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The phrase "Hail Satan" is documented as early as 1808, where it is said in the poem The Monk of Cambray, by an evil monk who uses his pact with Satan to advance in the ranks of the Catholic Church (and finally become Pope). The Latin version Ave Satanas (in its variant spelling Ave Sathanas), often appears in literature at least from the 1800s, notably in the popular 1895 faustian novel The Sorrows of Satan[10], and earlier in a 1862 play St. Clement's Eve (in reference to satanic undertakings supposed to take place at midnight in a district of Paris).

After the phrase "Hail Satan" appeared in the 1967 book Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin and the 1968 film adaptation of it, where it is said by Satanists when they believe Satan's will has been accomplished, and had also appeared in other films and in stock footage, the phrase became part of the common conception of what Satanists say. Some film actors were reluctant to say it, and of those who did some felt they experienced negative life events afterwards, such as divorce.

Coinciding with the its appearance in Rosemary's Baby, the phrase became a common greeting and ritual term in the Church of Satan (founded in 1966), both in its English form, Hail Satan, as well as in the Latin version of it, Ave Satanas. When Ave Satanas was used, it was often preceded by the term Rege Satanas ("Reign, Satan"). ( Rege Satanas can be heard in the video of a widely publicized Church of Satan wedding performed by LaVey on February 1, 1967.). The combination "Rege Satanas, Ave Satanas, Hail Satan!" is found as a greeting in early Church of Satan correspondence, as well as in their 1968 recording The Satanic Mass, and ultimately in their 1969 book The Satanic Bible. The same combination also appeared in 1969 in the non-Church of Satan record album by the rock band Coven, in a 13 minute long "Satanic Mass" of their own. The use of "Hail Satan" by Coven (as well as their use of the sign of the horns and inverted crosses on the same album), was the first time this phrase was used in rock music. The phrase is used in some versions of the Black Mass, where it often accompanies the phrase Shemhamforash and is said at the end of each prayer. This rite was performed by the Church of Satan appearing in the documentary Satanis in 1969. Some occultists accompany it with similar addresses to other gods or figures they revere. Rituals involving the phrase tend to be more likely to be mentioned in the press at Halloween.

"Ave Satani", the piece of music used as the basis for the theme song for The Omen (1976), written by Jerry Goldsmith, which won him an Academy Award, has a title which is intended to mean "Hail Satan" in Latin, in opposition to "Ave Christi". (The song contains other Latin phrases inverting Christ, such as "Ave Versus Christi", meaning "Hail Anti-Christ", and "Corpus Satani", an inversion of "Corpus Christi", the body of Christ). The song has been described as hair-raising and has inspired cover versions such as those by Fantomas or Gregorian. The music is used in comic portrayals of stock "sinister" characters, for instance in the South Park episode "Woodland Critter Christmas", which involves devil-worshipping woodland creatures, a version of the "Ave Satani" is heard in the background when the animals use their demonic powers; also the episode's commercial bumpers involving a squirrel saying "Hail Satan!" The chant is also parodied in the episode "Damien", where Damien is accompanied by the chant "Rectus Dominus Cheesy Poofs."

In 1985, the phrase received national news coverage in the United States when serial killer Richard Ramirez, known as the "Night Stalker", shouted "Hail Satan!" as he was led from the courtroom, while raising his hand with a pentagram drawn onto it. Members of Ramirez's family denied that he said the phrase, believing that he said "We'll see," but "Hail Satan" was still being used by journalists over twenty years later as being characteristic of Ramirez. In reviewing whether Ramirez was deprived of his due process and fair trial rights by being restrained by leg shackles, the Supreme Court of California itself highlighted Ramirez's use of "Hail Satan" to support its conclusion that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering Ramirez to be physically restrained during trial.

The phrase may be used ironically by heavy metal fans as part of their rebellious ethos, along with the sign of the horns. Although this sign was once confined to the metal sub-culture, it has now become more mainstream, being used at an Avril Lavigne concert, perhaps without users being aware that "Hail Satan" is one interpretation of its meaning. Heavy metal musicians may use it as part of their act or their songs, such as "Hail Satanas We Are The Black Legions" by Mütiilation. Heavy metal musicians, for instance Ozzy Osbourne, a member of the Church of England, rarely consider themselves to be Satanists, instead using it as part of their stage persona, a role they play.

The ubiquity of the phrase has led to it being used in parodic imitation of evangelism, as with the Mr. Show sketch "Hail Satan Network" which includes characters who are Satanic televangelists. It received another humorous use when Bart Simpson was punished for using it to end the Pledge of Allegiance.

Members who belong to the Church of Satan and other branches of Satanism sign letters and emails and conduct rituals with a Shemhamphorasch, although their version of it is different and contains 72 names of demons, not names of angels. This usage is designed as an inversion of the Shemhamphorasch used by Jews and Christians. It is taken to mean a kind of desecration in closing or closing in the name of possibly the backwards reading of the angels and likely refers to the demons of Goetia in their hierarchies and with their own special titles like Marquis or President. The demons, on the other hand are organized into nine orders and differ from traditional lists of the angelic Shemhamphorasch. The relationship is unclear. A misconception attributed to the founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey, is that "Shemhamphorasch" means "Hail Satan" in Enochian. It is actually just a reference to these beings as one in purpose for assistance of the Satanist.

The word "Shemhamphorasch" is spoken in Church of Satan rituals, often followed by "Hail Satan!", as outlined in The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey. The Totenkopf Grotto (a German branch of the Church of Satan) proposes an ancient Babylonian-Assyrian derivation for the word as "Šem-ham-fo-raš", a phrase they say implies becoming one with the Powers of Darkness.

The Black House was a Victorian mansion that formerly stood at 6114 California St. in San Francisco, California, in the United States. Though the building is sometimes referred to as a mansion, photographs of the building taken just before its destruction show that it was a moderately sized single family home, considerably smaller than the two small apartment buildings on either side of the property.

The house was used by Anton LaVey as the headquarters of his Church of Satan from 1966 until his death in 1997. LaVey conducted Satanic seminars and rituals at the house; one of the most notorious such rituals was the Satanic baptism of his daughter Zeena Schreck in 1967, punctuated by LaVey speaking the words "Hail Satan!" over the nude body of a female acting as the 'Satanic Altar'.

Public ceremonies were performed at the house until 1972. LaVey lost ownership of the house in 1991 as the result of a court settlement resulting from his separation from Diane Hegarty, but LaVey was allowed to reside at the Black House until his death.

Following LaVey's death, members of the Church of Satan unsuccessfully attempted to raise funds to repurchase the house, and it was demolished on October 17, 2001. As of May 2006, there is a new development being built on the lot where the Black House once stood.

David Shankbone: Do Dr. LaVey’s children have anything to do with the church at all?

Peter Gilmore: His son Xerxes is a member because he asked to be. We generally don’t let people under 18 join. We used to let people whose parents allowed them to join, but because people are so litigious we changed that. We just don’t want to take the chance that some parents say, “Yes, it’s okay if my kid joins the Church of Satan,” and then decides that’s the reason they can’t control their kid. We’re just not willing to go there. But if our members have children who are interested, they can participate and become members, but that’s the only way you can if you’re not legally an adult. So Xerxes could become a member because his mother was High Priestess at one point, and still remains a member.

David Shankbone: But not Zeena?

Peter Gilmore: No, she left years ago. She’s not very bright and is very jealous. She and her paramour, Nikolas Shreck, got married I think. They wanted to take the Church of Satan over at one point and wanted Anton LaVey to retire, but he was a feisty guy and said "Hell no!" So they quit in high dudgeon and ran off to Europe and said, “America is corrupt and horrible and we’re going to Fortress Europa!” They played with being Nazi occultists, which is kind of funny because both of them have Jewish blood. They’re just like clowns. They then joined the Temple of Set, which was an organization that split off from the Church of Satan years ago, in 1975, when Michael Aquino—

David Shankbone: Based on the Egyptian god?

Peter Gilmore: Yeah, and they’re theists. They believe that Set exists and that their priests can commune with him and that their founder is the voice of Set. So, it’s like, good that they left for housecleaning. But Zeena went and joined them and became High Priestess because Michael Aquino has this Anton LaVey obsession, which is obvious since he wrote a book about him that’s about a thousand pages, so he made her the High Priestess of their organization. Then she left to form an even more orthodox Setian group called “The Storm”, which to us is just funny. Such theatrics. His oldest daughter Karla isn’t a very bright girl. She kind of hung around the background and once in a while she would come out to speak in public and support her father. When Xerxes was born she kind of got miffed because she wasn’t the center of attention. Karla is also jealous type. She withdrew from her father, which hurt him a lot.

David Shankbone: How did the legal wrangling surrounding his estate pan out?

Peter Gilmore: They finally settled. What ended up happening is he had written a will. Anton LaVey’s idea was that if he acknowledged he is going to die, then he’d be giving in to death, so he didn’t want to go to an attorney and make out a will. He was very feisty and had his own perspective on that. So he finally wrote a will out and signed it, but it wasn’t notarized and there were no witnesses. So when it came to court they said it wasn’t good enough. They basically split everything up between the three children, so Karla and Zeena and Xerxes all got part of the estate.

David Shankbone: Who received the copyright to The Satanic Bible?

Peter Gilmore: The estate. The money that comes in from that gets split up and goes to the three kids. Also there is a small percentage that goes to LaVey’s companion, Diane Hegarty; she says LaVey. But they were never married and had a falling out in the early 1980’s. She went off and left Satanism and sued him for palimony and he had to sell his house because of all of that, and he sold it to an old friend and member. Diane got a pile of money and she got a tiny percentage of the books that had been written up to that point. Every once in a while she comes creeping in off the periphery to say, “Ah! I’m Diane LaVey!” and it’s like, you were Diane Hegarty and you were kind of involved in it, but before the Satanic Panic happened you left and had nothing to do with it. She was never someone who wrote or said anything of interest. She was just the pretty blonde wife of Anton LaVey. She was a nice figurehead, but wasn’t of much use beyond that.