Karla LaVey

Karla was born to Carole Lansing and Anton LaVey San Francisco, California. She has two half siblings, Zeena Schreck and Satan Xerxes Carnacki LaVey.[3] She founded the First Satanic Church headquartered in San Francisco in 1999.[4] She was a founding member of her father's Church of Satan, and acted as a public representative for both the church and her father for the better part of four decades. In the 1970s, she was very close friends with Alice Cooper, whom she later introduced to her father.

In 1979, Karla was dispatched to Amsterdam to oversee the International Church of Satan headquarters[5] which acted as a liaison to its members overseas. During this time, Karla was given the title High Priestess of the Church of Satan, which she would occasionally use in interviews with print media and her lecture tours. Throughout the 1990s, Karla made numerous appearances on television combating the Satanic Panic that seemed so prevalent for that time. Some of her appearances included the Joan Rivers Show, Ron Reagan Show, 20/20, and 60 Minutes.

On October 29, 1997 Anton LaVey died of pulmonary edema. Being the next of kin to Anton LaVey, Karla held a press conference on November 7, 1997, to announce her father's death. It was at this time that Blanche Barton and Karla LaVey announced that they would run the Church of Satan jointly as co-high priestesses.[6] Several days later, Barton produced a hand written will claiming that LaVey had left all of his belongings, property, writings, and royalties, including the Church of Satan, to Barton's toddler son who was fathered by LaVey. The entire LaVey estate, Barton claimed, was to be put in a trust for the son, managed by Barton. Karla contested this will and the San Francisco probate court decreed the will to be invalid. A court settlement was reached on October 31, 2001 in which Anton's belongings, intellectual property and royalties would be split equally among his three children, Karla, Zeena and LaVey's son by Barton (Satan Xerxes Carnacki LaVey, also known as Ethan Clarke),[7] and that Barton would receive the "corporation known as Church of Satan".[8] Under Blanche Barton's leadership, the Church of Satan was moved to New York City and Barton handed the corporate title over to Peter Gilmore, who now runs the business with his wife Peggy Nadramia.

In 1999, Karla decided to continue her father's work by starting her own satanic organization in his memory called the First Satanic Church, running it out of San Francisco just as her father had. Currently, Karla LaVey promotes and sponsors live Satanic events, shows and concerts. She also hosts a weekly radio show in San Francisco. She is married.

• Official First Satanic Church Website
• Official First Satanic Church MySpace