Richard Harrington – Hellfire Today

[dem bones]

Richard Harrington – Hellfire Today (New English Library, May 1972)

Blurb
The eighteenth century temple of drugs and aristocratic debauchery — the Hell-fire Club — broke up in 1770
Young Lord Stoneham discovers that the Club may have died but the evil lives on into the twentieth century. To solve his pressing financial problems he restores the old satanic order and sets up fraudulent manifestations.
His initial success leads to wilder excesses but his security is threatened when his fictions become overshadowed by some very nasty facts.

Begins with the author's solemn warning against dabbling in witchcraft and the modest claim that "this is no ordinary novel. The implications are perhaps the most disturbing and frightening that man can contemplate." Already i'm thinking me and Hellfire Today are going to get along just fine and, five chapters down the line, it's looking even more of a sure thing.

Michael ("call me Mike!"), the long-haired, flare-wearing 15th Lord Stoneham, has just inherited the family seat at Cleve, Buckinghamshire along with his recently deceased father's monstrous debts. Consequently, he needs to raise £500, 000 fast to stave off bankruptcy and looks to comely, mini-dressed heiress Miranda Tavistock to provide it. Her old man is reputedly filthy rich and, better still, on his way out due to a dodgy ticker. It's only after they've enjoyed a romp in the summerhouse that Miss Tavistock, having guessed Stoneham's designs, admits that her pop is also broke and that she set out to seduce him in the hope he'd refill the family coffers. Fortunately, they can both see the funny side of this classic hilarious mix-up, but that won't help their mutual cash flow problems.

Maybe Tony Sutter, Mike's sidekick from University days, can come up with a fail-safe get rich quick scheme or several.

"Import a few lions and antelopes, fence them in one corner of the park ... and you're in the Safari business. You could have a fun-fair in the woods, boating on the lake. Throw open one of the wings for business-conferences. Have a pop-festival there. A narrow-gauge railway round the lawns, conducted tours around the house. You could even stage a publicity-stunt or two. Like a convention of nudists ... or a film-star, say, losing the top of her dress on the first day. It's a rich field for development."

The snag is, of course, that Stoneham is closing in on pennilessness and these admittedly brilliant ideas would require a fortune to set up. Equally dubious - but cost-free - advise comes in the form of a letter from Mike's profligate father in which he explains that their ancestor, Oliver Stoneham, was a member of Sir Francis Dashwood's Hellfire Club, who was so infuriated at the debauched crew's refusal to take the Black Arts seriously that he split to assemble a hand-picked Satanic aggregate. The entire Stoneham legacy was built on Black Magic!

Enclosed with this startling document, the title deed, a set of ornate keys to the safe in the summerhouse/ chapel, and a DIY Black Magic manual - all accouterments supplied!

Stoneham, with the willing assistance of Miranda and Tony, set about compiling a list of degenerates in high places to enlist in the new Hellfire Club!

To be continued ....

[dem bones]

"The great dark religion of Wicca had been embraced."

Before you can say "So mote it be!", Lord Stoneham (witch-name Artemus) and High Priestess Miranda (Minerva) have a very happening Chapel Of Alternative Religion on their hands, the heady mix of marijuana, easy sex and quasi-witchcraft in monk and nun outfits attracting interest from businessmen, pop stars, MP's even an Olympic athlete out to knobble a rival at White City. Stoneham knows the identity of most of his coven, but Brother Colonus remains an enigma. Unlike Stoneham, Colonus is an adept and, fingering the High Priest for a charlatan but impressed by the potential of the chapel, he appoints himself the young Lord's hex-maker in chief and magic minder against rival Satanic outfits. The set-up works well, and Stoneham's crippling debt is alleviated somewhat by several mysterious donations and settlements from people he's never heard of.

And then the attendance to the weekly coven meetings starts dropping off, coinciding with the General Election. OK, so both the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition have been initiated into the coven (nobody was allowed to smoke pot or shag until they'd left) but it's clear he needs to introduce something novel to the entertainment as even the nude dancing girls have become passé. As ever, his ideas man Tony Sutter has the answer. Pump the coven members with LSD and summon the Horned God in person!. "Acid-head witches! Beautiful!" Colonus tries to warn him against this reckless and potentially catastrophic publicity stunt, but Stoneham, hopelessly out of his depth, just won't listen. And, as Justin points out in Paperback Fanatic #7, it's at this point that something incredibly weird happens to the writing. It's as if the author was by now so caught up in his story, he decided he'd drop a couple of tabs to give it a touch of authenticity and it sure doesn't read like a pleasant trip.

Serious occultists may get miffed at Harrington's seeming inability to discern between Wicca and Black Magic, and chapter 15 reads like Dark Fantasy at its lethal worst, but i found Hellfire Today a fast, fun read and any book which can cite June Johns Black Magic Today as a useful reference work is a bit great to be perfectly honest with you. I know i've said that about a lot stuff recently, but don't worry, i've lined up two bona fide duffers to follow.

[andydecker]

Here is the german edition,published 1981 in the weekly Vampir Horror Roman.

I bought this last year on Ebay for filling the translation gaps. It left me really cold as it was written so dry; more like an article than a juicy black magic romp. Especially compared with writers like Ball or Shakleford.

But maybe the translation is not very good, a lot of chapters seem to be cut for length and sex. Or it is really written in this neutral and cold style, why those last chapters seem so strange. At least this tranlated well This is so different than the rest, it really begs the question if the novel would have been better if the characters were more into the things they did.

[dem bones]

I enjoyed it, Andy, but think yours is the more realistic take on its merits! Incidentally, the same illustration graces the cover of the Sphere 1980 edition of William Hope Hodgson's The House Of The Borderland where, incidentally, it seems far more appropriate!

[andydecker]

Apparently a good idea will live forever

"The Return of the Hellfire Club"

Those crazy australiens. This is premiere even I who hates clubs would be interested in

Even with a link to Mr. Dems review of the NEL Harrington:-)

[Craig Herbertson]

Must reconsider my decision not to visit Australia