Demons of the Modern World
by Malcolm McGrath
Prometheus Books, $32, 1-57392-935-2
Demons of the Modern World is an investigation into the subject of supposed ritual satanic abuse, as well as a potted history of demonology in the West. It is well written, putting the subject matter across in a non-academic way – being sometimes as engaging as a whodunnit mystery novel. The author has done his homework too; this is a well-researched book drawing material from history, social sciences, literature, cinema, and even UFO abduction reports. McGrath’s main point is that demons are an illusion. He shows that ritual satanic abuse is also an illusion, one generated by some psychologists and therapists using techniques to uncover so-called repressed memories.
However, in real life it seems that people who have suffered abuse, or other highly traumatic experiences, in childhood have difficulty in repressing the memories which can cause them so much anguish throughout their life.
I learnt a lot from this book. The author has done an excellent job in tying together strands from several areas to explain and make his case. The only criticism I have is that the focus is almost exclusively on happenings in America. Over a decade ago there were in Britain cases of alleged ritual satanic abuse of children. This resulted in parents being arrested and children taken away from their families. At the time I considered those allegations to be dubious and far-fetched, even though many children are, unfortunately, abused by their parents. It would have been interesting to see what differences there are in other countries.
After reading this book I was left with an unanswered question: why did the satanic abuse scare get taken seriously by so many people despite the lack of physical or other corroborating evidence? Maybe that would make a good subject for another book.
