There is a lot of trivia in this work about demons and devils, and a handful of scholarly bits, but to get the good parts you have to put up with the author's posturing and pontificating, and determining who, if anyone, gets to call themselves a Satanist or whatever. He accepts the reality of devils and demons - or does he? He appears to be trying to walk both sides, whether because he doesn't want to annoy potential believers who might read the book, or because he feels embarrassed at belief in the event that non-believers might read his book, it's impossible to tell. Some of the things he proposes fly in the face of scholarly work, and some of them take the reality of literature surrounding devils and demons as proof that such beings exist, while explaining to us why everyone (nearly) is wrong about who/what/where they are and how they look/act. Overall, a disappointment, though there were a lot of fun bits, as well. It is scattershot, just little bits and dribs, without any obvious systematic approach, so if you want encyclopedia or scholarly examination, look elsewhere. This is by no means a "complete book" and it is frustrating to read because from time to time you manage to find the pony in the manure, but you have to look through quite a bit of manure to do it. ( )