Feed Drop: Urban Legends — The Satanic Panic (True Crime History) - Weekly Spooky: Scary Halloween Stories | Terrifying Tales to Creep Your Night

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello there, my Spookyes, Enrique Cuto here your host and narrator.
And you know the time of year, the air is colder,
the pumpkins are glowing, and the world feels just a
little more haunted. As part of our Spooky Season celebration,

(00:22):
I wanted to share something truly fascinating, a show that
explores the dark corners where folklore meets fear. It's called
Urban Legends with Luke Morjoux, and in this episode, Luke
dives into one of the most unsettling moral frenzies of
the twentieth century, the Satanic Panic. He unearths the stories,

(00:47):
the hysteria, and the strange mix of fear and politics
that turned rumor into terror and left scars that still
shape conspiracies to this day. So it back, relax, enjoy
Luke's show, and afterward, search up Urban Legends with Luke
Morjeux on your favorite podcasting app and tell him weekly

(01:12):
spooky Censia.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
In nineteen sixty two, the small Puritan settlement of Salem, Massachusetts,
became the stage for one of history's most infamous moral panics.
It began with a handful of young girls reportedly suffering
with unexplained fits and visions of specters, eventually claiming to
be being tormented by witches. Physicians found no medical cause

(01:41):
for what was happening, and so he declared the affliction
must have been the work of the devil. Ministers began
to warn that Satan was moving among them, and the
colony's leaders quickly decided that threat had to be rooted out.
Within week, the accusations spread beyond the first household and

(02:03):
into the entire community. Neighbours who had once worshiped together
every Sunday were now beginning to denounce one another as
old resentments over land inheritance and church politics surfaced. As
proof of a secret evil, the colonial courts relied heavily
on spectral evidence, testimony that a person's spirit or shape

(02:28):
had appeared in a dream or vision, a standard that
required no physical proof. Under intense pressure and the threat
of execution, suspects began to confess whether they were guilty
or not, sometimes even implicating others along with it, feeding

(02:50):
a cycle that seemed unstoppable. By the time the panic
subsided in sixteen ninety three, more than two hundred people
had been accused, with twenty of them being executed. Others
managed to survive but were confined to jail. Historians now
see Salem as a textbook study of collective hysteria. Economic uncertainty,

(03:15):
political instability, and the rigid Puritan worldview had all primed
the population to see the devil's hand in every day misfortune.
The trials revealed to humanity just how quickly dear can
override reason, and how easily suggestion and coercion can create memories.

(03:37):
Although it is a lesson that we've never truly accepted.
Centuries have passed, but the patternate demonstrates never disappeared. In
the twentieth century, the supposed signs had changed, as people
no longer worried about whispered spells. Instead, their focus was

(03:59):
drawn to the strange sounds of heavy metal lyrics and
fantasy games being shared amongst the youth. In fact, the
newly placed authority figures, such as police officers and specialist therapists,
continued to repeat the exact same mistakes Salem's magistrates had

(04:21):
consistently made by believing first and investigating later. My name
is Luke Mordeu and this urban legend is the Satanic Panic.

(04:53):
The Church of Satan began in San Francisco on Van
Pulkasnat thirty of April nineteen six, when former carnival organist
and police photographer Anton Levy shaved his head, donned the
black robe, and declared the founding of a new religion.
Although it is worth noting that his Satan was not

(05:15):
meant to be the horned demon of Christian law. Anton
had reassigned the devil as a symbol of rebellion, indulgence,
and individual freedom, acting instead as a theatrical rejection of
both Christian morality and the bland conformity. Members gathered in

(05:37):
their now infamous black house that sat on California Street.
Here they performed elaborate, incense filled rituals that borrowed Catholic
imagery and occult aesthetics. However, this was always for the
sake of theatrics and drama, rather than any real worship
taking place. A few years later, in nineteen sixty nine,

(06:00):
and On published The Satanic Bible, laying out a philosophy
the prized reason, self interest, and ritual as mere performance.
It was part philosophy, part provocation. Spreading quickly through underground presses,
Anton wanted to shock and horrify a nation already uneasy

(06:25):
with counterculture, and it worked spectacularly to an already anxious public.
The word Satan was enough, and newspapers painted Anton LaVey's
congregation as a genuine cult of devil worshippers. People were outraged.
Evangelical preachers began to warn that the devil was recruiting,

(06:48):
and by the nineteen seventies, the Church of Satan's black
masses and inverted crosses had been used to feed the
idea that shadowy covens really were gathering in base and forest.
While the Church of Satan preached symbolism, the legend of
very real devil worshipers was already taking root. This strange

(07:12):
time of history may not present itself as a single,
neat legend like we usually cover, but in many ways,
the Satanic Panic was built on a wide web of
them Instead. Stories of hidden covens, black robed kidnappers, and
ritual sacrifice spread through neighborhoods, schools, and late night news

(07:34):
broadcasts for years. Each tale, no matter how outrageous, was
treated as a warning. Much like the folkloric stories of old,
and just like many urban legends that surround them, They
were widely believed, blurring what was mere storytelling and what

(07:57):
was truly happening. In my telling of a fictional encounter
set in the horrors of the Satanic Panic, we will
follow Tevin on his way to meet a new group
of friends in the autumn of nineteen ninety two. The

(08:19):
night air carried the damp smell of rain soaked leaves,
filling Tevin's lungs with a freshness that can only be
found after a storm. The skies were clear for the
first time in weeks, allowing the moonlight to proudly glow
down upon the long, dark streets once again. This October
didn't feel as cold as he previously remembered, which was

(08:41):
just as well, considering he had only stepped out in
a fin jacket and a T shirt, too busy trying
to find batteries for his torch before rushing out the door.
It had been weeks since he had hung out of
his friends, and he didn't want to be late. He
wasn't sure what had happened between them when he left
for California to spend the summer with his mum. He

(09:03):
was surprised to find that James, Mary and Molly had
thrown him a little party just for the four of them.
They were sad to see him go and excited to
hear his stories when they got back. His dad had
always been distant and cold, and his mum had moved
across the country to live with another family, and so

(09:25):
in many ways, these three who he had grown up
with were his true family. Separately, none of them fitted
in amongst society. In fact, to most they were downright strange,
but together they had an understanding. He always felt invisible

(09:46):
when they weren't around, and so much of his time
in California had been lonely and troublesome. He arrived back
in Virginia just in time for the beginning of the
school year, and he was so keen to get back
to his friends, although when he finally saw them, their
attitudes towards him had completely changed. They seemed quieter them before,

(10:13):
more distant and aloof towards school and sports. None of
them did much gaming outside of role playing even before
he left, but they at least enjoyed the chance to
throw balls at students that had given them shit in
the past during dodgeball. Now they avoided interacting with people
all together, including him, it was them against the world,

(10:39):
always together, always whispering about things that instantly halted the
moment he would walk over. He was worried about them,
but he didn't know what to say. How was he
supposed to ask his friends why they're being weird now,
especially with how insecure and left out he was feeling
about the whole situation. He missed his friends and desperately

(11:02):
wanted to be included once again. It wasn't as if
he had a pick of friends at school, with many funding.
The four of them weird long before the strange change
of summer. That's why he jumped so enthusiastically at the
chance to meet them when they finally called him up
for a new adventure. Maybe, just maybe he wouldn't feel

(11:25):
so invisible anymore. Out in the woods, they had apparently
come across an old, abandoned building when they used to
serve as a small factory or office space. They didn't
know for sure what it was, but what they did
know was that nobody had been there for many years,
and that much of its foundations were still in place.

(11:49):
It would be the perfect place to hang out, somewhere
where they could be free from the rest of society.
Tevin drew closer to the trees ahead, already feeling the
darkness grow as the residential houses behind got further with
every step. This was where they were supposed to meet,
at least, he hoped it was the place they meant

(12:11):
the entrance to the woods by Mary's old house. This
is the corner they would meet up at and ride
their bikes through town as kids, and although it was
far more overgrown than it used to be, little else
had changed. He clicked on his torch and shone it
into the trees, hoping to see them nearby, waiting, but
he saw nothing but the dancing shadows of the leaves

(12:32):
and the gentle breeze. There was no way he was
going to step in there by himself. He had watched
far too many horror films for those kind of antics. Well,
that wasn't till a greater fear took over the fear
of getting caught. He sharply spun on the spot as
the porch light of a nearby house flicked on, filling

(12:53):
the area in a golden glow. By the time the
owner stepped out of his dog in hand, Heaven had vanished,
disappearing into the trees to avoid being seen. If their
no spot had been taken away before they even got
there due to him being sighted, they'd likely never speak
to him again. He crept deeper into the trees, covering

(13:18):
his torch of the palm of his hand, turning its
bright light to a soft pink as he pointed it
to the ground. He sat quietly, watching the man slowly
wander up the street, his dog seemingly sniffing every blade
of grass it passed as it slowly followed behind. Once
the coast was clear, he turned to look deeper into

(13:39):
the trees once again, although this time he just about
jumped out of his skin. Standing in the dark amongst
the trees were his three friends, Molly, Mary, and James,
all watching him with excitable smiles on their faces. Good
to see a dress to blend in, James remarked, alluding

(14:02):
to the bright blue jacket Tvin had on compared to
the black hoodies they had hanging off their shoulders. Tevin stuttered,
feeling far more anxious than he had expected to feel,
already worried that he'd messed it up. Luckily, Molly broke
the ice by skipping forward and grabbing his arm. With
energetic lee. He's kidding, she exclaimed, pulling him deeper into

(14:24):
the trees. It's really good to see you, Devin smiled
with a deep exail, feeling relieved to see the silly,
playful Molly he had missed for so long. How far
away is it, he asked, stretching out his free hand
to calm his nerves, forcing himself to remember that he
was safe and amongst friends. Not far, James replied, but

(14:47):
before he could add anything to it, Mary began pacing
into the trees with impatience, loudly demanding that they get
a move on. They laughed it off together, venturing deeper
into the woods. And they had ever been before. As kids,
they were always too afraid to go inside, and by
the time they got older and braver, Mary had moved,

(15:09):
giving them no reason to ever be on this side
of town. It wasn't as if there was much excitement
for them to have found, though, surrounded by nothing but trees, shrubberies,
and moss, the group caught up with each other, each
of the three taking it in turns to ask Tevin
questions about his trip, avoiding any real answers to anything

(15:31):
he may have asked them. He didn't mind, though, he'd
been wanting to tell them about California since before he'd
even got back, and was happy that he was finally
able to update them all with it. That was until
Mary began questioning him about girls, causing the group to
laugh and giggle amongst themselves as they teased him about

(15:52):
being a virgin. Finally lost your vicarde, she asked, directing
her torch directly into his face, quite literally putting him
in the spotlight, just in time to see his cheeks
blush rosy red as his eyes darted around him. But
it was then, as he looked out into the trees

(16:13):
to avoid their questions, that he spotted what looked to
be an old man peering around the bark of a tree,
watching them as they walked. He paused on the spot,
flinging his torch towards it with a yelp, causing the
entire group to stop with him. Were you doing? While?
He called out? Frustrated by his loudness, Tevin studied the shadows,

(16:37):
darting his torchlight to every corner he could see, Although
the old man was nowhere to be seen, I swear
I just saw someone, he whispered to ensure whoever it
was didn't hear, although this was a pointless act, as
James laughed, shouting, Oh, Tevin's seeing goes Now. With that,

(16:57):
he carried on walking, refusing to age with any of it.
I'm serious, Tevin replied, his eyes still studying the trees
around him. It's probably just a shadow, Molly announced, swinging
her arm around as she forced him to step forward.
Don't think you're getting out of telling us about girls,
you naughty boy, Mary added, putting her arm around his

(17:18):
waist as she pulled him forward until they were all
walking after James. Once again, there were no girls, Tevin,
sheepishly admitted, his mind, quickly drifting away from the face
he had seen amongst the shadows. The girl squeezed him tightly,
telling him that they love that he's still a virgin
and they think he should keep his innocence forever. With this,

(17:43):
they stepped out onto a clearing for the first time
since he had entered the trees, revealing a tall but
thin building. It was made of old brown brick, with
several of the windows blown out and crumbling on the
floor below. Although all things considered, it looked fairly well kept,
with several floors rising up onto the trees. What's the

(18:05):
view like up there, Tevin asked, as he admired it,
now adjoining them in the excitement of a new place
to hang out. Oh it's great in the day, But
I want to show you something else, Molly told him,
grabbing his hand and instantly dragging him towards the entrance. Wait,
don't rush, James called out, seemingly frustrated that she had
taken the lead at the last minute. Tevin stepped into

(18:27):
the main room as Molly jumped ahead, placing her torch
against the windowsill, pointing it up at the ceiling so
it served as a lamp, bouncing off the white painted
ceiling above. She turned to him with a smile, widening
her arms to proudly show off the space. It was cool,
there was no denying that, But at the same time,

(18:48):
Tevin became all the more aware just how dangerous this was.
Now he was inside. It seemed sturdy enough in most places,
although a large gaping hole spread over what used to
be the ceiling of the hallway up ahead, with beams
of wood and sheets of rubble scattered across the floor.

(19:10):
Or do you think James asked as he remained in
the doorway, Mary hovering in the shadow behind him. Yeah,
it's really cool, Tevin replied, keeping a brave face as
he nervously studied the ceiling for any cracks that could
somehow cave in any minute. This isn't even the coolest part,
James replied with a confident smile, turning his head to

(19:30):
a doorway on the other side of the room. Molly,
in her excitement, darted forward once again, flinging it open
before Tevin could even register what was happening. Inside was
nothing but darkness, even when Tevin lifted his torch as
if the black itself was too thick. Go check it out,

(19:51):
Molly demanded, struggling to keep her enthusiastic smile at Bay
Devan instead stepped back away from it, shake it his
head as he did. No way to that, Molly sighed
with frustration, turning to James and Mary as if asking
them what to do. Oh, come on, we'll all go down, Molly,

(20:12):
you first, Mary announced to the room as she barged inside.
Molly didn't move, widening her eyes as she stared back
at her, clearly not wanting to be the first to enter,
Tevan was quickly growing uneasy. They were acting stranger than usual. Fine,
Molly replied with another smile, although this time through gritted teeth.

(20:37):
But only if you come with me, she added, reaching
her hand out to Tevian. He could never say no
to Molly. He had always held a soft spot for her,
and so without much thought at all, he took her
hand and allowed her to lead him into the darkness.
The moment he stepped through the doorway, he realized that

(20:59):
it was a set of stairs, heavily creaking under every
step they took, delving deeper into the basement. Is this safe,
he asked, peeking over his shoulder to look back up
at the security he was leaving behind. Now James and
Mary had moved, standing in the doorway, blocking anyone from

(21:20):
coming in or out as they watched him go deeper.
He was partly frightened, but mostly confused, unsure and what
to do or say, and so he just continued to
follow Molly's lead, venturing deeper into the dark. That is
when Tevin knew that he had made a grave mistake.

(21:44):
Now he could see into the basement he was being
led to, and what he found was not the darkness
he had expected. Instead, he witnessed dozens of candles flickering
around the room, symbols scattered, and chalk across the walls,
with one large circular one engraved in the dirt. Below,

(22:07):
in the middle of the room was a wide wooden table,
clean and strong, with leather straps wrapped around each leg
draped on the table ready for use. This was a
sight that frightened and horrified him, and yet it was
nothing compared to the realization that they were not as
alone as he had first thought. Standing in different corners

(22:32):
of the room where several figures people cloaked in black
robes patiently waiting for his arrival. Devin didn't scream, nor
did he try to run. He just stood there, heartbroken
by the way in which his friends had tricked him.
He turned to look back up at the stairs to
find Mary and James were still standing in the doorway,

(22:54):
simply watching him, with blank expressions on their faces. Behind
them was now the same face Tevin had seen in
the trees, standing behind them in his large blood red cloak,
a smile clear on his face. Tevin jumped back against
the wall as the hooded figures that surrounded him drew closer,

(23:18):
muttering strange incantations under their breath and unison. He turned
to Molly, hoping that she would tell him that it
was just a prank, but instead she watched him back
with a reassuring smile, nodding her head as if thanking him.
He wanted to say so much, he wanted to ask

(23:38):
so many questions, but instead all that came out of
his mouth was her name, repeated several times as they
grabbed his arms. He fought back as hard as he could,
but there was no way he could fight off the
two lumbering men who stood either side of him, and
so he was forced to watch as the rest slowly

(24:01):
began to form a circle around Molly. She watched them
with a confused expression, her eyes darting to each of
them as she tried to step away. It became clear
very fast that this was not part of the plan
as she knew it. Tevin watched as James and Mary

(24:21):
slowly made their way down the stairs, followed by the
old man, whose smiles seemed to grow with every step
closer that he took. The room filled with Molly's screams
as James and Mary joined the others lifting her up
and placing her on the table, strapping her arms and
legs to it with the lever. The two men either

(24:45):
side of Tevin escorted him to a chair in the
corner of the room, before placing their hands on his shoulders,
forcing him to take a seat. He wasn't fighting back anymore,
his mind now frozen still as he watched the horrors
unfold across the room. Molly's cries continued, switching between threats

(25:06):
and please with every breath, but none reacted. The old man,
who had now reached the floor, ignored her also, his
eyes fixated on Teven's as he edged closer, his smile
growing wider with every step that he took. Slowly, the

(25:27):
man crouched down in front of him, His sharp blue
eyes dixated on Tevian's as his smile changed once again,
although this one only confused Tevan further. Now he looked
almost caring, gently reaching out and placing his hand on

(25:48):
the side of Tevan's face. He leaned forward, gently placing
his lips on Tevan's forehead for a moment before pulling away,
a strangely tender moment amongst the horrified screams that swirled
around the room. Tevan's eyes filled with tears as he
watched the old man study him one last time before

(26:11):
getting to his feet, and then finally he spoke, You
don't need to feel alone anymore, he said, lifting a
strange curved dagger in his hand. Tevan's eyes widened in
horror as he watched the sharp blade edge closer to him.

(26:32):
His heart pounded in his chest as he waited for
the final blow to come. Then instead, the two men
etherside of him let go. The old man was not
holding the dagger to use, he was offering it to him.
You have a family here if you want it, he added,

(26:56):
as Tevern reached out to take the dagger from him.
He rose to his feet as the man edged closer
to the table. Molly, who had now spotted Tevin holding
the dagger, began to panic further, begging him to help her.
The hooded figures had now parsed ways, gathering on one

(27:16):
side of the table, creating a gap for Tevin to
approach without obstruction. James and Mary stood by Molly's feet,
their hoods now above their heads as they watched him,
their eyes beaming with excitement. And pride. Tevin arrived at
the table, looking down at Molly's vulnerable body that lay

(27:38):
strapped to the wood. She no longer screamed or pleaded.
She watched him as he contemplated what to do, her
eyes filling with tears. Tevin gripped the dagger tightly. He
could turn and run, but they would catch him. He
could swing that dagger and take out as many as

(27:59):
he could before he had a weapon off the rule,
and it didn't look as though any of them did. However,
there was something else in his mind that both excited
and terrified him. The words the old man had said
had appealed to him in a way that he had
not expected. This was made all the worse when he added,

(28:23):
we see you, Devin. He gently placed his hand on
Tevin's shoulder, once again, giving him a reassuring smile. He
sees you. Tevin turned to his friends, who both watched
him with pride. Mary nodded her head encouragingly, whilst James
waited for his decision. He didn't look back at Molly.

(28:48):
He didn't want to anymore. She was luring him into
a trap, or at least she thought she was, so.
Why should he care. What could she possibly say that
could change anything? He wasn't alone anymore, He wasn't invisible.

(29:41):
In the spring of two thousand and one, British journalist
John Ronson released a book titled Them and Adventures with Extremists.
In this book, he chronicled his encounters with conspiracy theorists,
militia leaders, and secret societies across the world. What he
uncovered wasn't just fringe eccentricities. It was those who had

(30:06):
given into the impulse to split the world into insiders
and outsiders, with the comforting and safe us and the
untrustworthy and threatening them. Psychologists refer to this as in
group outgroup bias, a reflex that makes unfamiliar ideas or

(30:28):
communities feel dangerous to us. That instinct, which was so
vividly captured in Ronson's brilliant reporting, is what sets the
stage for the dark and strange time of the Satanic Panic.
In the United States, the late nineteen seventies and early
nineteen eighties were marked by Cold War anxieties, a sharp

(30:51):
economic recession, and the rise of family values movements that
promised to restore a Christian social order, with evangelical leaders
such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson, warning that secularism, feminism,
and new religious movements threatened the nation's soul. This climate

(31:13):
of cultural backlash primed churches, local politicians, and law enforcement
agencies to treat any whisper of occult activity as evidence
of a deeper moral decay. Insider bias is a core
element of nationalism, and we see it repeated time and
time again over history. Even today, certain groups fixate on

(31:39):
those they consider them, demonizing their very existence to justify
their internalized anger, serving as a scapegoat when the need arises.
And one thing that we've seen over the years amongst
countries with notable sample sizes of Christian theologians is that
labeling the outsiders as demon becomes a well worn and

(32:02):
successful tactic. It was in the twelfth century that Christians
began accusing Jews of using the blood of kidnapped Christian
children in secret rituals, an invention that fused religious prejudice
were fears of the occult. This belief reached a gruesome
crescendo in fourteen seventy five with the Simon of Trent

(32:25):
Blood Libel. Here, the body of a two year old
named Simon was found in a ditch in the city
of Trento, Italy, leading local officials to quickly blame the
Jewish community. Authorities arrested nearly every Jewish resident, subjecting them

(32:46):
to brutal torture until they produced the confessions investigators demanded.
In the end, fifteen Jewish men were executed, whilst the
women and children were forced to invert or expelled as
the entire Jewish quarter was destroyed. The child was declared

(33:07):
a martyr and eventually venerated as Blessed Simon of trent.
Pilgrims blocked to his shrine and laurid woodcuts depicted Jews
committing ritual murder, spreading the myth across Europe as fact.
It wasn't until Pope Sixtus the fourth eventually ordered an
inquiry that doubt was cast on the charges. Although by

(33:31):
now the damage proved to be irreversible, the blood libel
had been reprinted in pamphlets and sermons from Germany to Poland,
feeding the hatred and demonization for generations. This entrenched a
template for anti Semitic violence that has persisted into modern times,

(33:51):
inspiring later outbreaks in places like Prague, Kiev and beyond.
The myth of Jews murdering Crists children for ritual purposes
never truly disappeared. It just mutated, resurfacing in different guises
well into the twentieth century, even still found in many

(34:13):
contemporary conspiracy theories. Episodes like the Simon of Trent's Libel
also helped entrench the habits of scapegoating outsiders whenever societies
felt destabilized. These narratives fed later witch hunt mentalities, linking
fears of heresy to cosmic evil and offering a template

(34:35):
for communities to turn ordinary neighbors into existential threats. Then
there's the witch trials during the fifteenth century, where Europeans
tortured and executed many innocent people, reportedly in the tens
of thousands, with the intention of ending demonic connections and

(34:56):
witchcraft amongst the accused. This was very much embedded into
European culture as they continue to spread across the West,
and soon enough the Americas were filled with demonic claims,
with it leading to the infamous Cases of Salem. In

(35:16):
nineteen twenty seven, Herbert Gorman released a novel titled The
Place Called Dagon, which follows the story of devil worshippers
that derived from Salem. The book was purely fictional, of course, However,
it was considered to be radical and influential at the time,
with historian Philip Jenkins claiming that it would actually become

(35:39):
a key influence on the Satanic panic that would come
decades later. By the twentieth century, US child protection laws
and mandatory reporting requirements, which were designed to safeguard children,
unintentionally created powerful incentives to investigate even the thinnest of allegations.

(36:02):
Federal grants rewarded aggressive pursuit of child abuse claims, and
social work training often emphasized believe the child, making it
difficult for investigators to pause when stories grew fantastical. The
USA at the time had gotten very comfortable with its

(36:22):
unmoving sense of religion, family dynamics, and expectations. But as
culture progressed and expanded, these systems began to look different
in several places across the continent, and as we've learned
over the years, there are a large number of people
who despise this change. New religious movements had appeared, family

(36:44):
dynamics were diversifying, and media began to delve deeper into taboo. Subjects,
most notably ones that delved into the themes of the occult.
By the nineteen thirties, satanic cults had become part of
pop fiction, being consumed by millions over the years. By
the nineteen sixties, some who had grown up during the

(37:07):
times of these stories were now working as huge Hollywood directors,
creating films such as Rosemary's Baby of nineteen sixty eight,
The Exorcist of nineteen seventy three, and The Omen of
nineteen seventy six. Beyond this, people had begun to see
signs of not quite the same, but unnervingly similar events

(37:30):
taking place in the real world, such as the horrifying
murders committed by the Manson family in nineteen sixty nine. This,
along with several other factors such as Anton LaVey's theatrical
antagonistic antics, cemented worldwide associations between cults and violence in

(37:51):
public imagination, and by the end of the nineteen seventies,
the ingredients for a moral panic had begun to mix,
slowly forming in the quiet, anxious parts of society. Evangelical communities,
who were already wary of the way the world was
going found further justification in their fears. When Mike Wonke

(38:14):
published his nineteen seventy two memoir The Satan Seller, which
falsely claimed he had led a one thousand, five hundred
member Satanic group that engaged in human sacrifice and other horrors.
The book was treated as expert testimony in the churches
and Christian media, and Warnkey parlaid it into a lucrative

(38:38):
career as an occult expert, even briefing police. Only in
the early nineteen nineties did Cornerstone Magazine's long investigation comprehensibly
debunk his story. Before that, though, things had gotten far
worse before they were ever going to get better. With

(38:58):
the nineteen eighties Public Location of Michelle Remembers, a discredited
memoir co authored by psychiatrists to Lawrence Pasda and his patient,
the titular Michelle Smith. The book presented laurid recovered childhood
memories of Satanic ritual abuse, uncovered in more than six

(39:20):
hundred hours of hypnosis, complete with an eighty one day ritual,
angelic visitations, and infant sacrifice. None of it could be
corroborated by investigators or local records, but nonetheless it sold briskly,
putting Pasda on television and conference stages, giving police, prosecutors,

(39:44):
and therapists a ready made narrative template. At the center
of this all was the misguided adoption of recovered memory
therapy or RMT, which purported to uncover repressed memories of
childhood trauma through techniques like hypnosis and guided imagery. Many

(40:06):
of those doing this were operating from a Christian worldview,
which meant disassociative symptoms such as mood swings or identity
fragmentation were sometimes interpreted as signs of Satanic ritual abuse.
In peer reviewed and professional outlets at the time, clinicians

(40:26):
treating multiple personality disorder as d ID was then known
report large proportions of patients recovering Satanic ritual abuse, accounts
that later proved impossible to verify. Others warned that suggestibility
and leading interviews by authorities were inadvertently turning therapy rooms

(40:47):
into story factories, conjuring up the tales the authorities wanted
to hear. It was on the twenty fifth of October
nineteen eighty eight that NBC aired Devil Worship, Exposing Satan's Underground,
a two hour primetime special hosted by Giraldo Rivera, reaching

(41:08):
roughly nineteen point eight million households. The program stitched together
horrific anecdotes, supposed expert sound bites, and several interviews with
self proclaimed Satanists. Rivera told viewers there were around a
million Satanists in the United States alone, operating through a

(41:31):
secretive network. This show horrified audiences, accelerating already placed anxieties,
But what many weren't aware of at the time was
that this special, presented as investigative journalism, relied almost entirely
on unverified testimony and sensational claims. Newspapers and magazines jumped

(41:57):
on the hype next, further sensationalizing the panic by repeating
the claims with minimal due diligence. Segments of the religious
press amplified them further, as evangelical outlets and bookstores platformed
Walkey and similar survivor narratives for years. On top of that,
local press began to run police warnings about supposed occult

(42:20):
crime waves taking place. This merged the laurid with the
legitimate and created a trapdoor for skepticism, as if you
were to push back on the urban legends being spread,
you'd be seen as somebody who doesn't care about the
victims of child abuse. Sensationalism was not confined to television.

(42:43):
Tabloids such as The National Inquirer got involved, hungry for
circulation spikes, and radio hosts booked self described occult experts
to appeal in the air, keeping alleged satanic crime in
the headlines week after week, and turning local rumors international
talking points. None of this, though, quite summed up the

(43:06):
sheer panic of this time, like the McMartin preschool trials
that span from nineteen eighty three to nineteen ninety. It
began in Manhattan Beach, California, when mother Judy Johnson told

(43:26):
police her preschool age son had been abused by a
young teacher, Ray Bucky. Police went on to send around
two hundred letters to families urging them to question their
children about sexual abuse, listing specific acts to ask about.

(43:48):
The police chief wrote, the following procedure is obviously an
unpleasant one, but to protect the rights of your children
as well as the rights of the accused, this inquiry
is necessary, and please question your child to see if
he or she has been witness to any crime or

(44:09):
if she has been a victim psychologists looking back at
this have considered this letter a perfect example of what
not to do in this situation, but when ahead regardless.
Hundreds of children were then interviewed at Children's Institute International
by social worker Kee McFarlane's team, using techniques later criticized

(44:33):
as highly suggestive, such as repeated sessions, heavy adult talk,
anatomically detailed dolls, and encouragement to pretend or remember. Within months,
the allegations had ballooned far beyond their original interpretations, now

(44:53):
filled with claims of secret tunnels, animal sacrifice, naked movies,
dar games, and even celebrity involvement. This caused a frenzy
amongst believers, and it horrified citizens up and down the country.
Soon enough, excavations had begun under the school, where they

(45:16):
did turn up old debris of earlier buildings. However, they
found no secret chamber inside. On top of that, the
taped interviews with the children, when eventually played to jurors,
showed the degree of leading and pressure, quickly becoming decisive
to those in the courtroom. After an eighteen month preliminary hearing,

(45:41):
multiple defendants faced hundreds of counts, but eventually all were
acquitted or left with hung juries, with the last charges
dismissed in nineteen ninety Although the McMartin case was far
from unique. In New Jersey, Kelly Michaels, a young daycare worker,

(46:04):
in nineteen ninety three, was convicted after a trial built
solely on interviews, ones that were so coercive that experts
later called them textbook examples of how to create false memories.
Her conviction was overturned on appeal. In North Carolina, the

(46:26):
Little Rascal's Daycare prosecution became a drawn out ordeal that
consumed most of a decade for those involved. What began
in nineteen eighty nine as a single parent's vague worry
quickly escalated after investigators used highly suggestive interviews with the children.
Soon more than twenty youngsters were accounting laurid scenes of

(46:51):
satanic ceremonies, secret boat rides, and impossible acts of violence.
Seven staff members in total, including owner Bob Kelly and
cook Dawn Wilson, were charged with hundreds of counts of abuse.
The trials stretched on for seven exhausting years, marked by

(47:12):
sensational headlines and televised testimony. There was never any physical evidence,
yet some defendants spent years in jail awaiting verdicts, while
the community split into bitter factions. The McMartin investigation itself

(47:32):
ended up being the longest and most expensive criminal prosecution
in American history at the time, and left the accused
bankrupt and stigmatized, but the children traumatized by the process
and the public no closer to evidence of a Satanic conspiracy.
By now, though, their case was a national spectacle, and

(47:54):
the hunt for the Satanists was continued, even as more
and more people became gan to question the legitimacy of
their very existence. The stories, in some cases had grown
too outlandish for even the most susceptible of audiences, including
tales of a goat man who would later become an

(48:16):
urban legend of their own. On top of that, tales
of school employees having the ability to fly or cause
bodily harm without leaving a mark caused many to reconsider
the legitimacy of these tales. In May nineteen eighty five,
the news program twenty twenty ran a segment on satan

(48:36):
worship to regurgitating many of the theatrical supposed facts that
were spreading across the continent. Now there were a couple
of caveats to this, as the host, Hugh Downs did
open the show by saying police have been skeptical when
investigating these acts, just as we are in reporting them,
but there is no question that something is going on

(48:59):
out there and that sufficient reason for twenty twenty to
look into it. However, it was only at the end
that he stated the link between crime and Satanic cults
will remain speculative. The problem with this, of course, is
that by now the audience has sat and watched full

(49:20):
narrative displayed as fact, so by the time this disclaimer
is said, viewers are already emotionally enthralled, disgusted, and horrified
by the concept. This in itself serves as a leading question,
which is a tactic still used today under the guise
of I'm just asking questions. By planting the seed, a

(49:43):
belief can grow, whether it's sprouting from fact or fiction.
This works in the favor of the person putting that
question forward, as technically they've actually made no statement and
can claim their innocence in any future time. In that sense,
this part of history is repeating itself again. It's only

(50:05):
the boogeyman himself that has changed. Eventually, law enforcement agencies
began to institutionalize the panic through occult crime seminars, speciality
officers and training materials, and now infamous nineteen ninety four

(50:26):
training film Law Enforcements Guide to Satanic Cults circulated in departments,
teaching rank and file officers to read everyday items and
youth subcultures as red flags sold out conference halls taught
officers to treat heavy metal records, fantasy role playing, and

(50:46):
even Halloween decorations as gateways to satanism. Parents groups and
prosecutors targeted bands like Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne, bringing
high profile trials over alleged subliminal messages, while moral crusaders
painted dungeons and dragons as a recruiting tool for the occult.

(51:09):
In fact, the Recording Industry Association's Parental Advisory sticker, which
was introduced in nineteen eighty five, owed as much to
this climate of satanic fear as any concerns regarding explicit lyrics.
It was due to this mix of pop culture devils,
podium experts, therapeutic fashions, and police training that a perfect

(51:33):
feedback loop had been created, feeding on media sensationalism and
public panic and reinforced by confirmation bias. That's why, looking back,
the most sobering figures remained the simplest ones out of
thousands of allegations. No real proof of an intergenerational organized

(51:56):
Satanic network ever surfaced. People who believed they were acting
virtuously to save lives and stop evil instead left a
trail of wrecked families and shattered reputations. Ordinary teachers and
caregivers were demonized and vilified, while children were pressed to

(52:18):
remember horrors that never truly happened. And yet, of all
the stories to emerge from this fevered time, one stands
out above due to how dark, confusing, and troubling the
case was from the beginning to the end, and that
is the Trial of the West Memphis three. If you're

(52:49):
still listening, I know you share my passion for folklore
and urban legends. But to keep these stories coming, I
need your help for just three pounds a month and
ensure the show thrives with shorter breaks between seasons and
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and access to our private community chat where you can
connect directly with me and other Urban Legend enthusiasts. And
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(53:55):
passionate community dedicated to keeping folklore alive. Contribution directly fuels
the research and production of this show. If you're ready
to join, just click the Patreon link in our show
notes to subscribe and I'll see you there. But for now,

(54:16):
back to the Legend. On the warm evening of May

(54:41):
the fifth, nineteen ninety three, three eight year old friends
Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers climbed onto their
bikes and set off through the quiet streets of West Memphis, Arkansas.
They were a familiar sight, Stevie leading the way, Michael
keeping pace, Christopher determined not to be left behind as

(55:03):
they pedaled towards a patch of woods the locals called
robin Hood Hills. Although when darkness fell and the boys
hadn't returned, parents began calling their names through the back
gardens and vacant lots. Soon enough, police joined the search,
flashlights cutting through the trees as hours passed with no

(55:26):
sign of them. It wasn't until the following afternoon that
a volunteer spotted a black tennis shoe in a muddy
drainage ditch. They investigated further, hoping to find some form
of evidence that could lead them to the boys whereabouts
so they could be brought to safety. However, unfortunately, what

(55:46):
she found were the bodies of all three boys laying
submerged in water. They were naked, hog tied, with their
own shoelaces and their clothes found nearby, inside out, and
caked with mud. Stevie and Michael bore signs of blunt
trauma and drowning, but Christopher Byers had additional injuries such

(56:10):
as knife wounds and genital mutilation. There were no fingerprints,
no usable DNA, no clear weapon. West Memphis had a
horrifying crime and not a single obvious suspect to question.
But this was in nineteen ninety three, a time where

(56:31):
America was deep in the grip of the satanic panic,
and so whispers of an occult motive filled the void
left by this lack of evidence. Because of this, police
soon focused on three local teenagers who didn't quite fit
in with the town's expectations. Dimian Eccles eighteen, who wore black,

(56:55):
read about Wicka, and loved heavy metal, Jason Baldwin sixteen,
his quiet friend, and Jesse miss Kelly Junior seventeen, who
was a neighbor with a mild intellectual disability. After more
than twelve hours of interrogation without a parents or lawyer present,

(57:17):
Jesse miss Kelly gave a confused confession riddled with contradictions
as times continuously didn't match and details consistently shifted. He
recanted almost immediately, but by now it was too late
and the story had been locked onto over time. Prosecutors

(57:40):
wove a story of ritual murder, presenting Damien Eckles's music, taste,
black clothing, and interest in alternative religion as proof of
satanic allegiance. The trials for their convictions began in nineteen
ninety four. Jesse miss Kelly was convicted of one counter
first murder and two of second degree murder. Sentenced to

(58:04):
life plus forty years, whereas Damien Eckles and Jason Baldwin
were tried together and with no physical evidence, the state
leaned heavily on Miss Kelly's disputed confession and testimony from
the so called occult experts. This led to Baldwin receiving
life without parole and Eckles being sentenced to death. Damien

(58:32):
Eckles spent eighteen years on death row, but luckily constant appeals,
outside scrutiny and later DNA testing kept any execution at bay.
Beginning in the late nineteen nineties, HBO's Paradise Lost documentaries
pulled back the curtain on these trials, and the first

(58:55):
film from nineteen ninety six revealed glaring holes in the
prosecut us story, spotlighting the three supposed devil worshipers as
three alternative kids being caught up in hysteria. Its sequel,
Paradise Lost Two Revelations in two thousand and the follow up,

(59:16):
Paradise Lost Three Purgatory in twenty eleven, followed the years
of the appeals put forward by the three, who were
now grown men. By now, their story had inspired a
worldwide movement of musicians, activists, and legal advocates to raise
money and demand a new trial. By now, it was

(59:40):
public knowledge that modern forensic testing had found no DNA
from any of the three defendants on the crime scene evidence. Instead, however,
a hair recovered from a ligature was consistent with Terry Hobbs,
the stepfather of victim Stevie Branch. Facing mounting public pressure

(01:00:03):
and the likelihood of a new trial, the state of
Arkansas offered an Alford plea in the August of twenty eleven.
This rare legal mechanism allowed the three men to plead
guilty while maintaining their innocence. After eighteen years in prison,
Damien Eccles, Jason Baldwin, and Jesse ms Kelly walked three,

(01:00:26):
still legally convicted, but no longer behind bars. The murders
of Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers remain officially unsolved.
The West Memphis three continue to fight to clear their names,
and the case endures as one of the most infamous

(01:00:49):
examples of how fear, In this instance, the satanic panic
can shape an investigation, a court room and nearly cost
an innocent man his life. The satanic panic thrived in
the broader atmosphere of the nineteen eighties, when a new
culture war was taking shape and powerful voices were working

(01:01:11):
to reassert traditional values against what they saw as a
secular drift. To many, Satanism became the imagined endpoint of liberalism.
If you didn't fit the demands placed on gender, age, viewpoint,
or sexuality, you were seen as flirting with the devil.

(01:01:33):
That framing was dangerous as it made suspicion a virtue
and doubt as sin, asking people to choose a side
first and check the facts later. This isn't unfamiliar to you,
I'm sure, as modern conspiracy movements recycled these exact same
plot points, only now spread faster and wider in our

(01:01:55):
digital age. It was in late twenty seventeen that Cumanon began,
when an anonymous poster calling themselves Q dropped cryptic posts
on the message board four chan. What stood out about them, though,
was that they were claiming to have high level US
security clearance. Q, during his posts that would later be

(01:02:18):
known as Q drops, began to talk of an impending
showdown between Donald Trump and a secret network of child
abusing elites. Followers flocked to these drops treating each vague
post as a riddle for them to crowdsource interpretations using
older Satanic panic myths with every strain of Internet paranoia,

(01:02:41):
such as global cabals, coded symbols, and apocalyptic storms of
mass arrests. Within months, QAnon migrated from fringe forums to
Facebook groups, YouTube channels, and mainstream social feeds. Certain influencers
saw an opportunity and ran with it, labeling themselves as

(01:03:02):
digital soldiers, making podcasts, live streams, and memes. The movement
even borrowed legitimate anti trafficking language, most notably the slogan
save the Children, forcing the actual charity of that name
to publicly distance itself from a campaign it never endorsed.

(01:03:23):
Official endorsement was unnecessary, though, and just like the Satanic Panic,
anyone who approached the subject with suspicion was seen as naive, stupid,
or downright evil. But that all being said, this is
not where these stories of reemergence begun. It was actually

(01:03:43):
a year prior to QAnon's beginning, back in twenty sixteen,
that a rumor known as Pizzagate was being spread, laying
the groundwork for much of the coming conspiracies. It began
when hacked political emails from the US president campaign were
misread and twisted on forums like Reddit and four Chan.

(01:04:05):
Strangers had somehow come to the conclusion that the word
pizza was code for a child trafficking ring allegedly run
by prominent Democrats out of Washington, d C. At a
restaurant called Comets Ping Pong, even though there was never
a shred of evidence to any of it. As we've

(01:04:26):
seen time and time again, though that didn't matter, and
in that December, a man named Edgar Madison Welch drove
from North Carolina to the pizzeria with an assault rifle,
Convinced he was on a mission to rescue children. Once there,
he fired several shots before surrendering to the police. No

(01:04:48):
children were ever found inside, because, as you may have expected,
no ring was ever found. Far from ignoring the Pizzagate scandal,
q had absorbed its wholesale treating the Comet Ping Pong
fantasy as early proof of its own sweeping claims, and
due to this the two movements became entwined, as Pizzagate

(01:05:12):
provided the script, whilst QAnon gave it a new global stage.
QAnon never did ever produce credible evidence of its grand conspiracy,
but it didn't need to. Like the Satanic ritual legends
before it, the movement thrived on fear, symbolism, and the
promise that deciphering secret signs could reveal the ultimate truth.

(01:05:37):
Just as the Satanic Panic left lives in ruins without
ever proving its dark claims, QAnon continues to linger in
the culture, with shouts of blood harvesting, child sex rings,
and deep state still prominent amongst many Nearly two hundred
people were charged with crimes during the years of the

(01:05:59):
Satanic Panic, and amongst them, dozens were convicted. Fortunately, many
of these defendants were eventually freed, although some were incarcerated
for far too many years due to misinformation and urban legend.
Geraldo Rivera, whose TV show was a key component in
the spread of the Satanic Panic misinformation, has even gone

(01:06:22):
on to apologize for his partner at all. Even one
of the former students of mcmartin's school came out to
openly admit what we all by now knew that she
had lied. Whilst talking to the Los Angeles Times, she
was quoted as saying it was an ordeal. I remember
thinking to myself, I'm not going to get out of

(01:06:42):
here unless I tell them what they want to hear.
The stories and the panic along with it were powerful
enough to jump borders. In the United Kingdom, allegations of
ritual or satanic abuse surfaced in high profile child protection
action at Rochdale and Orkney, but once again, subsequent inquiries

(01:07:04):
criticized interviewing methods and found no evidential basis for organized
Sitanic crimes. Jean de la Fontaine's government commissioned review of
hundreds of British cases concluded that there was no corroborated
proof that child abuse was part of rights with a
religious or magical objective, even as genuine non ritual abuse

(01:07:28):
certainly existed. In Canada, the Martinsville prosecution in Saskatchewan spiraled
into claims of a cult called the Brotherhood of the
Ram before or later RCMP review condemned the investigation as
driven by emotional hysteria and by suggestive child interviews. Later,

(01:07:50):
multiple defendants were eventually compensated for malicious prosecution. In the Netherlands,
the nineteen eighty seven to nineteen eighty nine Oude peculareted,
a Justice ministry work group whose nineteen ninety four report
judged that the satanic narrative was unlikely and instead attributed
many accounts to suggestive questioning within a therapeutic network. South

(01:08:14):
Africa formed an occult related Crimes unit in the early
nineteen nineties, and media carried scattered Satanic ritual abuse claims,
but historians note the panic never anchored itself in sustained,
corroborated cases. Australia two saw waves of allegations, conferences, and
bitter professional disputes about ritual abuse, with scholars later describing

(01:08:38):
it as an imported moral panic rather than a phenomenon
supported by material evidence. A key factor across all of
these cases was a profound misunderstanding of memory. Decades of
research show human memory is reconstructive, it can be actively
distorted by post event information, leading questions, repeated interviews, or

(01:09:02):
discussions with peers. Elizabeth Floftus's work on the misinformation effect
demonstrates how exposure to misleading cues can alter what witnesses
firmly believe they recall, and with children the risks are
even higher. Classic reviews by Stephen J. Cesci, Professor of

(01:09:23):
development psychology and Maggie Bruck, Professor of psychiatry and behavioral
science document how young witnesses incorporate interviewers assumptions, how confidence
can outtrip accuracy, and how repeated directive questions inflate error
props make things worse, as reviews find anatomically detailed dolls

(01:09:47):
and other interviewing aids can actually invite fantasy play and
false reports rather than improve recall or touch events. Eventually,
modern forensic protocols are arose precisely to counter these problems.
The NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol, for example, emphasizes open ended prompts,

(01:10:10):
minimal interviewer input, and careful pacing, which reliably increases the
proportion of accurate, forensically useful details. Courts have also had
to reckon with these limits. Professional bodies warned in the
nineteen nineties that so called recovered memories retrieved in suggestive
therapy could not be treated as inherently reliable and urged

(01:10:33):
extreme caution in criminal proceedings. Appellate reviews in daycare panic
cases repeatedly flagged interviewing flaws such as repetitive leading questions
and contamination from prior conversations, and in some jurisdictions, convictions
were even overturned and compensation paid. In short, what looked

(01:10:56):
like a hidden international network was off, and network of ideas,
suggestive training materials, professional seminars, and media narratives that primed
investigators and therapists to expect the worst. The panic traveled
quickly because the human mind wants sharp lines between us

(01:11:17):
and them, and because memory under pressure can be made
to serve the story. In the end, the Satanic panic
had no real victims of devil worshiping, torture and evil
cult like behavior. Instead, the victims were those who had
been either coerced or accused, versus the obvious people who

(01:11:40):
had been accused of horrifying acts whilst being completely innocent.
These people would have been vilified, abandoned, and treated terribly
during this time, let alone the stress and horror of
the situation. What that would do to a person's mental
well being I hope to never find out. But then
there are those who were actively convicted for the supposed crimes,

(01:12:01):
such as the aforementioned West Memphis free or husband and
wife Francis and Dan Keller, who ended up serving twenty
one of their forty eight year sentence for abuses they
allegedly committed at their Texas daycare. It wasn't until twenty
thirteen that the couple were finally released due to the
lack of evidence and false medical testimony. But then, there

(01:12:24):
are those that are forgotten in many stories surrounding the
Satanic Panic, and that is those who were coerced to
begin with. These were small children at the time who
likely did not fully understand the repercussions of what they
were saying. There are horrible things these children would have
heard during the coercive interview tactics being used on them.

(01:12:47):
Not to mention the false memories that these children would
now have, as many had been truly convinced that these
were real life memories. The trauma of a horrifying crime,
alongside the guilt of knowing it was all made up,
must be such a troubling and confusing thing to deal with.

(01:13:09):
By the mid nineties, the Satanic Panic had settled and
much of the world moved on as if it had
never happened. Generally, there was no moment of realization amongst
the general public where they became aware of how easily
they could be influenced. Instead, it fizzled out into nothing,
only to rise up once again under new names within

(01:13:31):
a couple of decades. With that in mind, we end
where we began with fear and misinformation. We can repeat
the pattern, treating every rumor as a clue and every
symbol as a confession. Or we can do what the
satanic panic begged does not do and insist on proof,

(01:13:53):
protect children with facts not folklore, hold institutions to account
with evidence not vibes, and remember that a movement can
feel righteous and feel urgent and still be wrong.

Speaker 3 (01:14:21):
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you heard and want to hear more, please like a
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(01:14:42):
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(01:15:04):
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Speaker 1 (01:15:15):
Thank you again, my spookyes for giving Luke moore Jew's
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(01:15:40):
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Feed Drop: Urban Legends — The Satanic Panic (True Crime History)

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