In his book Kingdom of Darkness, F. W. Thomas tells the story of a photojournalist and magazine photographer who set out to investigate black magic in London—an attempt to secure material for a newspaper story. This man, Serge Kordeiv, and his wife eventually found themselves in a room where ceremonies were conducted in the name of Satan. They were told to kneel and then to swear perpetual homage to Satan, and they signed an oath written in contract form, with their own blood.

Thomas proceeds to tell of some of the activities that caused them to realize how evil were the activities with which they had become associated. In one Black Mass, a wax dummy representing a prominent businessman was "killed" by a knife being plunged into it, whereupon red liquid gushed over a nude girl who was stretched out on the altar. The members of the coven had to drink the blood from a bird that was killed, the blood having been first drained into a chalice. At the next meeting of the group, Kordeiv was shocked at being shown a newspaper report of the sudden death of the businessman they had murdered in effigy—he had collapsed and died of a heart attack on that same night.

The Kordeivs decided to withdraw at a later time when they were supposed to go through a satanic confirmation ceremony involving sex acts. They broke off, and in the days and weeks that followed, they went through a series of terrifying incidents and experiences. As is often the case, where before they had known great financial success, now the opposite was true. In various other ways, they were made to realize that they had displeased the powers of darkness. The report continues:

In the mid-1980s Rolling Stone reported on the satanic murder of 17-year-old Gary Lauwers.3 Whether or not the satanic cult, "Knights of the Black Circle," was a serious group or a loosely knit association of teenage drug users playing on the fringes of Satanism, one of its founding members was serious about the devil. Richard Kasso, who later hanged himself in jail, would use drugs to attempt to contact the devil. In graveyard rituals he would chant "Satan, Satan, Satan," and he allegedly "wanted to be the devil’s second hand." At the time of Lauwers’ death, Kasso forced him to his knees and made him say "I love Satan." He then took out a knife and repeatedly stabbed the youth until he died.

The above story was the leadoff for a special report on the May 16, 1985, ABC Newsmagazine show "20/20," titled "The Devil Worshippers." It referred to "perverse, hideous acts that defy belief including "suicides, murders, and the ritualistic slaughter of children and animals." It noted that cases of satanic activity are found in every state but that "even more frightening is the number of reported murders and suicides with satanic clues." It reported on three different categories of Satanism: 1) self-styled Satanists, like the Kasso group above, who dabble in Satanism; 2) religious Satanists who publicly worship the devil; and 3) satanic cults constituting highly secretive groups who commit criminal acts, including murder. The segment interviewed a number of authorities and cited other examples of horrible acts done in the name of the devil.

We note a few comments by some of the authorities interviewed.

Dr. Lawrence Pazder, psychiatrist and author of Michele Remembers (1980), a book on ritual child abuse in Satanism:

Police Chief Dale Griffis:

Tom Jariel, "20/20" investigator:

Anton LaVey, founder, Church of Satan:

The Napa Register tells of a man who was convicted for the sex slaying of a teenage girl: "The purpose of calling [the girl] to the house was to sacrifice her to Satan," the defendant testified.

He slashed her throat, violated her sexually, and hid her body under his house. He was also found guilty of beheading a hitchhiker, of molesting him sexually, and then leaving his body near a freeway. Three prosecution psychiatrists testified that the guilty man was sane, and a jury of seven women and five men deliberated for only one hour after a two-week trial before finding him guilty of first-degree murder on both counts.8

The San Francisco Chronicle states that "a group of ‘Satan cultists’ tortured and beat a 17-year-old to death, believing he was an undercover narcotics agent." He was not, but he had been lured to an apartment where members of a Satan cult had been living commune-style; and he underwent a bizarre weekend of torture before he died. The report states that he was tied to a bed and beaten, then moved into a basement altar room that was decorated with a long black table on which candles had been placed in blackened bottles. In this room satanic tridents and chains were hanging on the wall, the wall itself being painted with splotches of red that were meant to signify blood. It seems the 17-year-old youth was tied to the table, flogged with chains, and slashed with pieces of glass. When his body was eventually found in a wooded area, his head had been crushed, apparently by a club.9

Such accounts can now be multiplied hundreds or thousands of times. Worldwide, since the 1960s, literally millions of people have been involved in satanic and/or witchcraft ritual. Witchcraft and Satanism are spreading like a cancer today, in ways that only a generation ago would have been considered impossible. The newspaper reports in many countries are remarkably similar in their acceptance of the fact that this dreaded phenomenon in our midst is a serious problem.

Even today in America there are thousands of adults who claim to remember satanic abuse as a child, including such things as rape, cannibalism, and human sacrifice done in honor to Satan.

Most people tend to scoff at such reports either from an inbred skepticism or because little or no evidence exists to corroborate the claims of these individuals.

We cannot say how many of these stories are true, but we think it is wrong to dismiss them all. If occultism has a long history of such activities, and if no one denies that there are tens of thousands of members of Satanist and related groups in America, we think some of these accounts are more likely to be explained by something real than merely by people’s imaginations.