Suster, Gerald 1951–2001

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Suster, Gerald 1951–2001

PERSONAL: Born 1951, in London, England; died of a heart attack February 3, 2001, in England; married; wife's name, Michaela. Education: Attended Cambridge University.

CAREER: Writer, occultist, and historian.

WRITINGS:

HORROR AND FANTASY NOVELS

The Devil's Maze, Sphere (London, England), 1979.

The Elect, Sphere (London, England), 1980.

The Scar, Hamlyn (London, England), 1981.

The Offering, Hamlyn (London, England), 1982.

The Block, Panther (London, England), 1984.

The Force, Panther (London, England), 1984.

Striker, New English Library (London, England), 1984.

The God Game, New English Library (London, England), 1997.

The Labyrinth of Satan, New English Library (London, England), 1997.

NONFICTION

Hitler, the Occult Messiah, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1981.

(Editor) John Dee: Essential Readings, Crucible (Wellingborough, England), 1986, North Atlantic Books (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

The Legacy of the Beast: The Life, Work, and Influence of Aleister Crowley, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1988, S. Weiser (York Beach, ME), 1989.

Crowley's Apprentice: The Life and Ideas of Israel Regardie, S. Weiser (York Beach, ME), 1990.

The Truth about the Tarot, Skoob Esoterica (London, England), 1991.

The Hell-Fire Friars: Sex, Politics, and Religion, Robson/Parkwest (New York, NY), 2002.

OTHER

The Handyman (novel), Severn House (London, England), 1985.

Champions of the Ring: The Lives and Times of Boxing's Heavyweight Heroes (nonfiction), Robson (London, England), 1992.

Lightning Strikes: The Lives and Times of Boxing's Lightweight Heroes (nonfiction), Robson/Parkwest (London, England), 1994.

Generals: The Best and Worst Military Commanders (nonfiction), Robson/Parkwest (New York, NY), 1998.

SIDELIGHTS: The late British author Gerald Suster's eclectic interests are well represented in his published works, which range from horror novels written in the late 1970s and early 1980s to biographies of well-known occultists, to histories of boxing heroes and an overview of important military commanders.

Within occult circles, Suster was best known for his horror novels and his nonfiction accounts of the lives and beliefs of famous occultists. His fiction works address such supernatural themes as demonic possession, hauntings, black magic, devil worship, and psychic mind control. The Scar tells the story of a young woman who is possessed by the devil and methodically kills off several fellow students, until she makes the mistake of letting a teacher live who holds the key to her ruin. In The Offering a young couple are haunted by ghosts in their newly rented home and helplessly watch as those who try to provide them information about their troubled dwelling mysteriously die. The title of The Block refers to a block of apartments that has been built on grounds that were touched by various forces of evil, including black magic and Nazi murder, and whose residents are fatally affected by the deeds of modern devil worshippers.

One of Suster's best-known works of nonfiction is The Legacy of the Beast: The Life, Work, and Influence of Aleister Crowley. Crowley (1875–1947) was a British occultist who founded the philosophy known as Thelema, which is guided by a central doctrine of "true will," or personal freedom. Suster's book closely details Crowley's life and attempts to establish a balanced view of the man condemned by many as the most wicked man of his age. In Hitler, the Occult Messiah the author attempts to establish the Nazi party's involvement in the occult.

In the 1990s, Suster published several books of nonfiction on topics unrelated to the occult. A former amateur boxer himself, he penned two comprehensive biogra-phies of the major heavyweight and lightweight boxers. Of Champions of the Ring: The Lives and Times of Boxing's Heavyweight Heroes, a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that "Suster does a fine job of recreating the champions," and concluded: "This virtual encyclopedia of boxers, with its full-page photos of the champs, is a lively read."