SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN

SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN a classic 1927 pulp-era novel by American author ABRAHAM GRACE MERRITT, (A. Merritt) serialized by Argosy All-Story Weekly in 1928. The first edition was published by BONI & LIVERIGHT NYNY in 1928. THIS CAMPBELL CLASSIC EDITION IS HAPPILY DEDICATED TO CHRIS L. ADAMS, AUTHOR, ARTIST, BIBLIOPHILE, RACONTEUR, AND FRIEND. The story follows explorer James Kirkham, who is kidnapped in New York City and taken to a fortified lair in the countryside. He is forced to play a perilous game involving "seven footprints," which, if played correctly, could lead to world domination. Kirkham must navigate a bizarre and dangerous world, populated by a cult of powerful people under Satan's control, to save his fiancée and escape. While Merritt was known for fantasy, Seven Footprints to Satan is considered his only pure mystery novel. It is a work of exotic mystery and thriller fiction with supernatural overtones, and Merritt's version of "Satan" is a memorable super-villain in pulp literature. The novel was adapted for the Seven Footprints to Satan, a synchronized sound 1929 American mystery film directed by Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen. Initially overjoyed that his story would be adapted into a film, Merritt later spoke about the film in a 1933 interview, stating that he "sat through the picture and wept. The only similarity between the book and the picture was the title. The picture likewise killed the book sales for people who saw the picture felt no impulse thereafter to read the book.