11 Photos Remembering the Satanic Panic of the 1980s
No backward messages here!
Published 3 months ago in Wow
Flying witches. Human sacrifices. Children being flushed down toilets.
No, this isn't the plot of a bad 1930s Halloween movie, but rather several real allegations that terrified the nation during the height of the Satanic Panic, one that sparked several court cases, fueled widespread conspiracies and instilled a whole lot of fear in Americans during the '80s and early '90s.
From the bogus science behind Michelle Remembers to the movement's lasting legacy, here are 11 photos remembering the Satanic Panic of the 1980s.
3
Michelle Remembers
Penned by psychologist Lawrence Pazder and his patient-turned-wife, Michelle Smith, ‘Michelle Remembers’ relied on the largely-debunked practice of recovered memory therapy to tell the tale of alleged Satanic ritual abuse Smith said she had endured at the hands of a cult starting from her childhood. The book’s shocking claims were ultimately debunked with a bit of fact-checking, but the damage was done.
7
McMartin Preschool Trial
Yet of all the trials stemming from this phenomenon, none made headlines quite like the McMartin preschool trial. Alongside the hundreds of sexual abuse accusations thrown upon seven staffers who worked at the California school, some allegations took a turn for the bizarre. These accusations ranged from flying witches to underground tunnels and even children being flushed down toilets.
10
AC/DC Jokes it Off
“When AC/DC was accused of backmasking Satanic messages in an album title guitarist Angus Young said ‘you didn't need to play [the album] backwards, because we never hid [the messages]. We'd call an album H To H, there it was right in front of them.’ Courtesy of Harry (Howard) Potts