Black Easter by James Blish

Trade Paperback. Cover art by Vince Haig. Theron Ware is a renowned scholar and Doctor of Divinity. He is also secretly one of the world’s great Black magicians. And when a rich megalomaniac industrialist, Baines, enlists his aid in summoning a demon from Hell to assassinate the governor of California (in an “excess of horror”), Ware has no scruples about accepting the assignment. But this terrible and devilish deed is only a warm-up, a test from Baines to see whether Ware can help him to accomplish his ultimate purpose: opening the gates of Hell and allowing the legions of infernal demons to overrun the world ... Best known as a science fiction writer, James Blish (1921-1975) shows a darker side in his classic Black Easter (1968), a harrowing tale that blends horror, science fiction, fantasy, and a generous dose of black humor. The sequel, The Day After Judgment (1971), is coming soon from Valancourt.