Books of Pain

The Books of Pain, also known as the Red Books, Crimson Bibles or Scarlet Gospels, are a number of enchanted or cursed magical books that have existed throughout the 20th century. Each book is said to imbue a permanent emotional or mental disadvantage to the reader.

History

In 1901 Oscar Occaro, the son of a well-known Guadalajara engraver, printed a book of demonology and summoning which had the uncanny ability to focus all the pain the reader had experienced in life and channel it into the effect of the prose. The book was bound in red leather with velum pages and thirteen illustrations by Occaro himself. Each copy of the book is thought to have a particular psychological effect when read. Only nine copies of the book are thought to have been printed by Occaro himself. Copies were given to the members of inner circle of Occaro's magical order, the Temple of Choronzon.

In 1914 a London book collector discovered a copy of the book among various items purchased from an estate sale. After reading the book, the collector committed suicide in Los Angeles. This copy of the book, known as the Suicide Copy, subsequently disappeared and is thought to be held in a private collection.

Another copy of the book was discovered in France during the World War. German soldiers discovered the volume in the library of an abbey near Marseilles. The lieutenant in charge of the regiment was said to have read three sentences of the first page, whereupon he took out his pistol and shot two nearby soldiers before being subdued. He was sent back to Britain and permanently committed to a military asylum for the criminally insane. This copy of the book, known as the Murder Copy, was sent to Germany and is known to be in the special collection of the Thule Library of Munich.

A third and only other known copy of the book was sold at auction in 1926 to an anonymous buyer. Little is known of this copy, which may share the characteristics of the other copies, or may be imbued with additional powers.

Though existing records only show three copies of the Red Books, occult lore suggests at least nine copies of the book have existed.

A peculiar quality of the book is that the sequence of words in the text itself appear to be the source of its negative effects. Unlike most cursed items, simply holding the book does not cause any effect. But as in the case of the German soldier, it appears that reading even just a few words of the book can have a terrible effect.

Description

The books usually live up to their name and are bound in a crimson leather cover. Often the text itself is printed in red ink. There is said to be a version known as the Madness Copy that features black pages with red ink.