Classical Tales of Deals with the Devil

[Jürgen Hubert]

After hearing an excerpt from "The Picture of Dorian Grey" on my local radio station, I feel inspired. I want to gather a collection of classical tales that involve deals with the devil or other instances where a protagonist sells his soul, wittingly or unwittingly.

I think this would be a neat resource for anyone who wants to run adventures involving fiends. All too often, these adventures only use fiends as tough combat monsters - but I think that sells their ability to corrupt humans short.

I'm particularly interested in older stories whose copyright has expired (and which can thus be available online) - such as "The Picture of Dorian Grey" - but if you know of more modern tales that are particularly noteworthy, don't hesitate to tell us about it. I'll add them to the list.

Online Stories:

Old Nathan by David Drake
The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benet
The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irwing
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

Other material:

Chasse-galerie
Crossroads (1986 film)
Niccolo Paganini: Virtuoso or Devil?
Oh, God! You Devil (1984 film)
One for the Angels Twilight Zone episode
Pact with the Devil Wikipedia entry
Trail of the Hellhound: Robert Johnson

 

[Infernal Teddy]

Dear Jürgen,

How can you forget your Goethe? FAUST

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Well, I guess I don't have to mention Faust.

Wikipedia has something to say about Pacts with the Devil, including a list of stories and movies where faustian pacts play a role.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

(edit): Nothing to see here, move on.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Ah, Teddy beat me to that one.

Note for non-German posters: You are welcome to participate, we don't want to keep this discussion to ourselves, you know

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

Hmmmm.
Well, I know one that starts off...
"The Devil went down to Georgia. He was lookin' for a soul to steal..."

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

Oh, then there's the episode of The Simpsons where Homer sells his soul for a donut. Ironically, the devil is Ned Flanders.

OK. Seriously, though, the old Twilight Zone series by Rod Serling had quite a few themes like this in them. Good for mining for inspiration.
http://www.answers.com/topic/one-for-the-angels

 

[IamTheTest]

In another Groening tale Fry gets the devilbot's hands so that he can play the holophoner better.

On a more serious note, my favorite devil story was that of Jack O'Lantern. Its my fave mostly because the human tricks the devil.

 

[iron-spyder]

While a bit more contemporary, Casting the Runes, by Montague R. James, which is also the classic movie (Night/Curse of the Demon) is a tale that involves a sorcerer who deals with devils and finds it to be his undoing.

There is also the Devil and Daniel Webster (mentioned on the wikipedia page), The Painter's Bargain, by William Makepeace Thackeray and Sir Dominick's Bargain by J. Seridan Le Fanu.

edit: You might also look into Manly Wade Wellman, who has stories that involve infernal pacts.

 

[ivocaliban]

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov: After the works of Dostoevsky, this is probably my favorite Russian novel. It is a perfect combination of philosophy, satire, and humor. Heavily influenced by Goethe's Faust.

"Gimmicks Three" by Isaac Asimov: A short-story which should be read by every gamer. The title comes from the idea of using three storytelling cliches (one of which is making a deal with the devil) in a single story.

"Black Bargain" by Robert Bloch: Another great story featuring a bargain made with the devil; this time with minor connections to Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.