Hello and welcome to the first Eccentric Sphere of 2021!
I was thinking about what to talk about today and finally came to the conclusion that the best way to go forward is to take a peak backwards. At least this sounds like a plausible excuse, right?
I was over on TV Tropes when I ran across an entry that lead me to the Pulling Report, which is sort of the topic for today.
Backstory: back in the 1980's different groups from fundamentalists to law enforcement to conservative politicians enjoyed whipping each other into a frenzy over Satanic Ritual Abuse. Multiple investigations were launched which found no evidence whatsoever that there were any Satanic groups operating anywhere in the U.S. or that there was any such abuse going on. This lack of evidence didn't bother the above mentioned groups in the slightest, and they wasted no time trying to get rid of things they thought were unpleasant and morally wrong. Things like metal music, horror movies and Dungeons & Dragons.
Eventually this panic died down, although it rears it's head every now and then. Back when Harry Potter was the hottest IP, lots of conservatives and fundamentalists refused to let their children read it from fear that they would learn witchcraft and become tools of Satan...
So onto Pat Pulling. Back in 1982, her son Irving suddenly committed suicide. He had previously been playing D&D at school and searching for some kind of explanation for the tragedy, Mrs. Pulling blamed D&D.
Now, it is worth pointing out that in an early interview, Pat Pulling expressed sadness that she hadn't seen the signs coming and that she had been unable to help her son. No joke, I absolutely respect that.
Then, for some reason she turned around and sued the principal of Irving's school for failing to stop the suicide and allowing D&D to be played at school. The suit was tossed out of court for obvious reasons. Now my sympathy for Mrs. Pulling is starting to wobble.
Later on, when she and her organization Bothered About D&D (B.A.D.D.) got famous and she started getting paid, she appeared on the talk show Geraldo where she claimed that her dead son used to behave like a lycanthrope and that he killed lots of small animals. Now I have no choice but to put her in the loony bin. All sympathy is gone.
Despite this, she became one of the top Cult Crime Investigators in the U.S. and traveled the nation giving talks and distributing guidebooks to law enforcement on how to recognize, interrogate and catch satanists, a.k.a. D&D players. This included instructions to ask if the suspect had played D&D, what level he was and so on. She also claimed that all satanists lie to cover up their crimes and to protect their coven members, so if the suspects claims not to be satanists or D&D players, they are lying. In other words, lack of evidence is evidence.
In 1990, author and game designer Michael A. Stackpole published The Pulling Report in which he completely tore apart Pulling and her cronies in a methodical and systematic way. It is an amazing read and I truly recommend you read it, despite its length. If you are interested in gaming or indeed just a look at how people like Mrs. Pulling operate, this report shines a bright spotlight straight at it. Shortly after the Pulling Report was distributed, most of the Satanic Panic died down. I'm certain that Mr. Stackpole's excellent report played a large part of it, but also that times had changed.
The Pulling Report: http://www.rpgstudies.net/stackpole/pulling_report.html
That is that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, stay safe and have an excellent week!
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