Born with a Tail

A provocative biography of the iconic founder of the Church of Satan and author of The Satanic Bible, Anton Szandor LaVey, revealing an eccentric and scandalous life of showmanship, deception, celebrity fatalities, assassination attempts, and a furor of Satanic Panic across America.

When Anton Szandor LaVey-founder of the Church of Satan, author of The Satanic Bible, and media-savvy prankster and provocateur-burst onto the freak-flag-flying San Francisco scene in the mid-1960s, no one could've expected that he would one day become the poster fiend for all of the world's evil. And yet, in truth, LaVey's ironic, theatrical approach to Satanism differed drastically from the violent, devil-worshipping variety that helped give rise to the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s. Dressed as a wicked, caped roue, LaVey was a charismatic, ankh-wearing, headline-and-skirt-chasing rake who took what he did seriously-but he was always in on the joke.

In BORN WITH A TAIL: The Devilish Life and Satanic Times of Anton Szandor LaVey, journalist Doug Brod combs through the facts and fictions of LaVey's extraordinary life, providing readers with not just a deeply reported biography of this notorious figure, but also a vivid cultural and social history of the outre movement he spawned. Before founding the Church of Satan in 1966, the Jewish-born, self-described "misfit" Howard Levey immersed himself in the "self"-centered philosophy of Ayn Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Aleister Crowley, which inspired him to devise a non-religious, ultra libertarian "Church" where he could share his findings with likeminded thinkers. But LaVey's influence could be felt far beyond his flock, as his signature performative Satanism played a prominent role in the occult revival and outbreak of paranormal phenomena that dominated pop culture in the 1970s-a time of exorcisms, reincarnation, alien abductions, psychic surgery, and Ouija boards-and continues to be felt to this day across music, film, TV, and art. Alongside this exploration of his larger-than-life cultural significance, BORN WITH A TAIL also dives into LaVey's eccentric domestic life and scandals, including his rumored involvement in the car-crash deaths of Mansfield and her lover, as well as an attempted assassination of then-Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Epic in scope yet intimate in detail, BORN WITH A TAIL not only tells the definitive story of a classic, uniquely American huckster and his impact on the times-but also ultimately exposes a dark, secret history of America itself.

"Entertaining... Brod's portrayal is appealingly colorful and eccentric."--Publishers Weekly

"What an entertaining, bizarre, sometimes delightful, sometimes disturbing story. Thank you, Doug Brod, for this great book about an overlooked character in America's gloriously weird history."

--A.J. Jacobs, author of My Year of Living Constitutionally
"[Doug Brod] has written one hell of a book, a witty, cogent chronicle of one of the most noteworthy grifts American culture ever conjured up."--Glenn Kenny, author of The World Is Yours: The Story of Scarface
"Entrancing and fascinating -- an absolute must-read."
--Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl
"More than just a fascinating biography, Born with a Tail is a high-resolution X-ray of America's weird psyche in the second half of the twentieth century." --Chris Nashawaty, author of The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982
"The devil is in the details--and Doug Brod brings them all together in this deeply researched, fiendishly entertaining account on the life of celebrity Satanist Anton LaVey, one of the 20th century's most fascinating pop-culture provocateurs."--Brian Raftery, author of Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen
"This is a delightful and strange portrait of an unusual man, made glorious by Doug Brod's insight and witty prose."--Jonathan Ames, author of A Man Named Doll
"What happens when Satan meets show business? Please allow Anton LaVey to introduce himself. A quizzical cultural icon, this Zelig-like huckster with horns and cape became entwined with a veritable nightmare alley of celebrities, among them Jayne Mansfield, Kenneth Anger, Marilyn Manson, and Sammy Davis Jr. Doug Brod strikes just the right tone as he takes a magnifying glass to this tiny world, and the results are highly amusing. ... I command thee to read [Born with a Tail]..."--Jimmy McDonough, author of Shakey: Neil Young's Biography
"With devilish wit and even tenderness, Doug Brod shows how LaVey's committed cosplaying held a mirror up to the darker parts of America..."--Sean Howe, New York Times bestselling author of Marvel Comics: The Untold Story
"You don't have to sell your soul to enjoy Doug Brod's wickedly entertaining take on the incredible true-life tale of master showman and devil's advocate Anton LaVey. If it didn't all actually happen, you wouldn't believe a word!"--Larry Karaszewski, co-screenwriter of Ed Wood and The People vs. Larry Flynt

DOUG BROD is the former Editor-in-chief of SPIN and TV Guide magazines and a long-time senior editor at Entertainment Weekly. He is currently an editor at The Toronto Star as well as an art-book editor for New York's renowned Pace Gallery. He is the author of THEY JUST SEEM A LITTLE WEIRD and the editor of SPIN: GREATEST HITS, and his essays and criticisms have been anthologized in collections such as GO FURTHER, SPIN: 20 Years of Alternative Music, and THE TROUSER PRESS RECORD GUIDE (multiple editions). He has also written for the New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Details, Fangoria, Input magazine, and The Village Voice, among many others. Previously, he taught journalism at New York University, and as an editor he has held senior positions at Conde Nast, Departures, and the Wall Street Journal. He's based in Toronto.

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