The Devil Made Me Do It ... from the Creepy files ...

Reuters – Viktor Mirosiichenko, the public face of Kontora loan company, shows a contract with a borrower.

Would you pledge your soul as loan collateral?


Fri Jul 3, 11:53 am ET

RIGA (Reuters) – Ready to give your soul for a loan in these difficult economic times? In Latvia, where the crisis has raged more than in the rest of the European Union, you can.

Such a deal is being offered by the Kontora loan company, whose public face is Viktor Mirosiichenko, 34.

Clients have to sign a contract, with the words "Agreement" in bold letters at the top. The client agrees to the collateral, "that is, my immortal soul."

Mirosiichenko said his company would not employ debt collectors to get its money back if people refused to repay, and promised no physical violence. Signatories only have to give their first name and do not show any documents.

"If they don't give it back, what can you do? They won't have a soul, that's all," he told Reuters in a basement office, with one desk, a computer and three chairs.

Wearing sunglasses, a black suit and a white shirt with the words "Kontora" (office) emblazoned on it, he reaches into his pocket and lays out a sheaf of notes on the table to show that the business is serious and not a joke.

Latvia has been the EU nation worst hit by economic crisis.

(I find this very creepy.)


A lesson in soul selling from Wiki:

A deal with the Devil, pact with the Devil, or Faustian bargain is a cultural motif widespread wherever belief in the Devil is vividly present, most familiar in the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, but elemental to many Christian folktales. In the Aarne-Thompson typological catalogue, it lies in category AT 756B – "The devil's contract."

According to traditional Christian belief in witchcraft, the pact is between a person and Satan or any other demon (or demons); the person offers his or her soul in exchange for diabolical favours. Those favours vary by the tale, but tend to include youth, knowledge, wealth, or power.

Musicians
The idea of "selling your soul for instrumental mastery/fame" has occurred several times within music usually in guitar dominated genres and more specifically in pre-World War II rural Blues. Bluesmans' crossroads, located in Tchula Junction, Mississippi, is said to be the universal meeting grounds for such exchange. It was said that in your twenty-seventh year the devil would come to collect his property:

Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist, who may not have started the rumour but played along with it.[3]
Giuseppe Tartini, Venetian violinist and composer, who believed that his Devil's Trill Sonata was inspired by the Devil's appearance before him in a dream. [4]
Tommy Johnson, blues musician[5]
Robert Johnson, blues musician, who some people claimed he met with Satan at the crossroads and signed over his soul to play the blues and gain mastery of the guitar.[5]

Robert Johnson did achieve great acclaim in the blues field. He also died a horrible death at age .. yes ... 27.

I think the sequel to the movie "Oh God" was "Oh God, You Devil!" This was the theme of that one .... musicians who sold their souls for wealth and fame, but then had to turn over their immortal soul at an appointed time.

From Spinner.com:

Many famous performers have sacrificed their credibility or dignity to get ahead (see: 'American Idol') but Dante Knoxx took it one step further by trying to sell his soul on eBay. The 24-year-old British musician posted an ad for his "used" soul, with a starting bid of £25,000.50 (just over $38,000) or the "Buy It Now" price of £700,000 (over $1 million).