When it comes to night dwellers of the supernatural variety, there’s something singularly unnerving about demons. They’ve always been the creature that scared me the most; Paranormal Activity had me sleeping with the lights on for weeks, and my genuine fear of demons is so well-documented (and mocked) in our family that my brother specifically advised me to never watch Hereditary, in case it utterly broke my psyche.
Maybe it’s because demons are invisible, yet make themselves so eerily known; an insistent scratching or rapping or knocking designed to drive you mad. Maybe it’s that they’re multifarious by nature, capable of taking on gorgeous, familiar, or grotesque forms at will. Or maybe it’s the notion that sometimes, summoning a demon is much easier and more tempting than arcane lore would have you believe. No pentagrams, candles, or rituals necessary; very little active participation required, in fact, besides the willingness to let one in.
For me, the idea that a demon could pick you, court you, become fascinated with you like the most insidious kind of stalker—or that you could inherit one without ever having asked for it, like a particularly nasty piece of generational trauma—is easily the most horrifying take on possession.
Come Closer by Sara Gran
This is one of the most terrifying books on demonic possession I’ve ever read, because it feels so uncannily real; like something that could actually happen to you, or to almost anyone. The main character, Amanda, is a successful architect in a seemingly solid marriage, when she becomes plagued by a demonic entity named Naamah. Naamah initially manifests as repetitive noises that occur only when Amanda is in her loft, followed by sensual, almost hypnotic dreams in which she and the beautiful demon grow increasingly closer; the entity bears an uncanny resemblance to the “imaginary friend” Amanda invented for herself to cope with a difficult childhood. What happens next is a gradual possession that leaves the reader wondering how much of Amanda’s casual new brazenness, deception, violence, and unbridled sexuality is simply a result of her own frustrated desires, rather than the demon’s dark whims—until it spirals into the kind of grotesque and utterly gripping horror show that leaves no doubt as to what’s happening.
The Good Demon Jimmy Cajoleas
In The Good Demon, Jimmy Cajoleas explores a uniquely compelling concept—what if an exorcism was performed against the possessed’s will? What if you loved your demon, and missed her fiercely, would do anything—and sacrifice anyone—to get her back? Here, again, the main character’s traumatic childhood in the rural south—particularly witnessing her father’s death by overdose—rendered her susceptible to a demonic possession, as opposed to any elaborate summoning ritual. However, there’s plenty of creepy arcane lore here, too, along with stunningly gorgeous, lyrical writing and an atmosphere that is so eerie and evocative it almost makes you wonder if the author knows a little too much about demons. He also draws compelling parallels between addiction and possession that add even more depth to the story.
The Possession by Michael Rutger
The second in the author’s The Anomaly Files, this book is equal parts absolutely horrifying and hilarious, largely due to Rutger’s incredibly deft and droll first-person narration. The Possession follows American myth and legend “explorer” (with only an underfunded and relatively unpopular YouTube show under his belt) Nolan Moore—the wisecracking, thoughtful, and genuinely delightful Indiana Jones we all need—as he and the gang explore the phenomenon of unexplained, freestanding walls in a picturesque small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I’ve never seen this extremely clever take on demons before, and I don’t want to spoil it, but it relies on the notions that 1), these mysterious walls function as a barrier, keeping demonic entities out of our world; and 2), reality is fundamentally an illusion, a constantly shifting amalgam pieced together by our brains rather than anything concretely real. So, what if demons could manipulate this perception, and entirely alter what reality even means to us? It triggered every phobic fear I have about not being able to trust my own mind, and I loved it. (So much that I had to stop reading the book at night.)
Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher is hands-down my favorite urban fantasy author, and his legendary Harry Dresden, Chicago’s wizard-for-hire, is an unparalleled fan favorite. As part of Harry’s incredibly impressive character arc across the Dresden Files, the wizard picks up a fallen angel—one of my preferred types of demon, because of hotness combined with ancient deviousness—in order to keep her power from falling into the wrong hands. The epic (and very sexy) struggle of wills between Harry and Lasciel—or rather, Lash, the copy of the fallen angel that lives in Harry’s mind—is a fascinating character study in temptation, resistance, and the work it takes to maintain personal integrity. This is also a more traditional depiction of a summoning, in which the demon resides in a tainted object before possessing their victim.
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
Another urban fantasy favorite, an exorcist noir! Felix Castor is a professional exorcist working in a supernatural London plagued by were-creatures, revenants, and all flavors of the possessed. He’s able to cast spirits and demons out with the help of a tin whistle, which allows him to functionally lure creatures out of their hosts by describing their truest natures with music—a very creative take on the idea that demons can be compelled and bound by their true names. Felix’s best friend is in an institution for the magically insane, possessed by a particularly vicious demon due to a dark-magic ritual gone wrong—an instance of a more traditional summoning—and Felix’s guilt for having inextricably bound his best friend to Asmodeus is a constant torment. (The story also features one of the hottest succubi of all time, Ajulutsikael (Juliet for short), second only to Lara Raith in the Dresden Files.)
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From Bad to Cursed
Lana is the author of four YA novels about modern-day witches and historical murderesses. Born in Serbia, she grew up in Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria before moving to the US, where she studied psychology and literature at Yale University, law at Boston University, and publishing at Emerson College. She recently moved to Chicago with her family.
OTOH, if you do want the arcane rituals: James Blish’s “Black Easter”.
I didn’t realize there were recognized correct ways of summoning a demon, but wanting to let one in sure sounds like a good recipe, in demon summoning as in other things.
There’s a story by, I think, Niven where the demon is an extra-terrestrial telepath who drives it’s victims to madness and suicide
I nominate Penric’s Demon, Desdemona. Now there’s a demon who knows what she’s doing.
Although never precisely summoned, she’s chosen to live amicably with her human hosts, and she’s learned a lot in a dozen human lifetimes, to the benefit of her current partner; it works well all around.
If demons bother you, avoid researching shadow people. Not even The Church can protect you from them.
Summoning a demon accidentally is frighteningly easy. Unlucky idiots with a Ouija board can do that. Getting rid of them is another matter.
“The boys,” the demon tattoos that cover Maxime in Marjorie M. Liu’s “Hunter Kiss” series, are an interesting take on demons. An interesting complete series. If you enjoyed Butcher’s Lash, you’ll enjoy these guys.
@3: Also Niven’s short story Convergent Series has a very…mathematical take on it (which, as a maths teacher, I appreciated perhaps more than I ought to have…)
Growing up in a religious home, I was always terrified by demons and stories about them still really bother me. Your family is right about Hereditary- do NOT see it!!
I really wanted to like ‘Come Closer’ but it fell super flat for me. The Good Demon and The Devil You Know sound dope though, adding them to my TBR now!
One hapless mage found out the problem of getting just one small detail wrong in Mercedes Lackey’s Vows and Honor series. Ending up a demon’s dinner is one kind of learning experience I guess.
I’m glad to see The Devil You Know on here, but it’s really book 5 The Naming of The Beasts where the true gut punch happens. Bump the Felix Castor books up on your tbr pile everyone, because they are seriously underrated and writing gold.
Of course, there’s always Faust Eric by Sir Terry Pratchett (GNU).
(Charlie Stross’s Laundry books have much to say on the topic too.)
Summoning Orcus proves to be problematic in Fred Saberhagen’s marvelous Empire of the East.
Do not call up what you cannot put down is a good rule to remember. And putting down demons isn’t easy even with Bell, Book and Candle.
As I recall Dresden grabbed the nickel because a little boy was going for it. Making it more saving a child than a case of better hands. The relationship with Lash got – intimate in unexpected ways with an even more unexpected result.
My notes from reading Cassandra Khaw’s Hammer on Bone describe it as a demon possessing a human after getting bored with the Yith (and other Lovecraftian connections). The results, as one might expect, are variable; bleaker than the bit of Harry Dresden I’ve read, but there’s still some balance between demon urges and human mercy.
@13 It was distinctly not on purpose, too. He reflexively grabbed for it but if he’d taken a moment to think about it, he could have avoided getting Lash in his head.
I don’t think we have covered Abraham’s Long Price Quartet, where “poets” formulate detailed poems for summoning gods with a specific power and get turned to slush if they get it wrong – and, even if they get it right, the gods abuse the poet to the extent possible, making their lives miserable.
A Demon for Midwinter by KL Noone – I enjoy the idea that the academic summoning the demon did not make the ritual work, but the demon came by anyway out of interest to see who was trying it and stayed because she thought he was cute.
I don’t know about “right,” but the Crimson Empire trilogy by Alex Marshall features some *memorable* demon summoning. Those demons (called “devils” in-story) are summoned with a ritual involving animals, and take the shapes of animals; they psychically feed on human suffering but can be benign and magically protective toward the humans who bond them until they’re set free with a wish. But somebody once makes the mistake of using an opossum in the ritual, hoping for something that would devastate an approaching enemy army, and summons a giant demon opossum who wreaks havoc on both armies by putting a load of people into her pouch, where they turn into demon opossum babies.
David Drake’s The Virgin of Hertogenbosch is a shout out to Manly Wade Wellman’s Gentlemen Spiritual Detectives. Such as Judge Pursuivant.
It involved a demon-summoning gone wrong.
https://www.baen.com/virgin_of_hertogenbosch
@15, yes. Personally I wondered why he didn’t grab the kid.
V. E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue starts with a girl summoning a demon and, in the the centuries that followed, how her relationship to the demon develops.
Julie Kagowa’s Shadow of the Fox series features a demon hunter who was possessed by a demon and went through an exorcism. There are many discussions on demons between him and the main character, a half-kitsuni woman.
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp. “Jack Sparks died while writing this book. This is the account of his final days. In 2014, Jack Sparks – the controversial pop culture journalist – died in mysterious circumstances. To his fans, Jack was a fearless rebel; to his detractors he was a talentless hack. Either way, his death came as a shock to everyone. It was no secret that Jack had been researching the occult for his new book. He’d already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed in rural Italy. Then there was that video: thirty-six seconds of chilling footage that Jack repeatedly claimed was not of his making, yet was posted from his own YouTube account. Nobody knew what happened to Jack in the days that followed – until now. This book, compiled from the files found after his death, reveals the chilling details of Jack’s final hours.”
Surprised that Charles Stross’s Laundry Files have not been mentioned. Summoning demons is all about mathematics!
Michael Shea’s Nifft stories have my favorite takes on demons. There’s not much summoning but there’s a huge amount of interaction. There’s a lot of demon psychology.
I suppose there’s no point explaining that demons come from within, but bypassing the theological discussion, these all sound like interesting reads! I’m going to get Kindle samples of all of them!
Another fun one is Force of Chaos by Lin Senchaid. The Antichrist finding his way through adolescence and high school with a pesky demon dogging his steps.
@17: Ahh, that does sound like fun. I shall have to get my hands on a copy, thank you for the recommendation.
I’ll also repeated the recommendations for the Felix Castor series, and add that it’s a real shame there are only the 5 books in the series. Still, can’t complain too much, because they are out there.
For another excellent but sadly short series on a similar theme, I happily suggest Harry Connolly’s Twenty Palaces series, which has very different and interesting magic system, and consequences that flow on from it. Summoning is a really bad idea in that cosmology, and pretty much the only thing that will get the assorted squabbling sorcerer factions to cooperate is learning that there is some fool out there trying it.
No love for Kim Harrison or Jenna Black? Kim Harrison’s Hollows series is well worth reading, and the Jenna Black series, starting with The Devil Inside and funnily enough including a book called The Devil You Know, is an interesting take on demons and possession.
Diana Rowland’s series about a demon-summoning homicide detective in New Orleans named Kara Gillian are pretty good, if uneven in spots. (She’s also the author of the excellently named My Life As a White Trash Zombie.)
No mention of Crowley and his long friendship with Aziraphale? Sheesh!
@25
How do you summon those? Does it involve a grimoire?
:)
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno – if you’ve ever been creeped out by Alexa/Google/Siri, this book takes that concept to wonderful (horrible) places!
A fun one from outside the horror genre is Jacqueline Carey’s Naamah’s Kiss, where a group of occultists summon one of the demons from the Ars Goetia. Typically for that text, they demand it teach the lead occultist all the languages of animals. But while the ritual compels it to do as asked, nothing says it has to start with charismatic megafauna… no, it starts with ants. And, well, there’s a lot of ants….
(This becomes a major, major plot point later on in the trilogy.)
A nice example from the point of view of the summoned demon: L. Sprague DeCamp’s The Fallible Fiend.