Satanic Panic

Strange Country Ep. 87: Satanic Panic

"We believe the children" became the rallying cry of the Satanic Panic even as stories tottered on the ridiculous. Bones being replaced by Satan's bones; kids being flown to Mexico to be raped by soldiers; shot than brought back to life. The 1980s and early 1990s were rife with stories of abuse at day care centers throughout the country. Over 80 people were falsely convicted and it sometimes took decades to overturn. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly have chosen the best guitar riff to accentuate all this craziness.

Theme music: Resting Place by A Cast of Thousands.

Cite your sources:

Beck, Richard. We Believe the Children: a Moral Panic in the 1980s. Perseus Books Group, 2015.

Gayle Dove - National Registry of Exonerations, www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3947.

Nathan, Debbie, and Michael Snedeker. Satans Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt. Authors Choice Press, 2001.

Selk, Avi. “Falsely Accused of Satanic Horrors, a Couple Spent 21 Years in Prison. Now They're Owed Millions.” The Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/08/24/accused-of-satanism-they-spent-21-years-in-prison-they-were-just-declared-innocent-and-were-paid-millions/?utm_term=.80d8ad1925f1.

Smith, Jordan. “Believing the Chldren.” The Austin Chronicle, 27 Mar. 2009, www.austinchronicle.com/news/2009-03-27/believing-the-children/.

Zirpolo, Kyle. “I'm Sorry.” The Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2005, articles.latimes.com/2005/oct/30/magazine/tm-mcmartin44.