Book record · Former Barking Rain Press title
The Celibate Succubus
by Barton Paul Levenson
Published by Barking Rain Press in July 2013 and promoted as YA fantasy, this novel follows Delilah Vincentio, a sixteen-year-old succubus who has turned her back on Hell, as a covert Catholic team sends her into a Satanic cult in Pittsburgh and then into high school.
This book was once published by Barking Rain Press, which announced its closure in 2019. This site is not that publisher and does not sell books. See “Finding the book today” below.
Premise
The Celibate Succubus follows Delilah Vincentio, a sixteen-year-old succubus who was raised in Hell to tempt human beings. Because she proves capable of mercy, she renounces Hell. She is taken on by Team Packer, a covert Catholic strike team that fights supernatural evil, and becomes, in the promotional copy’s words, its secret weapon.
Her first assignment is to infiltrate the Order of the Lightbringer, a Satanic cult that wants to make Pittsburgh a testing ground for the Apocalypse. When her cover is nearly blown, the team sends her to high school to keep a low profile, and fitting in proves difficult for a reformed demon. This summary follows the promotional descriptions published in 2014 and stops at the set-up.
Publication history
Barking Rain Press published the novel in 2013. Open Library records the Barking Rain Press paperback with a date of 30 July 2013, 224 pages and ISBN 978-1-935460-58-9; Goodreads gives the same date and page count. A February 2014 promotional tour post lists that ISBN together with a second one, 978-1-935460-59-6, without saying which formats they belong to, so this page does not claim a confirmed eBook edition.
The author is based in Pittsburgh, where the novel is set. A 2016 Barking Rain Press announcement for his dark fantasy Dark Gods of Alter Telluria describes him as a two-time winner of the Parsec Short Story Contest and lists The Celibate Succubus among his novels, which shows he continued to publish with the press after this book.
Research for this page found no confirmed later edition. The Barking Rain Press edition is a historical edition, and this site has no connection to the original press or to anyone who holds rights in the book today.
Reading notes
These notes come from desk research using promotional descriptions and catalogue records. They are not a reading report.
The genre labels come from promotional material rather than a catalogue: a February 2014 tour post lists the book as YA fantasy and urban fantasy, and a cover blurb calls it a kind of YA fantasy while suggesting it suits readers of any age. This page treats it as a young-adult fantasy on that basis. It takes the long-standing figure of the succubus, a demon of seduction, and inverts it: the title signals the reversal, and the premise turns on a creature choosing against her own origins. That gives the book a redemption theme alongside its supernatural action. The religious framework is overtly Catholic, with a church-backed team fighting a Satanic cult, so faith is part of the story’s machinery rather than background colour.
The structure described also blends two familiar young-adult patterns. One is the undercover mission against a hidden enemy. The other is the outsider trying to pass in high school, which the descriptions present as a challenge in its own right. Setting it in a real city, Pittsburgh, brings the supernatural into a recognisable place, which is what the tour post’s urban-fantasy label points to.
Finding the book today
The Barking Rain Press printing is out of print, and research did not confirm a current publisher. Secondhand copies may still circulate. Public library catalogues and WorldCat can help locate a copy to borrow; searching by ISBN 9781935460589 will find the original paperback. This page does not say where the book is on sale or at what price.
Finding the book today
The Barking Rain Press edition is out of print, and no later edition was confirmed during research. Public library catalogues and WorldCat, searched by ISBN 9781935460589, are the most reliable places to look for a copy.
Discussion questions
- Delilah was raised to tempt people, but her capacity for mercy leads her to renounce Hell. Can a single act of mercy change who someone is?
- The title pairs a creature defined by seduction with a vow of celibacy. What does that contradiction suggest about the book's interest in identity and choice?
- Team Packer is a covert Catholic strike team against supernatural evil. How does setting religious faith alongside fantasy elements change the stakes of a good-versus-evil story?
- Delilah has to infiltrate a cult while hiding what she is. What are the costs of living undercover, for a spy or for a teenager?
- After her cover is nearly blown she is sent to high school to lie low. Why might ordinary school life be harder for her than fighting a cult?
- The story is set in a real city, Pittsburgh. What does a real, specific setting add to a fantasy story?
Open printable prompts for this book · Add to a reading list
Sources
- The Celibate Succubus (Open Library edition 9781935460589), Open Library. Accessed 2026-11-12.
- The Celibate Succubus (Goodreads), Goodreads. Accessed 2026-11-12.
- The Celibate Succubus by Barton Paul Levenson (Pembroke Sinclair blog, February 2014), Pembroke Sinclair (blog). Accessed 2026-11-12.
- Book Blast: The Celibate Succubus (Total Eclipse Reviews, 18 February 2014), Total Eclipse Reviews (blog). Accessed 2026-11-12.
- Barking Rain Press releases "Dark Gods of Alter Telluria" (press release, 23 August 2016), PR.com. Accessed 2026-11-12.