Just finished watching the segment on Shane Stewart and Sally McNelty (sp?) and how their deaths might have been the result of being in a teenage cult that worshiped Satan.

Now, there were and are cults like that around and they get up to some dark stuff--Nelson DeCloud, Judy Olive's experience, Arthur Karopoulos' sun getting kidnapped. But in the 1980s-1990s, there was the "Satanic Scare," and UM definitely hung a lantern on it. Pat Farmer twisted it in order to get custody of her grandson!

Now, I don't deny that Shane and Sally fell in with the wrong crowd, Sally being eager to please and growing up without a dad--Shane seems to have had an average happy upbringing. But except for the kooky rituals, the "cult" as it was portrayed in the episode seemed like some kids dressing up, pretending to do all these occult rituals, looking "cool" and then getting into criminal activity.

Maybe some of the "cults" that UM highlighted were just shady people doing shady things and pretending to be bigger than they were.

Exactly.

UM's treatment of the satanic panic was ridiculous, although I have to admit when I saw those episodes as a little kid they were scary. That was the whole point, really.

As for Shane and Sally, I got the impression their deaths had everything to do with drugs plus relationship drama, and one thing led to another.

Exactly.

UM's treatment of the satanic panic was ridiculous, although I have to admit when I saw those episodes as a little kid they were scary. That was the whole point, really.

As for Shane and Sally, I got the impression their deaths had everything to do with drugs plus relationship drama, and one thing led to another.

Drugs, drama, and falling in with the wrong crowd...

McMartin Day Care has to be the shining example of the Satanic Panic thing that happened.

That.. I mean.. You just have to wonder.. I was.. Probably around 16 at the time, and i'm reading news accounts on that and just sitting there going "How in the blue hell does anyone believe any of this?"

It was some of the dumbest things. And.. It continued. You even have to look at the West Memphis 3 as well.. They were, at least in my eyes, caught up in that.

Just finished watching the segment on Shane Stewart and Sally McNelty (sp?) and how their deaths might have been the result of being in a teenage cult that worshiped Satan.

Now, there were and are cults like that around and they get up to some dark stuff--Nelson DeCloud, Judy Olive's experience, Arthur Karopoulos' sun getting kidnapped. But in the 1980s-1990s, there was the "Satanic Scare," and UM definitely hung a lantern on it. Pat Farmer twisted it in order to get custody of her grandson!

Now, I don't deny that Shane and Sally fell in with the wrong crowd, Sally being eager to please and growing up without a dad--Shane seems to have had an average happy upbringing. But except for the kooky rituals, the "cult" as it was portrayed in the episode seemed like some kids dressing up, pretending to do all these occult rituals, looking "cool" and then getting into criminal activity.

Maybe some of the "cults" that UM highlighted were just shady people doing shady things and pretending to be bigger than they were.

You thought too hard about this. I doubt the writers cared as much.

You thought too hard about this. I doubt the writers cared as much.

Probably not, but "Satanic Panic" has been one of the things often mentioned on this board, so now i pay attention when watching the old episodes. That's just me.

You thought too hard about this. I doubt the writers cared as much.

It’s obvious today that UM writers didn’t care about truth.

I've said this before on the thread about the case, but I've always been kinda surprised that no one ever tried to attribute Kurt Sova's death to a Satanic cult. It was the right era for that kind of thing, and Kurt died around Halloween. Plus the position of the body when it was found and the missing shoe both feel like things some self-styled 'occult expert' could spin into proof of ritualistic behaviour. The UM segment was even aired a mere month after the infamous Geraldo Rivera Satanism special.

Whether or not you want to call that group a cult or not, those kids were freaks. Lifetime cut this segment to shreds. One of the parts they leave out is Sally’s mother relaying a moment where she called the mother of one of Sally’s friends (who was also in this group) who said she had witnessed these kids in her own home celebrating over the fact that they managed to capture a demon in a bottle. Maybe they were on drugs. But definitely freaks. Sally’s friend Helen lasted about 5 minutes watching them before she decided to get the hell out of there.

One of the parts they leave out is Sally’s mother relaying a moment where she called the mother of one of Sally’s friends (who was also in this group) who said she had witnessed these kids in her own home celebrating over the fact that they managed to capture a demon in a bottle.

This just sounds like edgy teenagers being edgy tbh.