ItB次元官网网址檚 a tale that has been repeated throughout history: Satan-worshippers steal children to use and abuse them in elaborate rituals.

The myth cycle was in full swing when filmmakers Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor embarked on their latest documentary, B次元官网网址淪atan Wants You,B次元官网网址� an exploration of the Canadian roots of the so-called B次元官网网址渟atanic panicB次元官网网址� of the 1980s and B次元官网网址�90s.

The film is set for theatrical release Friday and premiered at South by Southwest earlier this year, but the documentarians began work on the project in 2018, when QAnon conspiracy theories had taken hold among a subset of the population.

B次元官网网址淚t was: B次元官网网址極h no, here we go again. I canB次元官网网址檛 believe weB次元官网网址檙e looking at this in 1980, and itB次元官网网址檚 happening right now,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Horlor said during a recent video call. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 still happening.B次元官网网址�

The parallels were stark. Some QAnon supporters falsely believe former U.S. president Donald Trump was fighting to expose a group of satanic, cannibalistic child molesters embedded in the government and beyond.

But while QAnon theories centre on the United States, the satanic panic got its start farther north.

The film traces the phenomenonB次元官网网址檚 history back to Victoria, where the book B次元官网网址淢ichelle RemembersB次元官网网址� was published in 1980.

Michelle Smith and her psychiatrist-turned-husband Larry Pazder wrote the memoir after engaging in a new form of therapy they devised, which saw her describing memories as if she was reliving them while he asked her questions. Audio of those sessions is included in the documentary.

Their bestselling book claimed that Smith had, as a child, been given up to a satanic cult and abused for 14 months, before the Virgin Mary came to her, speaking in French, and healed her.

Horlor grew up in Victoria, just down the road from the couple. But they werenB次元官网网址檛 just neighbourhood fixtures, he said.

B次元官网网址淲hen I was a kid, they were everywhere. TheyB次元官网网址檙e on TV, theyB次元官网网址檙e on the radio, theyB次元官网网址檙e in the newspapers. ItB次元官网网址檚 not just 1980 when they published their book. This went on for the length of the satanic panic,B次元官网网址� he said.

Other therapists picked up PazderB次元官网网址檚 technique, and tales of satanic ritual abuse spread across Canada, the United States and beyond.

The cases were profiled on daytime TV by everyone from Geraldo Rivera to Oprah Winfrey. Some were even prosecuted, with people wrongly imprisoned based on false memories children created in dodgy therapy sessions.

Ultimately, PazderB次元官网网址檚 ex-wife found yearbook photos of Smith showing she was free when she said she was in the cultB次元官网网址檚 clutches. She also spoke to the familyB次元官网网址檚 neighbours who refuted SmithB次元官网网址檚 account of her childhood, she said in the documentary. SmithB次元官网网址檚 sister also told the filmmakers that SmithB次元官网网址檚 tale was made up.

Many of those who were convicted in other cases have since been exonerated B次元官网网址� some as recently as this year.

But if the story in B次元官网网址淪atan Wants YouB次元官网网址� is a cautionary tale, itB次元官网网址檚 one weB次元官网网址檝e heard before.

B次元官网网址淭his echoes all the way back through history,B次元官网网址� Adams said, pointing as an example to blood libel, the false accusation that members of the Jewish community killed Christian children and used their blood in rituals.

But it goes back farther than that, he said, all the way to ancient Rome, where Romans accused Christians of sacrificing children and drinking their blood.

B次元官网网址淭he dominant culture will accuse others B次元官网网址� basically anyone who doesnB次元官网网址檛 fit in the mainstream. ItB次元官网网址檚 sort of this go-to thing that they murder children and drink their blood,B次元官网网址� he added.

Today, it plays out not only among some QAnon conspiracy theorists, but is also used to target transgender people and drag queens.

B次元官网网址�(People) saying that theyB次元官网网址檙e grooming children. It is the same things being used to B次元官网网址榦therB次元官网网址� people and target them just because theyB次元官网网址檙e not part of the mainstream. It is terrifying,B次元官网网址� Adams said.

Hate crimes targeting transgender people have been on the rise in Canada in recent years, according to Statistics Canada and police.

There have also been widespread protests of drag storytimes, in which drag performers read storybooks to children. Protesters often show up to these events carrying signs emblazoned with baseless accusations that drag queens are predatorsand that exposure to their performances threatens childrenB次元官网网址檚 innocence.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 emblematic of the differences between the satanic panic and todayB次元官网网址檚 moral panics, Adams said.

B次元官网网址淧eople were actually going to trial and they were going to prison,B次元官网网址� he said of the 1980s and B次元官网网址�90s. B次元官网网址淣ow itB次元官网网址檚 social, where youB次元官网网址檙e able to gather a group of people who can attack people online. And then those have real-life consequences where people take it upon themselves to go and confront people.B次元官网网址�

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