Get-in-the-Game-Satanic-Panic

1

The Satanic Panic In the following interactive I would like to explore what a concerned parent would encounter when interacting with anti-Satanism media and BADD ideology. This story is loosely based on real events that occurred at Heber City High School in Heber City Utah. While the story of Charlie and their parent is fictionalized, the ephemera surrounding this story is real.

Introduction You are a parent of a high school aged child, Charlie. Charlie is at the top of their class, and as a part of the ‘gifted’ program, they were invited to participate in an after-school game of Dungeons and Dragons. You have never heard of this game before, but since it is run through the school and as part of the gifted program, you trust that there is no harm in letting them continue to play.

You learn there is going to be a school board meeting discussing the merits of this program.

To attend the school board meeting, turn to the next page.

2

Attend the School Board Meeting At the school board meeting other parents begin to protest this program, citing that the game has links to the disappearance of Michigan State University Student, James “Dallas” Egbert. They also hand you a pamphlet that details more about the dangers of Dungeons and Dragons to your child.

To learn about Dallas Egbert, turn to page 3.

To read the pamphlet, turn to page 4.

3

Learn About Dallas Egbert Egbert was a 16 year old computer science student at MSU, and was known by his roommate to disappear without any indication as to where he was going. When he did not return to his dormitory after a period of two days, his roommate decided to contact the police.1 The private detective hired to search for Egbert, highway patrolman William Dear, had a tendency for the flamboyant, citing himself as “the real James Bond.”2 Egbert left a suicide note, stating only that he would like to be cremated. This note was discovered alongside his writing on D&D, which caused Dear to believe the two must be related. Egbert was discovered alive, but committed suicide a year later. This event sparked the larger movement against D&D, especially because individuals believed that it caused harm to Egbert and many other young students who suffered the same fate.

1

Stuart, Michael. “MSU Student Reported Missing for Two Days from Case Hall.” The State News, August 24, 1979, Volume 73, Number 123.

2 Hall, Carla. “Into the Dragon’s Lair.” The Washington Post, November 28, 1984.

To learn more about William Dear and his investigation, turn to page 6.

To talk to your child, turn to page 8.

4

Read the Pamphlet The following images are excerpts from Patricia Pulling's pamphlet Dungeons and Dragons: Witchcraft Suicide Violence marketed towards "Educators, Librarians, Pastors, Police and Parents. This seems to be a self published manifesto from Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD), and there is no noted publishing date. Based on the time when BADD was active, we can intuit this pamphlet is from the mid 1980s.

To learn about Dallas Egbert, turn to page 3.

To talk to your child, turn to page 8.

​

5

​

6

Learn More About William Dear’s Investigation You then pick up a copy of Dear’s book, in which he published his side of the story in searching for Dallas Egbert. In his book, he writes: Dallas might actually have begun to live this game, not just to play it. Dungeons and Dragons could have absorbed him so much that his mind had slipped through the fragile barrier between reality and fantasy, and he no longer existed in the world we inhabit. 3 You worry that your child is going to fall down the wrong path, and become enticed to believe that the actions in their game may affect their everyday life. You read a story about one young student who learns a spell from her Dungeon Master that is meant to bewitch her father into spending $200 on Dungeons and Dragons paraphernalia.4 To talk to your child, turn to page 8.

3

Dear, William. The Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

4 This is a false story, created by Chick Publications to sow anti-Dungeons and Dragons messaging to concerned individuals. The comic in which this story was originally published, Dark Dungeons, was created in 1984.

7

Talk to Your Child You fear there is a possibility that your child can learn reckless behavior through playing this game. Charlie states that they enjoy the game, and that these stories are exaggerated tales that rarely happen to the millions of people who enjoy the game. You bar them from attending the club, and attend the school’s board meeting to officially ban the club from convening on school grounds.

To attend a second school board meeting, turn to page 9.

8

Attend a School Board Meeting The board decides once again that the club is permitted to meet.5 At the next board meeting, you ask the parents for any more information they have about the subject. The parents tell you to turn on the TV tonight to CBS. They tell you there is going to be a 60 Minutes episode on Dungeons and Dragons, and that the founder of BADD, Patricia Pulling is going to appear.

To watch “60 Minutes” Clip, turn to page 10.

5

Laycock, Joseph. Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2015.

9

Watch “60 Minutes” Clip [CLIP HERE] While this is only an imaginary scenario created to show what could have happened, the scenario is based off of real ephemera and turning points in the conversation around Dungeons and Dragons in the public sphere. For more reading on the Satanic Panic revolving around roleplaying games, read Joseph Laycock's Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds. This text was instrumental to the creation of this narrative, and the research conducted to find these sources.