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What was the Satanic Panic?

What was the Satanic Panic?

Update: 2025-11-20
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Why were more than 12 thousand cases of satanic abuse brought in the 1980s? Was the Prince of Darkness walking among us then? Or did something else cause the panic?


Joseph Laycock joins Don for this episode to discuss the so-called Satanic Panic, from daycares to news outlets to board games. Joe is the author of many books including 'Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds' and 'The Penguin Book of Exorcisms'.


Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.


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All music from Epidemic Sounds.


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What was the Satanic Panic?

What was the Satanic Panic?