The secret history of the satanic panic! Also, how it changed American Christianity forever, and might be responsible for MAGA.

The Pulling Report by Michael Stackpole

http://www.rpgstudies.net/stackpole/pulling_report.html

For anyone who is curious about the Satanic Panic at its ground zero, I grew up in Richmond, VA and was playing RPGs as a teenager there at the height of the Panic (in the mid to late 80's).  That's Patricia Pulling's stomping grounds and the founding location of B.A.D.D.  We saw the people who wanted to shut us all down in the media occasionally, but we mostly just laughed at them.  So, yeah, it happened, but it was far more media event than real event.  Didn't directly affect me (my life and family situation was so screwed up that whatever games I was playing was the least of my parent's worries), but I had several friends that it did affect in minor ways, mostly just by their parents saying they couldn't play the game. 

But as for some massive movement that scarred swathes of children, that  certainly wasn't the case in the epicenter of the whole controversy.  We freely played home games and shopped at the local magic shop/game store One Eyed Jacques (which is where I bought all my games back then).  I went to a Southern Baptist church, rolled up characters in the back of my English class, and openly carried my D&D books everywhere in Richmond.  The most I ever got was questions from a curious person or two who had vaguely heard there was some controversy about the game and wanted to know what it was.  Maybe some crazed pogrom was happening somewhere at the time (I know Janet Reno, et al., were trumping up charges against day care workers at the time), but at ground zero, the home of the notorious Pulling herself, it was far more of a media-driven sensationalist story than anything that affected our gaming or lives.

There's a recent book on the subject called "Dangerous Games" by Joseph Laycock.



https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23014149

I have a copy, but I've only read a few chapters. It has interesting material and a lot of research, but it can be slow for someone who's lived through it.

I watched your video. Yes, the Satanic Panic thing was real. As a Gen X-er growing up during the height of it all, my experience was mixed.

For some context, I started playing in 1981. The James Dallas incident happened in '79, Mazes & Monsters was published in '81 and the TV movie to come out the following year (Dec '82).

"Beware the sacrilege!" - Tom Hanks as Pardue the Priest. LOL

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Just in the years between 79-'82, D&D and the Satanic Panic were already becoming a mainstream subject.

By '83, Patricia Pulling created BaDD, and things really started to roll.

Personally, I wasn't directly affected. There was an incident while I was in school, where a small group of us kids were bringing the D&D/AD&D books to school, and we got caught. We were told by the teacher not to bring them to school anymore, not because of the Satanic panic, but it was disrupting our studies in class. I went to a Catholic grade school BTW.

I don't recall any incidents of gamers at the time who were directly affected by the whole thing. We knew the anti-D&D Satanic Panic existed, but it was something on the periphery. The gaming community where I lived at the time (Omaha, NE) was pretty close-knit. We all looked out for each other and IMO made an effort to be mindful of those who might want to disrupt our community.

I guess I consider myself lucky in the fact that if such a disruption were to occur, we had each other's backs. In fact, I would even go as far as we'd be level-headed about it and would attempt to educate people about D&D.

That's the thing. I remember telling my folks first about the game when I wanted to get my own books and play. I borrowed my friend's copy of B/X D&D and explained that you play a hero trying to defeat evil bad guys. My parents looked at the books and probably thought "it's weird, but harmless. At LEAST he's making friends." and gave their approval.

It was only much later by reading other people's accounts on the Internet that I found actual people who were affected. By that time (mid to late 90s), the Satanic Panic had died away.

With that being said, the whole premise that the panic was a psyop against Christianity in the US is complete fantasy, as you pretty much said in your video. The idea of it sounds like a Chick Track.

The satanic panic was alive and well in the 90s and beyond. In the 90s it mostly switched target to videogames, but Harry Potter caught some significant flack, and I had a friend who's mother still thought D&D was satanic in like 2002.

My mom watched the 700 Club and bought into D&D being pure evil. She made my brother and I get rid of our Mentzer stuff, but really we just hid it. Oddly, she had zero issues with any other RPG, including Palladium FRP, TMNT, Rolemaster, etc., so I bought a lot of those instead and played D&D anyway. It was literally only D&D which was problematic, perplexingly so.

Even to this fucking day she thinks D&D is magically evil, when the metric ton of other RPGs I have are fine, even shit like Nephilim and Aquelarre, which could arguably be Satanic. I mean, The Arcanum has a pentagram on the front, that's okay, but D&D? EEEEEEVIL!

If the Satanic Panic was a psyop, it was to tank TSR and allow other publishers to thrive.

Quote from: Eirikrautha on January 22, 2025, 10:35:32 PMFor anyone who is curious about the Satanic Panic at its ground zero, I grew up in Richmond, VA and was playing RPGs as a teenager there at the height of the Panic (in the mid to late 80's).  That's Patricia Pulling's stomping grounds and the founding location of B.A.D.D.  We saw the people who wanted to shut us all down in the media occasionally, but we mostly just laughed at them.  So, yeah, it happened, but it was far more media event than real event.  Didn't directly affect me (my life and family situation was so screwed up that whatever games I was playing was the least of my parent's worries), but I had several friends that it did affect in minor ways, mostly just by their parents saying they couldn't play the game. 

But as for some massive movement that scarred swathes of children, that  certainly wasn't the case in the epicenter of the whole controversy.  We freely played home games and shopped at the local magic shop/game store One Eyed Jacques (which is where I bought all my games back then).  I went to a Southern Baptist church, rolled up characters in the back of my English class, and openly carried my D&D books everywhere in Richmond.  The most I ever got was questions from a curious person or two who had vaguely heard there was some controversy about the game and wanted to know what it was.  Maybe some crazed pogrom was happening somewhere at the time (I know Janet Reno, et al., were trumping up charges against day care workers at the time), but at ground zero, the home of the notorious Pulling herself, it was far more of a media-driven sensationalist story than anything that affected our gaming or lives.

Well, people used to not be so bizarrely brazen and confrontational on the street in general. I think the fire was trained at the producers and providers of what they considered the immorality, not the kids running around with Monster Manuals.

The Satanic Panic was very real. I myself had my BECMI taken away by brainwashed idiot parents. Joke was on them in the end. I would have never had my professional career without that Mentzer red box.

Quote from: Eirikrautha on January 22, 2025, 10:35:32 PMFor anyone who is curious about the Satanic Panic at its ground zero, I grew up in Richmond, VA and was playing RPGs as a teenager there at the height of the Panic (in the mid to late 80's).  That's Patricia Pulling's stomping grounds and the founding location of B.A.D.D.  We saw the people who wanted to shut us all down in the media occasionally, but we mostly just laughed at them.  So, yeah, it happened, but it was far more media event than real event.  Didn't directly affect me (my life and family situation was so screwed up that whatever games I was playing was the least of my parent's worries), but I had several friends that it did affect in minor ways, mostly just by their parents saying they couldn't play the game. 

But as for some massive movement that scarred swathes of children, that  certainly wasn't the case in the epicenter of the whole controversy.  We freely played home games and shopped at the local magic shop/game store One Eyed Jacques (which is where I bought all my games back then).  I went to a Southern Baptist church, rolled up characters in the back of my English class, and openly carried my D&D books everywhere in Richmond.  The most I ever got was questions from a curious person or two who had vaguely heard there was some controversy about the game and wanted to know what it was.  Maybe some crazed pogrom was happening somewhere at the time (I know Janet Reno, et al., were trumping up charges against day care workers at the time), but at ground zero, the home of the notorious Pulling herself, it was far more of a media-driven sensationalist story than anything that affected our gaming or lives.

I was just up the road from you in Fredericksburg. My mom heard about all the fuss and asked me about it. I invited her to play so that she could see for herself what we were doing. She rolled up a BX elf and played a session with us. After that she ignored all BS and we played on.

I still go by One Eyed Jacques once in a while whenever we go to Carytown.

Quote from: ForgottenF on January 23, 2025, 11:33:37 AMThe satanic panic was alive and well in the 90s and beyond. In the 90s it mostly switched target to videogames, but Harry Potter caught some significant flack, and I had a friend who's mother still thought D&D was satanic in like 2002.

Yep, you're right. I was only thinking of TTRPGs.

Quote from: SmallMountaineer on January 23, 2025, 11:59:06 AMWell, people used to not be so bizarrely brazen and confrontational on the street in general. I think the fire was trained at the producers and providers of what they considered the immorality, not the kids running around with Monster Manuals.

As far as targets, the whole "what about the children?" thing was going on. There are many accounts of people recounting later, when they were kids, they were forced to ditch their books and dice. A couple of accounts right here.

I don't know of any accounts of people protesting in front of TSR in Lake Geneva or game/hobby shops for that matter.

It was much easier logistically at the time to protest by grandstanding at the local church and preventing the kids from getting books and dice.

The James Dallas Egbert incident was a hoax. The guy was just mentally ill and fled to Louisiana.

Quote from: PencilBoy99 on January 23, 2025, 02:36:35 PMThe James Dallas Egbert incident was a hoax. The guy was just mentally ill and fled to Louisiana.

Exactly. But remember, when people have an agenda, they don't let the facts get in the way.

Quote from: ForgottenF on January 23, 2025, 11:33:37 AMThe satanic panic was alive and well in the 90s and beyond. In the 90s it mostly switched target to videogames, but Harry Potter caught some significant flack, and I had a friend who's mother still thought D&D was satanic in like 2002.

Meh, it was pretty much over by about '92-'93.  Beyond that it was kind of a "flat earth" thing, even in churches.  The article on Mike Warnke by Cornerstone in 1992 basically brought the movement to a halt and it all fell apart in months after that.  (I think it pushed my mother into a psychotic break she's never recovered from.)