Cabaret de L'Enfer: A journal of art and writing devoted to demons, magick and spirit
This zine, or journal, aims to collect and showcase the work of modern-day occult artists and writers. Like a virtual demonic cabaret, we present unusual insight, titillation and magick for your entertainment and instruction, and, perhaps, hold a space for otherworldly entities to speak to us.
Issue 1 is out now; issue 2 will be forthcoming in Autumn/Winter 2014.
Cabaret de l'Enfer (The Cabaret of Hell) was a famous cabaret in Montmartre, founded in November 1892 by Antonin Alexander and demolished in 1950. The Cabaret de L'Enfer was the counterpart to The Cabaret du Ciel (The Cabaret of Sky), another cabaret which shared the same address on the Boulevard de Clichy.
Situated at the foot of the hill of Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, The Cabaret de l'Enfer was a precursor to theme restaurants, whose ambience was its main attraction, and only occasionally hosted café singers. In 1895, three years after opening at 34 Boulevard de Clichy, Antonin moved the establishment down the street to number 53, where it remained for more than half a century.
Meanwhile, the original location was purchased by a competitor, the illusionist Dorville, and his administrator, Roger, who opened a "cabaret macabre", the Cabaret du Néant (Cabaret of the Void), which specialized in more sinister "invocations of what lies beyond the grave", while the Cabaret du Ciel (Cabaret of Heaven) joyfully proposed "mystical illusions" and the Cabaret of Hell, "magic tricks".
According to Jules Claretie, the spectacles offered by the Cabarets of Ciel and Enfer "did not differ in essence from the attractions seen at the fête de Neuilly...They used the same illusionist tricks produced by combinations of mirrors and the play of light. But an organ added mysterious music to these rapid tableaux".
The atmosphere was jovial, and Antonin, a former literature professor, maintained its geniality, setting the tone with humorous, costumed discourses delivered either as Saint Peter or Mephistopheles.
The doorman of the cabaret of Hell, dressed as the Devil, greeted customers by telling them "Enter and be damned!". Once inside, the patrons were served by waiters dressed in devil suits. In 1899, a visitor reported that, in the jargon used inside the café, an order of "three black coffees spiked with cognac" was relayed to the bar as: "Three seething bumpers of molten sins, with a dash of brimstone intensifier!".
Issue 1 is out now; issue 2 will be forthcoming in Autumn/Winter 2014.
Cabaret de l'Enfer (The Cabaret of Hell) was a famous cabaret in Montmartre, founded in November 1892 by Antonin Alexander and demolished in 1950. The Cabaret de L'Enfer was the counterpart to The Cabaret du Ciel (The Cabaret of Sky), another cabaret which shared the same address on the Boulevard de Clichy.
Situated at the foot of the hill of Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, The Cabaret de l'Enfer was a precursor to theme restaurants, whose ambience was its main attraction, and only occasionally hosted café singers. In 1895, three years after opening at 34 Boulevard de Clichy, Antonin moved the establishment down the street to number 53, where it remained for more than half a century.
Meanwhile, the original location was purchased by a competitor, the illusionist Dorville, and his administrator, Roger, who opened a "cabaret macabre", the Cabaret du Néant (Cabaret of the Void), which specialized in more sinister "invocations of what lies beyond the grave", while the Cabaret du Ciel (Cabaret of Heaven) joyfully proposed "mystical illusions" and the Cabaret of Hell, "magic tricks".
According to Jules Claretie, the spectacles offered by the Cabarets of Ciel and Enfer "did not differ in essence from the attractions seen at the fête de Neuilly...They used the same illusionist tricks produced by combinations of mirrors and the play of light. But an organ added mysterious music to these rapid tableaux".
The atmosphere was jovial, and Antonin, a former literature professor, maintained its geniality, setting the tone with humorous, costumed discourses delivered either as Saint Peter or Mephistopheles.
The doorman of the cabaret of Hell, dressed as the Devil, greeted customers by telling them "Enter and be damned!". Once inside, the patrons were served by waiters dressed in devil suits. In 1899, a visitor reported that, in the jargon used inside the café, an order of "three black coffees spiked with cognac" was relayed to the bar as: "Three seething bumpers of molten sins, with a dash of brimstone intensifier!".