Dennis Wheatley was born in London in 1897 (the year in which Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published). In 1926 he inherited his father’s business, a dealer in wines, but quite soon began to write novels and stories and the success of his first book, The Forbidden Territory (1933), convinced him to dedicate himself to the full-time activity of writer. Wheatley published historical novels, spy, science fiction and adventure, besides a large group of works on his favourite subject: occultism and black magic. The magical stories or “fiendish” date from 1935, the year in which The Devil Rides Out (Il battesimo del diavolo [The Baptism of the Devil]) sees the light, it continued with Strange Conflict (1941), The Haunting of Toby Jugg (1948), the present To the Devil—A Daughter (1953, carried on the screen by Peter Sasdy for the interpretation of Christopher Lee), The Ka of Gifford Hillary (1956), The Satanist (Il club di Satana [The club of Satan], 1960) and They Used Dark Forces (1964), which describes the efforts of Hitler to win the war with the help of the sorcery.

To the world of the black magic, [di cui era profondo conoscitore ?], Wheatley dedicated also a serious study [saggio ?], The Devil and All His Works (1971). His short stories are grouped together in an anthology Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts that goes back to 1943. Dennis Wheatley died in 1977.