Part of Shocktober
General Admission: $16 | Belcourt Members: $13
From late-night talk shows and courtroom dramas to heavy metal lyrics and horror cinema, the Satanic Panic of the ‘80s and ’90s seized the American imagination. In this special Shocktober seminar, we’ll explore how ritual magic, conspiracy and mass media coalesced into a cultural phenomenon that blurred the boundaries between fantasy, faith and fear.
Together, we’ll examine how archetypes like the Satanic elites, the Faustian magician and the witch were revived and reshaped during this period of cultural upheaval — and how their symbolic power continues to haunt everything from QAnon to contemporary prestige horror. Drawing connections between early modern Satanic conspiracies, ritual abuse allegations and elite occult conspiracies, we’ll consider how the supernatural becomes a language for expressing deep societal anxieties around gender, power, belief and control.
Through historical context, film analysis and open discussion, this seminar invites participants to reflect on why stories of dark ritual and hidden power persist — and what they reveal about the fears that animate us still.
No prior expertise required. Just curiosity, a taste for the uncanny, and a willingness to confront the myths we make out of fear.
This seminar will be held in the 1966 Hall and will be followed by a screening of TRICK OR TREAT (35mm). Movie tickets sold separately.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Jesse McCarthy received his BA in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his MA and PhD in History from Vanderbilt University. He teaches courses on witchcraft, the supernatural and the Salem witch trials at both Harpeth Hall and Vanderbilt’s Summer Academy. His research explores how societies under pressure turn to scapegoats and create moral panics — from the pamphlet wars of Elizabethan England to the courtroom dramas of Salem. He is especially interested in how fear and propaganda shape identity, fuel collective hysteria and leave a lasting mark on politics and culture.
