<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0">	<channel>	<title><![CDATA[Satanic cult with weird staircase]]></title>	<link>http://www.whatsthatbook.com//index.php?xq=27</link>	<description><![CDATA[Way back in the 1960s, I read a paperback novel about a man who was kidnapped off a New York City street by a Satanic cult.  He was taken to the cult's lair where he was forced to walk up a weird moving staircase.  Because he stepped on the wrong step, he became enslaved by Satan.  Can you find this book for me?]]></description>	<language>en-us</language>	<pubDate>Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:50:43 -0700</pubDate>	<generator>AskPert - (c) 2005 W3matter LLC</generator>	<managingEditor>whatsthatbook@gmail.com</managingEditor>	<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>	        <item>		  <title><![CDATA[Satanic cult with weird staircase - answer]]></title>		  <description><![CDATA[Hello.    I believe that you're thinking of &quot;Seven Footprints to Satan&quot; by Abraham Merritt.    The book is available from Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380006901?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=whatsthatbook-20&amp;linkCode=as2    Various descriptions of the book:    &quot;The story has an American explorer who breaks into a Satanic cult active in New York City.&quot;    &quot;The big gimmick here is that the bad guy's victims are forced to walk up a mechanized staircase (with rotating steps), and if they place a foot incorrectly they're put to an ignominious end.&quot;    &quot; Kirkham is forced to play a game in Satan's lair, during which he is made to tread on seven glowing footprints, four of which are &quot;fortunate&quot; and three &quot;unfortunate.&quot; Depending on the steps he lands on, he will either be killed, serve Satan for a year, be given a fantastic fortune, etc.&quot;    &quot;The most beautiful and powerful people in the world had bargained with the Devil. They play Russian Roulette with seven footprints to world domination--and lost. They had become subject to the Collector of Infernal Revenue--Satan. The Master Player of games would glut his lust with souls and gain world power through diabolical manipulations. But into his collection comes James Kirkham, an American explorer determined to prove that the steps are stacked.&quot;    -------  subjects:  horror fiction  mystery fiction  pulp fiction  ]]></description>		  <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:29:56 -0800</pubDate>		  <link>http://www.whatsthatbook.com//index.php?xq=27</link>	 		  <guid isPermaLink="false">714cc9282aead83b03e644b3051ad266</guid>      </item>   </channel></rss>