Stranger Things dives headfirst into the Satanic panic in Season 4, and we thought it might need a little bit of an explanation. First introduced at the end of Season 3, it becomes a little more front-of-mind in the new season, now that the kids are in high school and playing Dungeons & Dragons with a new group of friends.

Basically, the Satanic panic was the “catchy” name used in the 1980s where moral hysteria hit the country, leading to the belief that devil worship was rampant throughout the United States. Frequently compared to the witch trials of the 1600s or McCarthyism in the 1950s, conservative parents groups blamed music, movies, and games for what they believed was a sudden uptick in occult dabbling, and claimed that preschools and daycare centers across the country were abusing and killing their charges in large-scale, well organized Satanic rituals.

The Satanic panic “officially” started with a book published in 1980 called Michelle Remembers. The book, written by psychologist Lawrence Pazder about his patient (and, eventually, his wife) Michelle Smith, reported to tell the true story of Michelle’s experiences as a child victim of a Satanic cult. Through the use of hypnosis, Michelle claimed to have been rubbed in the blood of babies, sexually abused, locked in cages, and to have witnessed the cult murder people. The alleged abuse ended after a continual, 81-day ritual that was supposed to have erased Michelle’s scars and removed the memories of the abuse until “the time was right.” The book and Michelle’s entire story were discredited, but not soon enough: the panic had set in.

stranger-things-season-4-episode-1-recap-joseph-quinn
Image via Netflix

Over the span of a decade, there were hundreds of accusations of Satanic ritual abuse across the world. One of the first and most prolific cases was the McMartin preschool case in Southern California. In 1993, a mother claimed her son was being abused by her estranged husband and that he may have also been abused at his preschool. This caused a police form letter to be sent to parents at the school. Eventually, hundreds of children were interviewed, with techniques that were later discredited. Some of the more bizarre claims from the children included flying witches, travel via hot-air balloons, children getting flushed down the toilets into secret rooms, and a network of underground tunnels beneath the school where the cult rituals were held. Between pre-trial investigations and the trial itself, the McMartin case lasted seven years, and didn’t result in a single conviction. All charges were dropped in 1990. In 1994, the first comprehensive study on Satanic ritual abuse was released. While there were a few isolated cases of “lone perpetrators or couples who say they are involved with Satan or use the claim to intimidate victims,” over 12,000 cases showed no evidence of large-scale or well-organized Satanic abuse.

Stranger Things deals with the more ridiculous, less traumatic side of the Satanic panic; namely, Dungeons & Dragons. D&D has its own share of problems during the Satanic panic. The game was briefly blamed for the disappearance and eventual suicide of James Dallas Egbert III. He disappeared from his dorm after writing a suicide note, but when the pills he took didn’t kill him, he hid at a friend’s house. Egbert’s parents hired a private detective, who theorized his disappearance had to do with the game. Of course, it had nothing to do with the game; it had to do with severe depression. Egbert was successful on his third suicide attempt.

RELATED: 'Stranger Things' Season 4's Vecna Explained: Who Is the Show's Newest Big Bad?

The Egbert case became well-known after a novel very loosely inspired by his story was written in 1981, Mazes & Monsters by Rona Jaffe. It became a made-for-TV movie the following year, starring Tom Hanks. In the film, Hanks’ character suffers a psychotic break while playing a D&D-like game.

stranger things 4 Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin social

However, the hysteria around Dungeons & Dragons and the Satanic panic didn’t hit its peak until 1983, when Christian conservative Patricia Pulling created “Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons” (B.A.D.D.). Her son, Irving, who had been into role-playing games, committed suicide, and Pulling blamed D&D. She sued the publishers of D&D for wrongful death, but the suit was thrown out. Pulling believed that D&D promoted Satanism, demonology, cannibalism, rape, murder, voodoo, homosexuality, prostitution, and more, and began distributing anti-role-play material to schools, churches, police departments and the media. Psychiatrist Thomas Radecki, director of the National Coalition on Television Violence, joined in Pulling’s crusade, adding some credibility to her claims – until you discover that he has had his medical license revoked multiple times for “immoral conduct of an unprofessional nature with a patient.” He is currently serving a prison sentence for overprescribing opioids and for trading opioids for sex.

Another easy target for parents groups was heavy metal music. In 1985, Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was formed to protect children from the allegedly corrupting influence of sex, drugs, foul language, and occult iconography in music. Led by Tipper Gore (wife of future Vice President Al Gore) the group held Senate hearings, and wanted to have warning labels on music, much like the MPAA rating system for movies. “O” on an album would indicate there were occult themes on the album. The group released the Filthy 15, a list of the 15 most offensive songs of the time. Two were put on the list due to their occult content: “Possessed” by Venom and “Into the Coven” by Merciful Fate. In the end, this group succeeded in getting “Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics” stickers added to the albums, but with no oversight, this led to many stores banning albums with the sticker, albums being kept under the counters, refusal to sell to kids, and censorship by the recording labels.

stranger things 4 Millie Bobby Brown
Image via Netflix

As the decade progressed, the Satanic panic began to lose steam, largely because the country lost interest. It still pops up now and again, though. For example, the case of the West Memphis Three in 1993 could certainly be considered a Satanic panic, as the teenagers accused and later convicted of raping and killing three young boys were the prime suspects not because of evidence but because they wore black, listened to heavy metal music, and read Stephen King novels. They were eventually released from prison in 2011 under complicated plea deals, but their records have not been expunged. The modern conspiracy movement of Q-Anon is also considered “Satanic panic.” Q-Anon adherents believe, among other things, that Democrats and liberal Hollywood “elites” are involved in Satanic rituals that include drinking the blood of babies.

The Satanic panic was the perfect storm of influences. The rise of the conservative Christian right, mandatory child abuse reporting laws, and an increase in the acceptance of therapy as a mainstream treatment all contributed to the rise of the Satanic panic. While the catchy name has disappeared, it seems that we will never be free of moral panic, Satanic or otherwise.