The Satanic Panic Of The 1980s

Published January 30, 2015
Updated September 11, 2020

Experts Weigh In And The Media Smells Blood

Satanic Panic Media

Source: Kevin Ross

Even in the general atmosphere of hysteria and paranoia, a few key players stood out for the exceptional role they played in degrading the American legal system. Geraldo Rivera, for example, produced a 1987 special in which he claimed that, according to unnamed “experts”, over one million Satanists were actively engaged in ritual child abuse.

While we can laugh at what an asshole he is, the special was used as a teaching aid at workshops across the United States where prosecutors and police investigators were taught methods for increasing their conviction rates. Recommended methods included not filming interrogations, destroying tapes when they wouldn’t be useful to the prosecution, and using edited transcripts that elided conflicting statements.

Satanic Panic Geraldo

I can’t believe we used to go out with you, Geraldo. Source: Hazie Thoughts

Another player in the drama was clinical psychologist Catherine Gould, who published a list of “symptoms” by which one may know a witch survivor of abuse. Take a look at these symptoms—a very small sample of the total list—and ask yourself if you know any children who fit the bill. If so, they were probably sodomized by cultists:

  • Overeating, undereating, anorexia, bullemia, bingeing, or unexplained vomiting
  • An unwillingness to eat red or brown food
  • Bathroom avoidance or accidents
  • Fear of doctors, injections, needles, and medical procedures
  • Mood swings
  • Disrespect or resistance to authority
  • Fear of being tied up
  • Claustrophobia
  • Fear of death or of ghosts
  • Unwillingness to attend church
  • Fear of aggressive animals, police officers, or violent movies
  • Fear of cemeteries or mortuaries
  • Imaginary friends
  • author
    Richard Stockton
    author
    Richard Stockton is a freelance science and technology writer from Sacramento, California.
    editor
    John Kuroski
    editor
    John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.
    Cite This Article
    Stockton, Richard. "The Satanic Panic Of The 1980s." AllThatsInteresting.com, January 30, 2015, https://allthatsinteresting.com/satanic-panic. Accessed April 20, 2024.