Episode 340: In the early 1980s, a wave of fear with its origins in Canada, swept across North America, igniting what would become known as the Satanic Panic. This moral hysteria, fueled by sensationalized media reports and dubious claims of widespread satanic ritual abuse, had its roots in a controversial book published in 1980 titled “Michelle Remembers.”
As the panic spread, it manifested in several high-profile cases across Canada. One of the most notorious incidents occurred in Martensville, Saskatchewan, where unfounded allegations of ritual abuse at a local daycare center led to multiple arrests and a community torn apart by suspicion and fear. Other cases emerged in various provinces, each feeding into the growing narrative of a vast, underground network of satanic cults preying on innocent children.
Sources:
Michelle Remembers by Smith, Michelle | Internet Archive
Michelle Remembers — fiction disguised as fact
Devil Worship Exposing Satan’s Underground [Geraldo Rivera] [1988] [VHS] | YouTube
[VHS] Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults – (1994) | YouTube
UNCOVER SEASON 6- SATANIC PANIC: Transcripts | Listen | CBC Radio
Hell to pay: Revisiting the Martensville satanic sex scandal (2003) – The Fifth Estate | YouTube
1995 CanLII 4037 (SK CA) | R. v. Sterling | CanLII
2003 SKQB 559 (CanLII) | K. v. Miazga | CanLII
2007 SKCA 57 (CanLII) | Kvello v. Miazga | CanLII
Aug 12, 1990, page 8 – The Independent at Newspapers.com
Did Satanic Panic Influence The West Memphis Three Case? | Oxygen Official Site
West Memphis Three: What You Should Know About Their Wrongful Conviction
The Strange Origins of the Satanic Panic | CBC Arts
Believe the Children: Re-Reading the Satanic Panic Through Michelle Remembers
How a doctor and his patient sparked a global ‘Satanic Panic’
It’s Time to Revisit the Satanic Panic | NYT
Satanic panic: Documentary takes a new look at Michelle Remembers book
America’s Satanic Panic Returns — This Time Through QAnon
We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s | Amazon
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