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Lure of the sinister:

the unnatural history of Satanism
Front Cover
2 Reviews
NYU Press, 2001 - Body, Mind & Spirit - 465 pages

Rumors of Devil-worship, or Satanism, have circulated for centuries. Tales of Black Masses, demonic possession, mysterious nighttime ceremonies, and human sacrifices have captured the popular consciousness, prompting the Christian Church to move aggressively to root out Satanism and its practioners through often extraordinarily brutal means of detection and interrogation.

Until recently the stuff of myths and stories, allegations of occult worship have of late taken the form of police investigations concerning ritual child abuse, teens involved in Satanic cults, and serial killings. Unsubstantiated rumors have found their way into the popular and serious press and have been reported as fact, often with little or no verification. Obsessive anti-Satanists find evidence of Satanic lyrics in rock music from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" to Live Aid's "We are the World," while the numbers "666" are found in barcodes in supermarkets.

The Lure of the Sinister draws on a remarkable range of sources, from newspapers and pulp literature to early modern works on demonology to explore the entire history of Satanism from the origins of the Devil in pre-Christian theology through the Inquisition to the life and times of Aleister Crowley, "the "wickedest man in the world." The book also investigates modern charges of Satanism, the psychology of the people who make the allegations, and the legal and religious contexts in which they arise, showing how rumors of Devil-worship come to take on a life of their own. Lively and wittily written, The Lure of the Sinister reveals a strange tapestry of dark and fearful beliefs which have haunted our imagination for centuries.

  

What people are saying - Write a review

Review: Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism

User Review  - Mark - Goodreads

Copious anecdotes about Satanism, and the author has clearly spent many hours working through archives to collect the juiciest accounts. Well presented and lightly written, the author rarely tells us ... Read full review

Review: Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism

User Review  - Keith Brough - Goodreads

I'll start MY review with a quote from an idiotic review from amazon: "Medway retells stories of supposed possessions, satanic activity, and other "evil" occurrences, and discounts the authenticity of ... Read full review

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Contents

Why Worship Satan?
34
The History of Satan and the Pact
50
Historical Satanism
70
Satanic Crime
100
Hell on Earth
123
Before Michelle Remembered
141
Sex Slaves of Lucifer
175
Is Your Vicar a WitchHunter?
216
Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch
292
How?
309
Why?
329
The Black Mass
380
Bibliography
425
Index
443
About the Author
465
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

accused adults Aleister Crowley alleged altar angels anti-Satanists appeared Aquino asked babies believe Bible Black Magic Black Mass blood Boullan Britain called Catholic ceremonies chap child abuse Christ Christian Church of Satan claimed confessed conspiracy coven crime Crowley demons Devil worship drug Dungeons and Dragons Evangelical evidence evil fact film Fortean Freemasonry girl happened Hell high priestess Holy human sacrifice Huysmans included Inquisition interview involved Jesus killed later live Logan London Lucifer Manson McMartin Michael Aquino Michelle Remembers mother murder naked never night occult occultists Oprah Winfrey Show pact Pagans parents police priest Pursuit of Satan quoted religion reported rites sabbat Satanic abuse Satanic cult Satanic ritual abuse Satanists sexual abuse social workers spirit started Sunday supposed Survivors taken tanists teenage Temple things tion told took torture victims Warnke witch-hunting witchcraft witches woman women

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References from web pages

Nova Religio 8-1.qxd
Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism. By Gareth J. Medway. New York University Press, 2001. 463 pages. $35.00 cloth. ...
caliber.ucpress.net/ doi/ pdf/ 10.1525/ nr.2004.8.1.114

Satanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Translated from the 1964 German edition by Christine Trollope; Medway, Gareth (2001). Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism. ...
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Satanism

A walk on the dark side | By genre | guardian.co.uk Books
Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism Gareth J Medway 465pp, New York University Press, £21.75. Never mind the blurb or the contents page: ...
books.guardian.co.uk/ reviews/ history/ 0,6121,563887,00.html

psychiatry-research : Messages : 2127-2156 of 11155
Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism. Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism Gareth J Medway History, General Theodore ...
tech.groups.yahoo.com/ group/ psychiatry-research/ messages/ 2127

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item.rakuten.co.jp/ book/ 5392293/

Satanism, Demon Posession, Exorcisms and Ritual Abuse
Gareth J. Medway, Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism (New York University Press, 2001). Some people believe in the Devil. ...
www.edwardtbabinski.us/ religion/ exorcism.html

NYU Press
Search. Title, Author, Subtitle, ISBN. Browse. All Subjects, African-American Studies, Anthropology, Art & Photography, Asian-American Studies, Criminology ...
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amcgltd: Guest Author: David Farrant and the Highgate Vampire
April 27, 2004. Guest Author: David Farrant and the Highgate Vampire. David Farrant (of Vampire Hunters fame) has requested space to post up some of his own ...
www.amcgltd.com/ archives/ 004453.html

Christ’s Advocate: An Incarnational Apologetic to Satanism
Medway, Gareth J. Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism. New York:. New York University Press, 2001. Melton, J. Gordon. ...
www.jesus.com.au/ library/ John_Smulo-Christs_Advocate.pdf

December 2001 single pages
BFMS Newsletter – Vol. 9, No. 1. 1. Dear Reader. At times during the last decade, the tunnel we. travel may have seemed long and unending, but ...
www.bfms.org.uk/ Text_Assets/ December%202001%20Newsletter.pdf

About the author (2001)

Medway studied physics at Imperial College, University of London and has since been a freelance writer specializing in comparative religion and the history of occultism.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Lure of the sinister
TitleLure of the sinister: the unnatural history of Satanism
AuthorGareth J Medway
PublisherNYU Press, 2001
ISBN081475645X, 9780814756454
Length465 pages
Subjects › 

Body, Mind & Spirit / General
Body, Mind & Spirit / Occultism
History / General
  
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