Mike Warnke (Christian comedian; The Satan Seller, 1972)

[Report #199] THE BOOK (The Satan Seller, 1972, read from a scanned copy): 'I, Mike Warnke, was to be one of the three Master Coun- sclors—high priests—of the Brotherhood. I would have all the booze I could drink, all the broads I wanted, and life-or-death control, literally, over a whole legion of people.'; 'T had increased the membership of the Brotherhood from 500 to 1,500' (archive.org). On Anton LaVey's Church of Satan, which the book treats as a separate group: 'ference, however; my encounter with Anton LaVey. He was pushing his Church of Satan which was only a “Rosemary’s Baby” at the time. I was not impressed with LaVey; I de- tected a certain phoniness about him, but I admired his show- manship and decided I would show LaVey and his cronies that Mike Warnke could put on quite a show, too, and be one-up on the evil, even if my style was different from his.'; '“LaVey is founder of the only above-ground organized Church of Satan,” I said. “He is a former circus showman and rakes in a lot of dough from his sister churches as well as from his Satanic Bible. His church is more show than seriousness, about the equivalent of what we called our stage two. But don’t get me wrong—even if he is a lightweight by Satanism stand- ards, what he advocates is still occult involvement and Satan worship. Keep in mind that there are many variations to Satan worship, and his is just one of them with milder overtones.' (archive.org). THE INVESTIGATION. Cornerstone magazine, 'Selling Satan' (Jon Trott and Mike Hertenstein, 'First published in Cornerstone (ISSN 0275-2743), Vol. 21, Issue 98 (1992).'): 'As written in The Satan Seller, the story goes like this: a young orphan boy raised in foster homes drifted from whatever family and friends he had to join a secret, all-powerful satanic cult. First, he descended into the hell of drug addiction. Then he ascended in the satanic ranks to the position of high priest, with fifteen hundred followers in three cities. He had unlimited wealth and power at his disposal, provided by members of Satanism’s highest echelon, the Illuminati. And then he converted to Christ.' 'We have uncovered significant evidence contradicting his alleged satanic activity. His testimony contains major conflicts from book to book and tape to book, it contains significant internal problems, and it doesn’t square with known external times and events. Further, we have documentation and eyewitness testimony that contradict the claims he has made about himself.' 'In reality, Mike Warnke simply did what countless other freshmen have done: he found a new circle of friends. We found that new circle, and they were not a part of the Satanic Brotherhood.' 'The Royal Order of the Lantern is a far cry from The Satan Seller’s fifteen hundred followers in three cities, financed by a worldwide network of Satanists.' (web.archive.org). Its only mention of LaVey: 'What about the Mike in The Satan Seller who flew around the country on satanic business trips to San Francisco (where he allegedly met Anton LaVey)' (web.archive.org). The same investigation, in a longer hosted text: 'we found discrepancies that raise serious doubts about the trustworthiness of his testimony'; 'We believe The Satan Seller has been responsible, more than any other single volume in the Christian market, for promoting the current nationwide "Satanism scare."' (docs.preterhuman.net). Wikipedia: 'In less than three months after the release, The Satan Seller had become a religious best-seller.' 'The Cornerstone investigation spanned from interviews with over 100 of Warnke's personal friends and acquaintances to his ministry's tax receipts.' (en.wikipedia.org). HELD. The report said he claimed 'CoS High Priesthood' (a Church of Satan title). His book names his group 'the Brotherhood', and Cornerstone's article does not contain the words 'Church of Satan' (Oct 2026). The report's 'proven fraud exploiting the aesthetic for financial gain' is its own reading; Cornerstone's words are quoted above.