Knee Deep in the Satanic Panic

What they were talking about on March 22, 1991, in Taylor, Pennsylvania

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Ah, the Satanic Panic. Us ’90s kids get nostalgic just thinking about it. All the paranoia. All the irrationality. It was a glorious time to be young.

I distinctly recall one Mrs. Winebreak sending me to the principal's office for having a Mötley Crüe pentagram on my binder. There was no humor or soft-handedness in her move. She legitimately feared I was worshiping Satan. The times were such that her fears were taken seriously.

The Silent Generation is defined by the (lame) birth of rock and roll and the (lame) moon landing. Boomers had their (lame) Woodstock music festival and their (lame) Hippie revolution. Millennials had the (lame) birth of the internet.

Generation X? We had the Satanic Panic, baby.

What better event for me to use as the first Random Small Town News Nuggets series?

The Devil Went Down to Taylor, Pennsylvania

“Satanists don’t exactly advertise their existence.”

— Boris Krawczeniuk, The Tribune, Scranton, Pennsylvania
22 Mar 1991, Friday, page 18