Satanic Panic = 60 minutes D&D special ( 1985)

[atanakar]

There were actually many people who truly believed there was an underground network of millions dedicated to sexually abusing and sacrificing children in elaborate rituals. Not only that, but this network included prominent actors, businessmen, and government officials. It seems so ridiculous today but many people were taking it pretty seriously thirty years ago.

There was a network abusing children in the 80s. Catholic priests and Scouts of America... Turns out some of those who claimed to worship God and wholesome values were doing the Devil's work... and the Church hid it for decades.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Razorblades in candy, alligators in the NYC sewers, Satanic Panic, yeah, the 80s were a fearful time in a lot of ways. I get that maybe, in the face of things like the rising Cold War tensions, the Iran Contra affair, the stock market crash, and the wake of the wave of serial killers of the 70s, maybe it was more comforting to believe in more esoteric, mystical, black and white fears. Not that that makes it right.

Of course RPGs were a very small part of the moral panic that engulfed the United States in the 1980s.

 

[Shiroiken]

I had started just after this nonsense. My mother had a fit at first, but let us play anyway (my brother convinced her somehow). She held strange notions about the game for years afterwards, but since I never killed myself or anyone (at least as far as she knew), she got over it.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I had two weird experiences as a young kid in the 80s and playing D&D.

One kid in the neighborhood was not allowed to play D&D, so we had to always be "playing Marvel" when he was involved. His parents were particularly religious and they bought into some of the fear.

The second was I had a CCD teacher (this is like Catholic school class for kids who don't actually go to Catholic school, and it was one evening a week) who told us a story about how he went to a book burning and that they burned D&D books and he heard the screams of the demons inside the books as they burned.

I said "No you didn't" and then got sent to the office for arguing. My folks were pissed when they picked me up that night....until I was able to explain a bit. Once I mentioned book burning, my Dad suddenly stopped and listened. Then he heard about the "screams" and just like that I was no longer in trouble.

I don't quite recall if I was moved to a new class or if I didn't go to CCD class for the rest of that school year, but I never had to go to that teacher's class again, I remember that.

People can be really bonkers.

 

[atanakar]

The second was I had a CCD teacher (this is like Catholic school class for kids who don't actually go to Catholic school, and it was one evening a week) who told us a story about how he went to a book burning and that they burned D&D books and he heard the screams of the demons inside the books as they burned.

He had a vivid imagination. Perfect to play D&D..!

 

[Stormonu]

When I was back in California, the Satanic panic was something my friends and would joke about. I remember having several discussions with a Jehovah's witness that would come visit my mom about D&D, and I felt I gave a good show of how the game wasn't evil.

That all changed when I moved to Mississippi. I learned to keep my mouth shut and not even mention the game at school, at the local library I frequented and certainly not at church - neither the one I frequented or when we visited my relatives church (luckily, after the snake handling incident, my dad decided no more of that!).

Worst was when my cousin, who had been playing D&D with us became very rebellious. After he cut a pentagram in his arm one evening, my dad got word of the incident and was determined to throw out my books. After pleading with him and calming his fears, I agreed that to prove I wasn't some slave to the game or involved with the occult by putting the books and whatnot away for three months. Luckily, after less than a month, my dad relented and returned my books without me even asking. Later on, I was always mystified that games like 40K didn't even get a second glance with Khorne and his kin running around local game stores.

To this day though, I prefer not to play in D&D games that have demons or devils as the primary antagonists - so books like Descent into Avernus are just not something you'll find in my collection, and I tend to skip over the entries in the monster books.

 

[Imaculata]

The second was I had a CCD teacher (this is like Catholic school class for kids who don't actually go to Catholic school, and it was one evening a week) who told us a story about how he went to a book burning and that they burned D&D books and he heard the screams of the demons inside the books as they burned.

He probably heard the voices of all the tormented souls that had to endure the Thac0 system.

 

[MGibster]

Later on, I was always mystified that games like 40K didn't even get a second glance with Khorne and his kin running around local game stores.

Warhammer 40k has never managed to embed itself into the public consciousness to the extent that D&D had managed to do by 1985. In 1984 you could watch the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon on CBS Saturday morning, walk into KB Toys at your local mall that afternoon and purchase D&D toys produced by LJN, go to Sears and get your Advanced Dungeons & Dragons cartridge for your Intellivision, and I'm pretty sure you could pick up D&D pencils, stickers, and other branded items at K-Mart.

The original Rogue Trader wasn't released until 1987 and Satanic Panic was pretty much at the end when Warhammer 40k was released in 1993. (I would argue that the trial of the West Memphis 3 in 1994 was the last hurrah for Satanic Panic in the US.) By the early 1990s, D&D had established itself as a household name and Warhammer has yet to achieve that level of brand recognition. If I told one of my coworkers I was going to play some Dungeons & Dragons this weekend they'd at least have a vague idea of what I was talking about. If I told them I was going to play some Warhammer they'd just give me a blank look.

 

[pogre]

I was an early player of the game in a small town in the midwest - great location to start gaming - close to Decatur (Judges Guild), close to Bloomington (Game Designers Workshop), and three hours down the road from Lake Geneva (TSR).

When locals made a fuss about the game my Mom never batted an eye. She played with us in some of those early games and took us to gaming club meetings - where she met some of the luminaries of those companies.

When a local Nazarene pastor called her to warn her about the game she was very gracious, but firmly told the man to mind his own business.

The 60 minutes piece did cost us a player for about a year and a half.

 

[The Monster]

I started playing D&D a couple of years before introducing it to my dorm floor in 1978. That same year I converted to Christianity (changing from no religious background at all); I swam in both subcultures (and still do to some extent). I personally never ran across anyone who bought into the "Satanic Panic," though I had a few brushes with it second- and third-hand; indeed, a number of Christian acquaintances asked me on various occasions about the game, not out of accusation, but out of curiosity (and, yeah, a couple of them joined in). Of the people I knew, more Christians played the game (or at least tried it) than gamers ever attended church. And, to be frank, I came across a number of gamers who used it (and still use it today) to mock all Christians. It was a thing for a while, but the prejudices - on both sides - still remain, to the loss of both sides.