Category Archives: Satanism

New Title on Satanic Cinema: SATAN IN THE CELLULOID

August 25th, 2024 | Posted in occult, Satanism

My Amazon feed made a recommendation recently in the form of a new book, Satan in the Celluloid: 100 Satanic and Occult Horror Movies of the 1970s by P.J. Thorndyke. The subject matter and description resonated with prior posts of mine: They were a product of their time. The counterculture of the 1960s had soured […]

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LMK Sheppard on Faith Horror: Cinematic Visions of Satanism, Paganism and Witchcraft, 1966-1978

November 29th, 2022 | Posted in horror, Paganism, Satanism, Witchcraft

I had a great conversation with LMK Sheppard about her new book that touches on some great horror films during an important historical and cultural period, and involving certain new religions. A topic that has relevance and application in the present as well.

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FAITH HORROR: CINEMATIC VISIONS OF SATANISM, PAGANISM AND WITCHCRAFT, 1966-1978

November 4th, 2022 | Posted in film, horror, Paganism, religion, Satanism, Witchcraft

I recently learned about a book that appeals to me in a number of ways. It is titled Faith Horror: Cinematic Visions of Satanism, Paganism and Witchcraft, 1966-1978. The subject matter of this book dovetails with the two expressions of my work in religion, specifically certain new religious movements, and religion in pop culture as […]

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Why did satanists endorse “The Witch”?

February 21st, 2016 | Posted in horror, occult, occulture, Paganism, Satan, Satanism, Wicca, Witchcraft

The new horror film The Witch is getting positive reviews, but prior to that it was the stuff of minor controversy as a Satanist group issued a public endorsement for the film, calling it a “satanic experience.” Such an endorsement would have caused a major controversy in the culture wars from Christians as happened in […]

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“Nosferatu” director’s stolen head, and occult ritual?

July 15th, 2015 | Posted in 1920s, Nosferatu, occult, Satanism, Western esotericism

In a previous post I discussed an article in Fortean Times that mentioned connections between Western esotericism and an individual connected to the classic silent horror film Nosferatu. Just yesterday the media, in places like The Guardian, reported about a grave robbery in the form of someone stealing the head from the corpse of Nosferatu‘s […]

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Satanism, Exorcism and Social Horror Trends

April 7th, 2011 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, possession, Satan, Satanism, Western esotericism

An article that ran in The Telegraph on 7 April titled “Rise in demand for exorcism recalls horror trend,” caught my attention, not only for its connection of concerns over the demonic and contemporary horror films, but also for some of the provocative claims it made. Looking back at The Exorcist (1973) and an increase […]

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Carrol L. Fry – Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca, and Spiritualism in Film

May 4th, 2009 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, ghost, Harry Potter, horror, occult, Othering, Satan, Satanism, Western esotericism, Wicca, Witchcraft

Various aspects of the occult, or as it is more commonly referred to today in academic circles, Western esotericism, have long been facets that have informed storytelling and fear in horror films. A recent book by Carrol Fry touches on this topic, titled Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca and Spiritualism in Film (Rosemont […]

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Virginia Wexman on Polanski’s Horror and Rosemary’s Baby

September 14th, 2008 | Posted in horror, Rosemary's Baby, Satan, Satanism

  One of the very first books that I purchased wich explores horror films from an academic perspective was Gregary A. Waller, ed., American Horrors: Essays on the American Horror Film (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987). The volume includes a number of intriguing essays, including one by Virginia Wright Wexman titled “The Trauma […]

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40th Anniversary of Rosemary’s Baby

May 22nd, 2008 | Posted in Rosemary's Baby, Satan, Satanism

One of the horror films I remember watching in the 1970s as my television flickered with a Saturday night’s ritual connected to my local Creature Features was Rosemary’s Baby (1968). Next month this film will see its 40th anniversary, and I thought I’d use the occasion to take a walk down memory lane with this […]

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Pop Culture Legacy of Malleus Maleficarum

April 7th, 2008 | Posted in Malleus Maleficarum, Satanism, Witchcraft

The April issue of Rue Morgue magazine caught my eye at the newsstand recently with an article titled “The Witch Hunter’s Bible,” an article that explored the infamous Malleus Maleficarum. For those unfamiliar with this document, it comes from the medieval period (perhaps the 15th century) as a Christian manual that purports to provide the […]

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