Child of Satan, Child of God

by Susan Atkins-Whitehouse, Bob Slosser

Millions met Susan Atkins in Helter Skelter. She was young and attractive, but desperate to find happiness. Alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity didn t satisfy her. . . . She was looking for more. When she met Charles Manson, she felt she had met the world's savior. Here is her personal account of life
and death with the murderous Manson "family." Condemned to die, rejected by society, she found life on death row - a miraculous rebirth as real as a
resurrection.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Cults, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Member of Charles Manson's "Family" and convicted murderer.

Reviews

[Rob Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gee, I'm really a nice person who got into the wrong crowd and stabbed a pregnant woman to death. Since I've become a Christian, I should be forgiven.

[Turmalin4 ☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally Charles Manson died 20.11.17. May he not rest in peace....

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

i almost puked while i read this. so what if i was on a greyhound bus and had a two hour lay-over in albany... parts of this book made me ill. although, i would recommend it for a couple of reasons: if you're into true crime, this is one of the most infamous crimes of our century, and it's from a female's perspective to boot.

hightlights:

1.susan's boss at a strip club invite her and the girls over to anton lavey's house to plan a special performance in which she is a vampire and has to emerge gyrating from a coffin.

2. her description of charlie talking out of a sink in a trailer while they're all tripping on acid is vivid and horrifying. we all have our scary drug episodes, but this involves charlie manson & a sink...aaaaaah!

3. she describes taking a ton of acid just a few hours before her son is born. some of the other members of the "family" including charlie-fucking-manson try to talk her out of taking drugs while she's that far along pregnant. she doesn't... and the next thing we know, she's giving birth to her son 2 months prematurely. (which back in those days is crazy! she's either exaggerating, or her kid survived against all odds.) p.s. i don't know if i would admit that charlie manson tried to talk me out of doing something stupid. it seems to go against the defense that she eventually used in court. anyhow, good book, but i really do hope she rots in jail.

[Lanell · Rating 3 out of 5]

No one is ever beyond the reach of God.

[Nina Soto Maldonado]

I lived with the three demon monsters in human skin for six years. My crime, forgery. That is the best way I can describe Susan Atkins, Leslie Von Houton, and Pat Krenwinkle. Susan Atkins was worst than Manson. She liked killing so did Patricia K. She stabbed Mr. LaBianca with a carving knife, a long BBQ fork left on his stomach a steak knife left in his neck and carved "PIG, RISE with his blood. While being stabbed with a bayonet by Watson, Mr. LaBianca yells "dont stab me anymore I am dead" Almost the same words The heiress Folger said to pat and Watson when She ran and Pat tackled her, " I give up you have me. When being stabbed by both She yelled "stop I am already dead. "They are a type of sociopath that the psych classes I took for my Bachelors major, psych/Sociology, haven't invented a name for. I walked with Susan and sometimes Leslie to AA meetings in CIW. Betty Brodwick, was my study partner in computers. Susan was a true monster, Patricia Krenwinkle gave me the creeps. She is the one who stabbed Abigail Folger along with Tex Watson who got married to another sociopath, made 7 kids in prison, and is now, GUESS WHAT? a preacher of course. Ain't that special! Susan was the one who held Sharon tate 8 months pregnant while she and Tex stabbed her 16 times she died calling "MOTHER, MOTHER". The baby I am sure his mother's hands and arms protected him from the knife, she left herself open for stabbings thru the heart, lungs and liver and arms. Most of her wounds were fatal, the baby was not harmed by the stabbings. Susan is also the one when Tate begged to take her with them to let her have the baby she told Tate " I have no mercy for you Bi×+h. That's when Tex Watson thought for a second but Susan brought him back yelling " kill this piggie kill her" and he did. The baby fully formed and healthy died soon as maternal blood circulation stopped. The coroner Thomas Naguchi said the baby died 10, 15, minutes after His mommy heart stopped and circulation ceased. Do these people deserve to write books on the monstrosity they did? Show their photo on the cover with a smile for all to see? To say they are Christians now and a child of God who forgave her. What a convenient God, where you can do this and be forgiven by their God and now consider themselves happy and forgiven Christians. These girls especially Susan Atkin are no children of ang good god. These people seemed possessed. I want nothing to do with their God and if there's any justice by God they should all have a special place in hell if it really exist. I lived, ate, slept, and had conversations while in prison. The last 30 minutes before bed I would write in my journals all my conversations with not only the Manson girl monsters but other grusome sociopaths. Maybe I had that face they trusted. All I know is maybe one day I will have it publish. Not one should get out. Like Doris Tate, Sharon Tate's mother who went to all their parole hearings, she told Watson who was asking the board for parole, " You enjoy your children I see. Because of you coming to my daughter's house and telling her " I am the devil and I am here to do the devil's work" And you want parole. When does my daughter and grandson get their parole? When do they get to come home? You should get parole and go enjoy your children and wife, when my daughter gets parole and I have them both back to love and enjoy them." Leslie Von Houten, she walked around the prison wth her fake sad face saying she did not kill anyone. She helpped Patricia stabbed Mrs. LaBianca. I remember Patricia, sitting on the grass talking with her. She told me Charlie had total control of her. I truly believe that there was already violent tendencies in all of them. I say this because of their behavior after the murders and Manson just tapped into it with LSD and speed. Linda Casabian was getting just as high but when she saw the tate murders she took her baby and left. Afraid to tell. She got out, she was not about to kill. The other three could have done the same. They had pleny of chances to stop these murders. They I believe were already sociopaths until Good ole Charlie tapped into it. Linda, was the D.A.'s Ace in a hole, their star witness. So no, I did not like any of their books. They should be under the jail. And you should not even have their books. Respect the victim's family. This country has always made money on folks miseries with books, documentaries, movies, magazines, even stage plays. Lets see if they post. I hope so because I have seen white young men and young girls wearing tee shirts with Manson's face with the word " God " under Manson's face. As soon as these monsters are convicted we should never hear or see them on tv or books again but no they have written books, done interviews and there is even quite a few movies done with the latest being, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. BY TARENTINO. It was funny and a good watch. The murderers went into the wrong house next door and the end too bad it did not end like this movie. The only movie of the murders I watched because the murderers got what they deserved and more especially Susan Atkins. Brad Pitt and Leonardo Decaprio F+×<+D them up when they broke into their house next door to the Tate/Polanski home. Good movie. No death besides the monsters death. I apologize for post so long. Thank you for reading.

[christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(i skipped the child of god portion)

[Penny -Thecatladybooknook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book had a lower rating, but I decided it was high enough to read and find out for myself. Was this the best written book? No, but it was fine. A few TINY issues I had were her use of quotation marks when she was expressing her inner dialogue; that could be just a printing issue that could have been solved by the use of italics. I felt it went a smidge too long, but I see why she felt the need to tell a few details once she was in prison and was explaining her spiritual journey. I was convinced of her salvation story and how God used her....but we are not the ones to judge her heart; that's God's place to know if she was sincere.

This is the second book I've read by one of Manson's "family" members. It was neat to see another point of view of the Manson "family" and how I saw connections between this story and Dianne Lake's. Both had very similar takes on Manson and his ability to brainwash people to do his bidding.

Susan's life after losing her mother was horrific and losing your mother at any age, especially a younger child/early teen will most definitely have an effect on someone. Her story was engaging and I never felt like her story was dragging on except right toward the end. She goes indepth on how she tried to support herself after she left home and left her family. She was a young girl that wanted to be loved and she admits her faults throughout...she wanted to be noticed because her self-esteem was just so low. She told of the excessive drug use that she fell into and how that got even more worse once she found the Manson "family". We get more information on the nights of Aug 9 and 10 when the murders we all know of happened. Sadly, just like the others who have talked about their time with Manson, she was broken young girl that fell in with a really bad person and did really really bad things.

I definitely think this is worth the read if you're at all interested in cults and how people can so easily get involved.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real page turner and rare book to find. I'm very glad I got myself a copy.
Susan recounts her life's events & the infamous Manson murders effortlessly, detailing personal circumstances, thoughts & speaking on her participation in the Manson murders.
(Although she does not talk through the whole story of the murders, you can watch her appeals via you tube to get more information regarding her participation & her character within them.)

I quite appreciate her story. The parallels of god/devil in her stories are eerie & although I don't mind religious text, the last 3 chapters do get a little in your face regarding religion.
Other than that, I really enjoyed reading her account.

Susan passed away in prison in 2009 from brain cancer. Having lost all appeals (denied parole 18 times), she spent 40 years in prison and had been the longest-incarcerated female inmate in the California penal system. While inside she reformed, married (documentary I saw of her husband was great), and participated in some good, meaningful work in prison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_E6O...

[Melissa Muszak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some interesting parts, for sure. There was also a lot of crap, in my opinion. But it was interesting to read about it from this perspective. I don't totally buy the walking with Jesus, born-again thing at the end. I think she very clearly downplayed her involvement. I also don't think that the lost soul thing that she claims as her reason for joining Charles Manson was either (a) very well described and/or (b) entirely true. To me, she seemed more like a petulant child with ADD.

[Anina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious! I am sorry, that's a mean thing to say about someone's book, when they are only trying to apologize for all the murdering and find Jesus while just recently earning a life sentence. The tone of this book is extreme feminine desperation of the 1970's style, which I enjoy immensely. It shows how far we've come. But seriously Susan...gurl you got played.

[flannery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stupid book, fun read, obviously written by a dude. "I was aware of my new, sexy body, could feel the men watching me as I began to gyrate around the room." Haha, yeah right. Sensationalizes all the things it sets out to condemn, like, I've never envied Charles Manson's super-Svengali powers until I read this and all of a sudden it seemed really sexy and cool. Real trashy read! Found it at my Dad's office.

[Barbara Ixba · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was certainly not an easy read. It is extremely dense and disturbing for much of the book. I enjoyed reading about how she found God. The book made it clear that God can meet anyone right where they are, and change them for the better.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read, taking you through the author's early life, her escape into a fairly eventful early adulthood and of course the Hinman and Tate-LaBianca murders, going from there on into "Sadie's" life on Death Row with 4 other members of the Manson Family. Never a dull page in this one.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was very revealing about who Susan Atkins was before the murders and how she became the person who was capable of what she did. However, this book does end on a very religious tone and talks a lot about her life that she turns over to christ, somewhat putting her in a favorable light. I'm glad I read this book, I'm always looking for different viewpoints on true crime, but Susan Atkins bookw as written just a few years after she was sentenced to life inprisonment for 7 counts of first-degree murder. I find some of her viewpoints hard to agree with.

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this years ago and just remembered it because of the brouhaha over her recent request for 'compassionate release.' I do recall that I didn't believe her revised story and had no interest whatsoever in her spiritual conversion.

I think I need a Self Serving Dreck shelf.

[Robbie Cheadle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written by Susan Atkins and is about her life as one of Charles Manson's "girls". It describes how she met him and the great impression he made on her and his other followers. It tells the story of their life with this man and how he influenced and his followers into doing anything for him, including murder. The descriptions of the murders committed are quite gruesome and really made my stomach turn. To me this is a really scary tale of how a young girl, looking for love and with a great a need to belong, was led into a life of drugs, promiscuity and eventually murder which resulted in her being incarcerated for life. As a mother of a young teenager if felt it was a really good book to read as it is easy to be ignorant and oblivious to the threats that face our children. The threats in our modern world of technology are even greater so it is very wise to be informed and a book like this one is a harsh reminder.

Follow me at robbiesinspiration@wordpress.com

[Lee Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great addition to my Manson book collection (creepy, I know, but the story never bores me). I only wish she'd written a sequel, as I'd like to know what the last 30 years have brought. It's fascinating to have an insider's account of life in the Family, and Susan Atkins has some great stories to tell, such as filming a movie with Anton La Vey, and the surprising creepiness/banality of his big black house. Although Susan Atkins was very involved in the murders Manson orchestrated, she naturally downplays her involvement, blaming Charles "Tex" Watson for most of the carnage. Then, she finds God, and has supposedly devoted the past 35 years leading a prison ministry. (as has Tex Watson, as a matter of fact--I have his book in my "to be read" pile)

[Kathleen ureneck · Rating 5 out of 5]

INSPIRING MUST READ

I gave this book a 5 star rating because of the authors raw truth. The writer does not strive to sugarcoat or make excuses for her crime. So inspiring because when faced with extreme adversity after the manson family murders and looking at the death penalty she slowly came to know God and trusted Jesus as her Savior. She made the most of her life behind bars. I wont give away the ending. I recommend this book for anyone intrested in the late sixties culture the Manson family, imprisonment, religion and spirituality. Also portrays how it's never too late to make positive changes in your life. This book should also be available in all correctional facilities.

[Hayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I always feel weird rating memoirs because this is someone else’s life story.
That being said, I had some issues with this one.

Susan Atkins seems to show no remorse for anything that she did when she was part of the Manson Family. Instead, she offers many excuses such as she was young, she did drugs, she wasn’t thinking clearly, etc.
This lack of remorse or responsibility is really clear in a later chapter when she feels total remorse and falls on the floor crying with sorrow for kissing a married man.

Like I said, this is her story in her words. And I’m sure she’s come a long way and turned her life around but I wasn’t getting the right vibes to be able to rate it higher for me personally.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

yeah so I usually feel weird rating memoirs because it's literally someone's life but seeing as Susan literally murdered people, excused her behavior - blaming it on youth and drug-taking, and then made me suffer through this stupidly long book I, in fact, do not feel bad. The whole Jesus, rebirth section was boring but like fine I'm not gonna diss her for having a religion, there's plenty to criticize, but then the last couple of pages she drops a bunch of homophobia and I was just wanted it to end but idk why I was surprised. This terrible person wrote a terrible book about her terrible thoughts and actions! what a concept!

[Dara S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Susan's life was not very good and then she fell into Charles Manson's clutches. While in prison she found Christ, so this book has some religious overtones.

[Hazel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to skip the last three chapters but up until then it was a solid 4 star so that's how im rating it. I'm sure the last few chapters were good and all, but I came for murder not for Jesus.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great inside view to the Manson murders and Susan’s life behind bars to finding jesus🤨

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is just FAB, for all the wrong reasons

[Jamie (The Kansan Reader)]

I do not rate nonfictions anymore.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.- John 3:16

People (myself included) forget Jesus died for every single person. We may not like what that person has done in life, but Jesus loves them. Jesus died for them as He did for you and me. You can take that however you want. But take it to God.

Reason I read this book was to see God’s work. I can say seeing other people’s review of this book is heartbreaking. How so many don’t think she deserves God’s grace and mercy is abhorrent.

In the Bible, we get stories of people who we can say didn’t deserve God’s grace or mercy. We don’t judge them for that. Instead we look at it as beautiful to see how God worked in their life. David slept with another man’s wife, then planned his death. But we remember him as a man after God’s own heart. Paul hunted down and persecuted Christians in the name of religion. We remember him as he is in his letters to the churches and as someone who gave his life to Christ. Peter denied Jesus yet was the rock of the church. I am choosing to look at Susan’s story like I do those stories. Someone who had a past, but God saved her from it.

I won’t lie in saying I did skim so parts. When she was growing up, I felt for the lost little girl who just wanted to be loved. I can see how she searched for that missing piece that each Christian knows only God can fill. Once it started getting to where she was taking drugs, having sex and rebelling after she left home, I started skimming.

When taking drugs, Susan opened herself up to many horrible things. She also meets Anton LeVay and he wanted her to be apart of a satanic ritual and her boss is the one to set up the meeting. I can’t tell you how sick to my stomach I was reading that and how heartbreaking to think about. She does the show and even puts in the man she is seeing at the time notices something off about her. I was happy to read she left that scene but it came at a price.

I read how she was with Manson and how she just wanted to please him. I think we can all relate in some way. A person we desperately want the approval of. Manson knew how to manipulate this as well as playing with emotions of his followers. I did skim the murders because I really didn’t want to read that.

Once in prison, at points Susan is on the verge of losing her mind. She starts receiving letters from one of the men in from the family who is doing time in Folsom Prison. He starts opening up to her about God and how they had been given a misconception of the Bible. He encourages her to see for herself. Which is great. As Christians, we should encourage people to read the Bible for themselves.

Susan speaks about how she came to Christ, how she was baptized, and how she ministered to others after her conversion.

What are my final thoughts…

It’s not my right to judge this woman. That is for God and God alone. If she was saved, I will see her once it’s my turn to enter heaven. If not, then I won’t.

All I can really say is, my God can save people like Susan Atkins. He has done it for thousands of years. I will not be sad or be hateful when I see Him save such a wretched soul. Because I was no better when He saved me.

I will say, I love how this book ends. With an invitation to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

[Greta Musteikienė · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected and overall a disturbing read.
About 30 percent of the book is about her life prior to Manson, about 20 percent - the Manson family and murders, and the last 40-50 percent is about her becoming Christian (or "Jesus freak" as she herself puts it) and performing miracles (?) like treating heart attack caused by a demon, healing depression, obesity, and even homosexualism (I was rolling eyes repeatedly by then).

What did I expect? After reading about the case in Bugliosi's book and later the detailed retelling of the Manson family story by Dianne Lake, I hoped this would be the same story, but from a different viewpoint. And though the murder story is only briefly recounted (and S. Atkins claims she did not actually kill anyone), the perspective is very different. I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist and could not tell what was wrong with her (or if it really was something wrong) but in this book Susan Atkins indeed looked like a strange person. After reading the book by Dianne Lake it seemed that there was no fault of her own to fall for the Manson family trap, in the case of Susan, it looked different.
Susan claims all her attitude and behavior were only outward appearances to make her look tough, and truly she was just a scared girl, not wanting to hurt anyone. However, I believed that more, BEFORE I read this. It was just so eerie, that after saying how she was evil, and that she had done terrible things she doesn't actually mention feeling remorse for the killings, or even motherly feelings toward her child she left. I first tried to believe that maybe it was just her way of retelling her story, maybe she finds it hard to put her feelings on paper, but it did not seem like that when she started the story about her life in jail and her conversion. Then she could go on for paragraphs about how she felt heartbroken after her ex-boyfriend/now pen-pal Bruce decided to stop writing letters to her, about how angry she was that she is put in jail, about how remorseful she felt after kissing a prison guard after her conversion. This sin of kissing a married man seems to her a bigger deal than the killings of multiple people.
Overall, I can't say I hate this book. It was interesting (and, again, really really disturbing) read.

[Claire Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting read if you want a glimpse into the mind of a sociopath, which I was curious about having read Helter Skelter. The woman was a soulless void from childhood, zero empathy for anyone but herself, zero remorse and all the blame for everything she ever did is heaped on everyone who was around her. She glosses over the murders because she is incapable of any form of guilt or remorse. She lies in the book, the story about Anthony Crowley for example, the description of his ‘wife’ in the year she supposedly met him was lies. She thinks she’s clever and a master manipulator. She claimed she hung around with Barbara and Ella (Barbarella) eye roll. She clearly states twice in the book she was too cowardly to try to escape or to kill herself so her only possible way out of jail was to ‘find Jesus’ which she did with as much obsession as she had for Mason. Her rampant narcissism really shines through in the last part of the book. The claims of her curing women of lesbianism, a heart attack and from being a ‘fat hypochondriac’ are utterly ludicrous. It amazes me that some of the reviews left for this book can’t see through her. I’m glad she never got out of prison. In the end she wasn’t as clever as she thought.

[Malory · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Child of Satan, Child of God" is Sadie Mae Glutz' uncluttered entry into the curious storehouse of Mansonian literature. Atkins rhapsodizes on the psychical, crude beauty of the desert, a sprawling terrorism of sirocco hippie troupes, biker convents (Mother Superior Danny DeCarlo is, however much to the offense of historical courtesy, cheaply manumitted from the narrative, a questionable gesture on Sadie's part, and at most a signal displacement of pure epistolary facticity), watercolor toughs, backroads musicians, wizened old ranch-hands, and ibid. Though the prose is severe and shorthand, the mystic invitation of Sexy Sadie's story is deeply companionable. "Child of Satan, Child of God" is a cross-grained examination of the Tate-LaBianca murders clean of the rigid demagoguery of Bugliosi's account, though suffering from frightfully bloated spells of nearsightedness and revisionism, and the sobbing sweeps of a spiritually taphephobic young woman.

[Katie Followell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't exactly what you'd think it is.

I picked this up because Susan Atkins really fascinated me after reading Helter Skelter. She was legitimately frightening.

I assumed her personal accounts would be buckwild, but really I just got the vibes that she was a sad and sick person. I don't think she knew how to handle her emotions with the death of her mother, and that angsty attitude followed her throughout life.

Her story of going to 10050 Cielo Drive isn't quite what Bugliosi told, but it's a great example of how the human mind will remember things the way it wants to. It's a weird way of coping.

About 1/4 of the book is about how she found Christ, and while I'm happy she finally made a decision for herself, it became very repetitive and felt forced after about 5 pages.


Either way, it's an interesting book. A fairly quick read

[Bianca Brioschi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book pretty boring. I had the feeling she was lying in some parts, and try to justify her actions or trying to blame others in some others.
I read Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi which I find the best written book about the Manson case, and so reading Atkin’s I almost didn’t learn anything new about the whole story. Maybe more interesting the part about her past, but still I found it boring, nothing special. I don’t believe in her rebirth through Jesus and God. I can imagine this book brought pain to the families of the victims when it came out. My opinion: pages and pages of lies and justifications... trying to convince us she was a totally new beatific version of herself. No no READ HELTER SKELTER ISTEAD