What caused the satanic panic?

The Satanic Panic: what was happening in America's brain that made this happen?

Another @pbsstoried short from your friends at Monstrum!

Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

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[alchemest]

Many of the "experts" that questioned child victims asked leading questions to get these young children to say what they wanted.

[Professor_Fate]

The sad fact is that there were people whose families, careers, and reputations were destroyed by what was nothing more than an "urban legend."

[basementdwellercosplay]

My mom first thought dnd was demonic until my cousin got into it and realized it was a fantasy game and not what she was told by Chick tracks or friends

[MeltedBrains]

My grandpa took my 6 year-old mom to the movies to watch the exorcist. Took her until she was in her 40's to watch that movie again and get over the fear

[marzipanthequeen]

I actually lived through this garbage. This theory 1000% makes sense

[mbthe]

That was also the time when more Americans were getting cable TV, which also made horror movies more accessible.

[josephyoung]

All valid points - I raised them in a recent lecture titled "The Intellectual History of the Nerd" - but I'd really like to see this tackled as a proper Storied ep. The material surely warrants it.

[nunyabizz]

Let's not forget Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. "Thanks, " Pat Robertson, I was one of those you labled a Satanist in the 1980's.

[claywoodral]

As a D&D fan and someone who lived through the 80s I appreciate you covering this.

[NewMessage]

Well, we all know 'I saw a movie so good, I'm gonna make it my whole personality!' people.

[xsshul]

I was forced to read Michelle Remembers as a kid, and to this day---some of the best comedy I've ever read.

[glittermasterofarrakis]

It wasn't just VCR, s. HBO also started around this time. Saw my first R rated movie, The Fog, (original) on HBO around 1980.

[barbarianvee]

Can't wait for this! I still see whiffs of it even today. It's good to make sense of the past so we don't repeat the same bs

[Amy_the_Lizard]

My mom HATED the Satanic Panic. Some of her coworkers tried to harrass her friend Maggie during it because her son was goth and played D&D and thus was clearly a Satanist. My mom demanded to know what D&D was, and after it was explained to her, proclaimed it sounded like "Fantasy novels, but with dice" then demanded to know what they had against fantasy sibce it's her favorite genre. They attempted to claim it "encouraged sin and Satanism, " to which she replied, "So does porn, yet you two idiots _keep watching it in the office_ and bragging about how many women you slept with. If anyone's going to Hell, it's you, not Mark." They didn't have a response to that, so they gave on up on harrasing Maggie while my mom was around.

[Styphon]

It was also the time that D&D was beginning to get real popular, as was Heavy Metal. Religious Fundamentalism (it even has 'mental' in the name) can be blamed for a lot of it.

[eliljeho]

Also the interview created false memories.

[modernorpheus]

Movies inspire reports of satanic abuse, reports of satanic abuse inspire movies, movies inspire reports of satanic abuse, reports of satanic abuse inspire movies, etc.

[scussrubbish]

So kind of like how King Kong came out right before "sightings" of the Loch Ness Monster picked up.

[Wolfcreed]

"I've seen The Exorcist like, hundreds of times and it keeps getting funnier every time I watch it." - Beetlejuice

[WorgenGrrl]

The FundaMENTAList Christians didn't help matters.