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Satanism: The Seduction of America's Youth
VERY GOOD. SIGNED BY AUTHOR.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 7, 1989
About the author
Bob Larson
56 books39 followersBob Larson is an American radio and television evangelist, and a pastor of Spiritual Freedom Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Larson has authored numerous books critical of rock music and Satanism.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 14, 2020
I mean, five stars for entertainment value, but absolutely no concern with truth, evidence, or sourcing.
March 31, 2010
I guess if I was to rate it on what I expected, it would have received 3 or 4 stars, but I have to be honest. This book is terrible. Although it does state some facts, most are taken out of context. Like for example, a caller who says he's a Satanist and wants to sacrifice things because he loves listening to Slayer. Well Bob makes Slayer out to be evil and bad guys because they aren't willing to write a letter to this kid to tell him to stop worshiping Satan. They did say that his parents and family should talk to him and get more involved in their kid's life, but they are not going to try to take the place of good parenting. More than half of the book is either proven lies or statements taken out of context. I love how he says that Dungeons and Dragons has been proven to be linked to 123 murders and suicides. I'm sure anything could be linked to murders and suicides; Twinkies, Prozac, The Bible? He is a huckster, which I already knew, but I wanted to read this book just the same.
misc
December 21, 2008Bob Larson (AKA The Lyin' King, Beggin' Bob) was (still?) a Christian radio talk show host, "author" and public speaker that claims, among other things, to be an expert on the Occult. You can add comedian to his list of titles, because he only repackaged the same Satanic Panic propaganda that infested our minds a la Geraldo Rivera. Bob makes blanket statements, uses the terms witchcraft, Satanism, Devil-Worship and occult interchangeably, thereby affirming his lack on knowledge in any of the subjects he tries to refute. Apparently, role playing games, heavy metal, horror movies, and pretty much anything else that does not have the name "Jesus Christ loves you" stamped on it is a product of the Devil, as an effort to drag you down to HELL!!!
Bob conveniently leaves out facts and adds in his own opinions terribly disguised as facts, but he is not too worried about that since the flock that reads his drivel has learned by now NOT to question the experts, even if they are self proclaimed. Bob Larson is a lesson in what kind of a Christian NOT to be.
It's a funny read after the modern witch hunts has died down, and this book can ben placed on the same shelf as The Satan Seller (Mike Warnke) and The Late Great Planet Earth (Hal Lindsay).
It's sad to think that I used to believe Bob was speaking the truth and was a man of honor and it's an awful thing he uses his intimidation (invoking the horrors of hell) to berate the lost and hurting. Incidentally, his talk show was, at the time, the most pranked radio talk show in history, maybe even more than Howard Stern.
Bob conveniently leaves out facts and adds in his own opinions terribly disguised as facts, but he is not too worried about that since the flock that reads his drivel has learned by now NOT to question the experts, even if they are self proclaimed. Bob Larson is a lesson in what kind of a Christian NOT to be.
It's a funny read after the modern witch hunts has died down, and this book can ben placed on the same shelf as The Satan Seller (Mike Warnke) and The Late Great Planet Earth (Hal Lindsay).
It's sad to think that I used to believe Bob was speaking the truth and was a man of honor and it's an awful thing he uses his intimidation (invoking the horrors of hell) to berate the lost and hurting. Incidentally, his talk show was, at the time, the most pranked radio talk show in history, maybe even more than Howard Stern.
May 15, 2016
One star for its research--however distorted by bias that the details became on these pages.
I didn't expect this to be an uncompromising diatribe against anyone not strictly and 100% Judeo-Christian.
If you adhere to Pagan (not Satanic, but pre-Christian) you are a potential risk to society and people.
Practices in homosexuality is, according to this book, a sign of Witchcraft rituals.
If you listen to angry rock music, you might have homicidal desires that you'll eventually act out.
This book talks about the danger of people lured by the rewards of Satanism because they to begin with suffer from a pre-desensitized numbness that has difficulty distinguishing true evil from what Hollywood has plastered everywhere, made famous, popular, and a long-standing cash-cow.
No shit!
However, Larson shoots himself in the foot by being guilty of the same blindness: there's no distinction for him between the non-malicious, darker, x-rated and STILL non-Christian beliefs and lifestyles from the depraved diabolism of the occult.
This is where witch hunt mentality begins. Why religious persecution exists. Arrogance eloquently expressed to perpetuate unforgiveness towards anyone different than you.
This book just pissed me off. It has the tone to fear anyone who has a different thought than you, and that's another form of evil: prejudice.
I didn't expect this to be an uncompromising diatribe against anyone not strictly and 100% Judeo-Christian.
If you adhere to Pagan (not Satanic, but pre-Christian) you are a potential risk to society and people.
Practices in homosexuality is, according to this book, a sign of Witchcraft rituals.
If you listen to angry rock music, you might have homicidal desires that you'll eventually act out.
This book talks about the danger of people lured by the rewards of Satanism because they to begin with suffer from a pre-desensitized numbness that has difficulty distinguishing true evil from what Hollywood has plastered everywhere, made famous, popular, and a long-standing cash-cow.
No shit!
However, Larson shoots himself in the foot by being guilty of the same blindness: there's no distinction for him between the non-malicious, darker, x-rated and STILL non-Christian beliefs and lifestyles from the depraved diabolism of the occult.
This is where witch hunt mentality begins. Why religious persecution exists. Arrogance eloquently expressed to perpetuate unforgiveness towards anyone different than you.
This book just pissed me off. It has the tone to fear anyone who has a different thought than you, and that's another form of evil: prejudice.
March 6, 2016
One of the worst books ever written. Written by a narcissistic charlatan failed fundamentalist bullshit artist who uses the thinnest of evidence to argue that only he (via Jesus and your money) can save you from "rock and roll." I was mad on almost every page. This asshole wasted my time! He now pimps his daughters in his lucrative "exorcism" business.
June 17, 2010
I've always really enjoyed hating Bob Larson. here is an audio clip of him talking to a teenage girl about her love of The Cure. Give it a listen, and then you too can hate Bob Larson!
http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/05/...
http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/05/...
May 30, 2013
Such an awesome book, I turned mine into a freaking grimoire with all kinds of cool notes and drawings in it, but my mom threw it away.
July 14, 2022
Sensationalist, to be sure, but certainly never dull.
August 2, 2026
Larson was (and is) a key figure in the satanic panic, spreading fear to parents and others about widespread satanism in teens. He is a decent writer and one of the most troubling things about his writing is how matter-of-fact he sounds. When reading these sort of narratives, one of my central question is always, how sincere is the author? In Larson's case, I might buy that he believes some of this stuff, but I also feel he enjoys the attention and money of the fear-based following he attracts. His ego is present in every story he tells in which he is a character and you can see where he has embellished to make himself look 'cool'. Many chapters contain anecdotes of people calling into his radio show; e.g. a 37 year old who has spent their entire life in satanism, sacrificing and eating animals, and teaching these practices to their small child - but 30 minutes on the phone with one of Bob's counselor and this person is converted to christianity.
While reading this, I also thought a lot about the book Factfulness. Larson uses a lot of anecdotes and statistics to fearmonger about satanism. However, even if every story is true (which I don't believe), his extrapolation to the seriousness of a satanism epidemic is silly.
For instance, he recounts the crimes of teens who play D&D or listening to heavy metal music, but in the context of the millions of people who listen to this music who do nothing wrong, this isn't significant. Or how about number of crimes committed by teens ten years before D&D was released...is there a difference? Maybe there is, but the stat is meaningless without this context. Or he discusses suicide in teens involved in satanism...but the numbers are nothing to suicide of teens involved in christianity who feel a dissonance internally between their inculcated beliefs and who they are.
Throughout, Larson cherry-picks his examples and statistics because it feeds his agenda - certainly something lots of people are guilty of regardless of cause or political or religious persuasion. To be fair, Larson does acknowledge that the vast majority of teens engaged with heavy metal or D&D never do anything bad, but the reader needs to be responsible to look at the larger context and have perspective, or we come to believe, as many did in the 80s and 90s, that there were satanic cults in every town in America eating babies.
Ultimately, Larson is a key player in a movement responsible for destroying a lot of innocent lives...maybe more lives than any real satanic cults have destroyed. He criticizes those who proselytize ideas of wicca, spiritualism, or (gasp) feminism to troubled teens when his entire career is proselytizing to troubled teens. Yet he is still out there today performing public exorcisms with his own band of 'teenage exorcists' and continuing his 'ministry.'
While reading this, I also thought a lot about the book Factfulness. Larson uses a lot of anecdotes and statistics to fearmonger about satanism. However, even if every story is true (which I don't believe), his extrapolation to the seriousness of a satanism epidemic is silly.
For instance, he recounts the crimes of teens who play D&D or listening to heavy metal music, but in the context of the millions of people who listen to this music who do nothing wrong, this isn't significant. Or how about number of crimes committed by teens ten years before D&D was released...is there a difference? Maybe there is, but the stat is meaningless without this context. Or he discusses suicide in teens involved in satanism...but the numbers are nothing to suicide of teens involved in christianity who feel a dissonance internally between their inculcated beliefs and who they are.
Throughout, Larson cherry-picks his examples and statistics because it feeds his agenda - certainly something lots of people are guilty of regardless of cause or political or religious persuasion. To be fair, Larson does acknowledge that the vast majority of teens engaged with heavy metal or D&D never do anything bad, but the reader needs to be responsible to look at the larger context and have perspective, or we come to believe, as many did in the 80s and 90s, that there were satanic cults in every town in America eating babies.
Ultimately, Larson is a key player in a movement responsible for destroying a lot of innocent lives...maybe more lives than any real satanic cults have destroyed. He criticizes those who proselytize ideas of wicca, spiritualism, or (gasp) feminism to troubled teens when his entire career is proselytizing to troubled teens. Yet he is still out there today performing public exorcisms with his own band of 'teenage exorcists' and continuing his 'ministry.'
March 25, 2022
Readability? Entertainment value? 5 stars all the way. One of the most fun and comprehensive Satanic Panic-era books there is. A mix of teenage trolling, outright lies, moral panic, and religious fervor combine together to create one of the most batshit “nonfiction” books you’ll ever read. Definitely recommend.
June 23, 2021
A hilarious ill informed view of the "satanic panic" from one who helped sensationalize it.
October 24, 2023
five stars for the lols, one star for the fact that some people take this seriously.
April 24, 2024
Five stars in theory/for entertainment but wow this book is irresponsible religious propaganda
November 17, 2025
The worst.
November 18, 2025
Excellent.
August 20, 2012
Larson relies upon the ignorance of parents everywhere.
If they were not ignorant they would not be silly enough to think black metal causes Satanism!
If they were not ignorant they would not be silly enough to think black metal causes Satanism!
June 1, 2013
This book is a tour de force of sheer lunacy. Quite enjoyable. I especially liked the bits where he thinks D&D players are satanic and prone to violence.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews