The great thinkers of the Renaissance get plenty of credit for their indelible mark on art, science, and architecture. But maybe they don’t get enough credit for another field to which they made an enormous contribution – horror tropes. Demon-summoning rituals? Deals with the devil? Spellbooks full of dark secrets that must not fall into the wrong hands? All part of the legend surrounding Renaissance-era “magi,” who straddled the line between scientist and sorcerer, and who inspired literary accounts of Faust and Prospero. Anthony Grafton, a Princeton University history professor, tells their fascinating story in Magus, his study of Renaissance-era magic and its practitioners, which should provide plenty of inspiration for horror or fantasy writers who want to add an element of historical accuracy to their fictional sorcerers.