The spectre of Gilles de Rais, the Satanist and child-killer, eclipses French history like a dark star. His obscene crimes and sinister aristocratic glamour reminds of a mediaeval Hannibal Lecter. Satanic Alchemy is a testament to the legend of Gilles de Rais and his status as history's first ever Devil-worshipping serial killer. With essays from some of the most fertile imaginations in writing, as well as a complete chronology and register of people and places in de Rais' life, this book is a rich evocation of the most intriguing figure in the annals of mass murder.