On April 30, 1966 (Walpurgisnacht, a night legendarily favored for occult activities), Anton Szandor LaVey shaved his head, donned black clerical clothing, complete with white collar, and proclaimed himself Satan’s high priest. This was the dawn of the Age of Satan, LaVey boldly announced, and he thrust himself into the public consciousness when photographs of him joining socialite Judith Case and freelance writer John Raymond in the bonds of matrimony were plastered all over newspapers across the world. Perhaps what really caught the eye of most male viewers was the fact that LaVey performed the rites over the naked body of Lois Murgenstrumm, who served as the living altar.

Later, when LaVey explained the ritual significance of the living altar to reporters, he re­marked that an altar shouldn’t be a cold, unyielding slab of sterile stone or wood. It should be a living object of unrestrained lust and indulgence—preferably a naked woman.

It was quite a wedding for the first public marriage ceremony ever held in the United States by a satanic cult. The bride shunned the traditional white gown to appear in a bright red dress. The groom wore a black turtleneck sweater and complementary coat. The Satanic High Priest stole the show, however, in a black cape lined with scarlet silk and a close-fitting blood-red hood from which two white horns protruded.

LaVey became immediately popular in the media, often allowing reporters to attend certain rituals that he conducted over the living altar of a woman’s naked body in his church, the famous “Black House,” originally said to have been a brothel. In a sudden rush came attention from movie stars, and it may have seemed inevitable that he would meet the two reigning sex symbols of the era, Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe. His encounters with both of the Hollywood love goddesses contain elements of controversy, especially since LaVey didn’t meet Marilyn Monroe until 11 years after her death ...