The first time a deal with the devil is made in history is in the writings of Johann Georg Faust around the late 1400s, and thus a whole genre of books, poems, operas and movies was born. Today Slate will tackle the not-so-important question: why are there are so many movies where someone makes a stupid deal, pact or bet with the devil? Where did this idea come from and why was it so popular in the 80s that everyone from George Burns, Bill Cosby, Mickey Rourke and Cher was involved? Today we’ll burn in hell together as we make Deals with the Devil.