Satan Wants You: The Cult of Devil Worship in America

by Arthur Lyons

From Publishers Weekly
So-called satanic cults in the U.S. are investigated in this survey by Lyons (The Second Coming: Satanism in America) who shows that many claims regarding Satanist conspiracies do not hold up to scrutiny. He documents the historical roots of devil worship in "black Masses," sexual orgies and other rites and practices. He views contemporary charges of Satanism against such flamboyant groups as the Church of Satan, founded by self-proclaimed Satanic high priest LaVey, as evolving from media hype and hysteria. A theologian quoted here notes "very little of what is currently being called Satanism is actually religious phenomena, let alone a religious movement." From his study of supposed satanic cults and their widely differing orientations, Lyons demonstrates only that people have emotional and psychological needs that provoke strange behaviors.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Genres: Nonfiction, Satanism, Occult, History, Philosophy

228 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

A member of the Palm Springs City Council from 1992-1995. Authored 21 books and numerous mystery novels. His 1986 novel "Castles Burning," which took place in Palm Springs, furnished the basis for the telemovie "Slow Burn" with Johnny Depp. Author of "Death on the Cheap -- The Lost B Movies of Film Noir.".

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the sensationalist title, this is a good look at the trend toward satanism in the latter part of the 20th century. The chapter debunking urban legends like cattle mutilation and satanic baby cults alone makes this book worth a read.

[emilia nicholson-fajardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a promising start, giving me hopes that it would live up to its sensationalist title. Beginning with the suggestion that through its fear-mongering and tall-tales of occult rituals, it was the satanic panic *itself* that inspired the practices of criminal activity of satanists throughout the 1980s (That's dialectics if I've ever seen it, baby)— what was seemingly a novel entry point fell flat.

Unfortunately, I must wholeheartedly agree with my fellow reviewer who described this book as "mildly interesting." If you're looking for a read as exciting as its title implies, this is not the book for you. If I have learned anything from Lyons it is to be skeptical of the claims of fiction writers making their foray into non-fiction. In what reads like a monotonous catalog or directory version of the history of Satanism in the United States, any entries that piqued my interest turned up no substantiating claims upon further research (12 human skeletons found forming a circle around a the skeleton of a leather-clad high-priest in the caves of Granada, Spain? No mention of this anywhere else on the World Wide Web). The only place where this book becomes somewhat engaging is in the bits about The Process, Aleister Crowley, and Anton LaVey's Church of Satan. That being said, perhaps one's best bet is to refer straight to their writings for some insight on the occult straight from the freak's mouth.

Regarding Lyon's closing remarks: If Arendt's banality of evil rang true to Lyon's upon the book's original date of publication, reminding us that true wickedness and the Apocalypse will arrive ushered in by horsemen on business suits to drag the exploited to hell through the slow decay of civilization and the everyday violence of capitalism and imperialism rather than heavy metal and black-robed fanatics, this should be even more glaringly apparent to us now. But I could have told you that.

Though surprisingly dry at certain points, at the very least "Satan Wants You" prompted my creation of this playlist inspired by the satanic panic: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7m8...

[Paul Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved being interviewed by the late Mr. Lyons. Great guy, extremely intelligent and focused.

Plus I'm in it.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mildly interesting if occasionally silly history of Satan worship, terminating in the mid-80s. It reads like it was written by an interested but fairly out-of-touch elderly person and draws a number of facile correlations and conclusions that manage to miss the point entirely. Not the worst thing ever, but generally a disservice to society in its glances at modern disaffected youth. I only really read this to find out what my $0.25 got me at a library-basement book sale besides a goofy cover.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and eye opening read. Without giving it away I will say that what you have been led to believe is Western propaganda. It’s always about deflection and passing the buck to another group to take the fall. Definitely an unbiased look at the subject.

[Signor Mambrino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty boring book tbh.

[Deviancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure who wrote this gem, but it is wildly amusing. I don't think the author intentionally wanted to be amusing, but it comes more like a joke than a serious piece of work. For example, the author goes into all of the sensationalized stories that involve kids who thought Satan was their pal.

And one can't write book about satanism without mentioning Richard Rameriez. So basically the author brings up stories involving socially challenged teens who had bad taste in music and a serial killer with bad teeth. There's absolutley nothing valuable one can learn from this book. But some may smile when they read it. And smiling is good for ones health, or so I've been told.

[Dru · Rating 2 out of 5]

A so-so look at a mish-mash of topics. The primary problem is its immediate failure to discern between psychopathic belief in "Satan" as the fallen angel of Christianity, and "Satan" as the word used to evoke emotion in the "Church of Satan" of LaVey, but which does not represent any kind of angel/deity figure.

This is one of those times that I was sucked in to the "bargain table" in a Barnes and Noble (you know the ones -- the tables full of crappy books on sale near the front of the store). They got me with this one. Aside from a few interesting tidbits about a few mass murderers, I really didn't think this did much to clarify the complexity of the multi-definitional word "Satanism".

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title and lurid cover art are both pretty misleading, since the book is mostly about the media hype and hysteria surrounding "Satanism," a phenomenon that the author concludes isn't even really a phenomenon, let alone a systematized religious movement. I enjoyed the book overall, but I still think my favorite part of it is the photograph of Anton LaVey posing with Sammy Davis, Jr.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting look at the historical background of the cultural resurgence of Satanism in the late 60's and early 70's. The sociological backdrop of our own time is fertile ground for the adversary.

[Mawgojzeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

One must consider the time period in which this was written when deciding if it is a decent enough read or not. Having been old enough during the later 80s to remember a large amount of the Satanic hysteria, I found it interesting to read a book that was reacting, at that time, to the hype.

[BeerDiablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a feelgood book for me. I am on the right path, though an Athiest, I have indulgent tendencies.

[BeerDiablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a feelgood book for me. I am on the right path, though an Athiest, I have indulgent tendencies.

[Corrie]

Interesting and written from a researchers perspective.

[Brad Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book just after I graduated high school. I was surprised at how interesting it actually was and some famous people that it talked about.

[Frank Abbatiello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awsome book to read! Read it as a teenager when I was in high school!

[MKF · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting though there were a few things I found inaccurate or questionable. It was nice though to read a book about Satanism that was not all biased like other books in there portrayal of them.