La-bas (Down There)

"e;La-Bas"e; is an 1891 novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. The story concerns Durtal, a man disgusted by the shallowness and decadence of the world within which he lives. Turning to the study of the Middle Ages as a form of escapism, he learns of the notorious 15th-century child-murderer Gilles de Rais. Through this research, he discovers that Satanism is not something lost an...