that book is the “Encyclopedia of Hell.’” It’s cheeky, stupid and more fun than a barrel of demonic monkeys. Humans need to be roasted, figuratively and literally. Highly recommended.

[Byamukama Aston]

Having read or heard any message from this book, one have to repent and recieve Jesus Christ as your saviour to prevent yourself from dwelling in hell. (1John2:15) where one have not to love the world. Let God The Almighty have mercy upon us...............AMEN

[Ben Serviss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once you get the gist, it kind of just goes on forever. I would’ve given it two stars but the meta story is surprisingly compelling, slight as it is.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

ha ha ha ha!

This is a weird little book with some witty moments. I think it tries too hard to be wicked and becomes a bit too much. However, it was a fun read .

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, funny, and extremely boring; all at the same time. So much of the setup is told in footnotes and separated introductory entries that make it difficult to follow as any kind of true narrative.

But maybe it's unfair to judge this as a story. Most of it is a list of nasty definitions of common terms told from a demonic point of view. It's fun to browse for 10 minutes at a time, but so hard to follow. I recognize that a few of the illustrations are by Tony Millionaire, but can't find credits for him anywhere in the book. This must have been done intentionally to keep it seemingly authentic.

[Johann Snyman · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has it's moments, but generally not very good.

[Tonya Breck · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was very humorous (I especially enjoyed the plots woven in the definitions), it fell flat too often to rate more than 3 stars, in my opinion.

[Miguel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This whole book feels gimmicky and forced. It's so-so.

[Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

satiricky pohlad na svet vo forme slovniku so stipkou pribehu v intermezzach a filozofie ku koncu

[Ilib4kids · Rating 3 out of 5]

817.6 OLS