Editorials
Examining Satanic Panic in ‘Stranger Things’, and the Real-Life Tragedy that Inspired Eddie Munson

Warning: Stranger Things 4 Spoilers Ahead!
Wearing black, listening to metal, and having dyed-black hair are all indicative of cult activity and devil worship.
Of course, sound minds immediately see this fallacy for what it is, but that didn’t stop it from being the conclusion many reached during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s.
As Netflix’s Stranger Things takes place in the middle of this paranoia-fueled era, Panic’s influence on the show is true to history.
Flayed by The Church of Satan
Beginning in 1980 with the book Michelle Remembers by Lawrence Pazder and Michelle Smith, society quickly became fearful of a global satanic cult that was believed to be intent on hurting children. Luckily, some of these murderous members could be quickly identified due to their fashion choices, musical taste, or general interests (/s).
This global cult allegedly headed by the Church of Satan was widely believed to be committing “ritualistic assaults” on children.
One belief was that this nefarious cult could create an alternate personality within a victim embedded deep within their subconscious. This was believed so much so, that Catherine Gould and Louis Cozolino published in the Journal of Psychology and Theology in 1992 that victims of ritualistic abuse may “maintain cult contact unbeknownst to either the host personality or the treating therapist.”
Catherine Gould also published a highly criticized list of “indicators” that someone had been a victim of Satanic ritual abuse. The list is comprised of run-of-the-mill symptoms typically experienced by those enduring any manner of stress.
To put this concept into Stranger Things terminology: Victims of ritualistic abuse were believed to be like Will when he was flayed in Stranger Things 2… a spy for the Mindflayer. In this case, the Mindflayer was The Church of Satan, and those who wore black and liked rock music were believed to be a part of the Mindflayer’s army. The way to tell if someone was flayed or not was if they appeared stressed. Color me flayed.
During this panic-filled era, “over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases” were brought forth. From these cases, sprangnumerous false convictions. Now, Stranger Things’ already-beloved newcomer Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) seems poised to be the next casualty of the times.
Stranger Things 4 Set the Stage for Satanic Panic
The fate of Eddie seemed to be set from his first appearance on the show as he dramatically reads aloud a Newsweek article about Dungeons and Dragons:
“The Devil has come to America. At first regarded as a harmless game of make-believe, Dungeons and Dragons now has both parents and psychologists concerned. Studies have linked violent behavior to the game, saying it promotes satanic worship, ritual sacrifice, sodomy, suicide, and even murder.”
The negative outlook society held at the time was demonstrated again in the first episode of ST4 as Mike (Finn Wolfhard) sought to find a replacement player for Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin). One student replied that D&D“promotes Satanism and animal cruelty.” When Mike objects to this outlandish claim, the student retorts that “60 Minutes begs to differ.”
From there, how this town must view someone like Eddie Munson was loud and clear. Then a twist of fate made things much worse for him.
Demonizing Eddie Munson
When cheerleading classmate Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) is found murdered in Eddie’s trailer, the police and Hawkins alike do not take long to point the finger at the long-haired, drug-dealing, two-time-flunking rocker. As for the motive, they needn’t look any further than his Hellfire Club, with a name and logo meant clearly to honor Satan.
The answers to common sense questions that would exclude Eddie as a suspect did not matter. The lack of blood at the crime scene, the multitude of broken bones, and the imprint on the ceiling all indicate that this was not the work of a teenage boy, and yet he appears to be the only suspect.
If any of this rings a bell, it was intended to. As confirmed by Netflix Geeked on Twitter, Eddie Munson is “loosely based” on an actual individual: the wrongfully convicted Damien Echols of the West Memphis 3, who infamously found himself up against Satanic Panic.
Who is Damien Echols?
For those unfamiliar with the case, Echols and two of his close friends were arrested, tried, and convicted for the horrific murder of three 8-year-old children in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993.
The case gathered nationwide attention and criticism because, as portrayed by the HBO documentary Paradise Lost, all three teenagers were convicted without a single shred of tangible evidence linking them to the crime.
Trial By Fire, Satan’s to Blame
Echols and company were tried in the court of public opinion before the murder trial ever began. Known for their all-black style and interest in bands like Metallica and Megadeath, the town in Arkansas very quickly accepted the finger pointed at the goth teens.
While most will assert that the crime scene does not suggest an occult-style killing whatsoever, Paradise Lostexhibited the State arguing otherwise. The fact that the killings happened on the night of a full moon, as well as the murders taking place days after the pagan holidays Beltane and Walpurgisnacht, were presented by the court to determine occult activity was the motivating factor.
Damien Echols rejected this idea himself, proclaiming that people would rather believe this to be the work of an evil satanist than to be a crime perpetrated by someone close to one of the victims (Paradise Lost 2).
After all, it is more comfortable an idea that monsters would adhere to a certain uniform. That way, society can tell who the monsters are by simply looking at them, and one couldn’t possibly be hiding amongst them in plain sight.
Pursuant Outrage
Upon the release of the documentary Paradise Lost, detailing the court proceedings and Damien Echols’ journey into the criminal justice system, large swaths of society were quickly outraged. Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, and Sir Peter Jackson were among the celebrities who came forward with an outpouring of support for Echols and his two friends.
Having an interest in the darker facets of life does not equate with being a murderer, and proving someone’s interest in magick is not proof of guilt. Furthermore, the police department proved negligent in collecting real evidence to secure their convictions for the crime. Despite all of this, all three defendants were found guilty.
There was nothing tangible that linked Echols to the murders. The state failed to prove its burden of motive or means as having an interest in Aleister Crowley is not cause for murder. Despite this, the state’s secured conviction of the goth troubled teen who doodled pentagrams made a loud and clear statement on how society viewed guilt:
If someone’s innocence is in question, look no further than the shirts they wear.
Nearly twenty years after their conviction, each member of the West Memphis 3 trio was released from prison on an Alford plea. This sort of plea amounts to a compromise in the legal justice system. It allowed them to proclaim their innocence while acknowledging that they’re still considered guilty.
Although it has been over ten years since his release, Damien Echols is still fighting today to prove his innocence once and for all.
“Welcome to Where Time Stands Still”
Between being hunted by Hawkins and plunged into the Upside Down, the plight of the Hellfire Club founder, Eddie Munson, is a suspenseful one. Will he join the ranks of those wrongfully convicted during Satanic Panic? Or will he find an even worse fate at the hands of season 4’s villain, Vecna? Only time will tell.
Editorials
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’: And the Impact of Slasher Sequel Trends

Legacy sequels are not a new invention in the horror genre. The 2020s have seen several horror legacy sequels keeping the same name as their predecessors and retconning the canon to revitalize the franchise for a new generation of movie-goers. We have seen this with the Halloween, Scream, Candyman, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchises. All of which kept the movie title of the original installment (minus the 2022 TCM movie, which dropped “The” and made “chainsaw” one word again) and removed nearly all installments after the first from the canon (minus Scream 2022, which is a continuation of Scream 4).
Slasher fanatics are getting a new legacy sequel with the fourth installment of I Know What You Did Last Summer (IKWYDLS) hitting theaters this July. So far, we know that there will be legacy cast members returning, and it is expected to be a direct sequel to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, according to Variety. Based on its horror franchise cohorts, here are my predictions for the new IKWYDLS movie.
Spoilers ahead for Halloween (2018), Candyman (2021), Scream (2022), and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022).
Legacy Cast Turned Harbingers
Legacy cast members are not being hunted down yet again, but they now offer knowledge and a warning to the new class of fresh meat. The previous survivors and final girls now evolve to a different horror movie trope: the harbingers.
We see this in a few movies. Laurie Strode warns her family in Halloween 2018. Dewey accurately predicts the killer to be Amber and Richie in Scream 2022. Anne-Marie discourages her son, Anthony, from uttering the word “Candyman” and reveals that the hooked-handed legend is the real danger in Nia DaCosta’s Candyman (2021).
The first trailer for the new IKWYDLS shows Ray urging officials in a town hall to take the events seriously. In the second trailer, Julie shares her final girl advice not to be a passive victim and identify possible motives to narrow down who the new deadly fisherman is. I am looking forward to seeing a seasoned Freddie Prinze Jr and Jennifer Love Hewitt reprise their roles and hopefully be engaging harbingers.
Previous Final Girl Becomes The Real Danger
In their role as a harbinger, the legacy final girl is back for blood. This is extensively shown in Halloween 2018 as Laurie Strode is now a firearms specialist and has designed her home to be a trap for Michael Myers. The sequence of her hunting for Michael in her house in the third act is unforgettable and bad ass. Sidney Prescott (and Gale Weathers) spoil Ghostface’s plan in Scream 2022 simply by showing up to the murder party.
Yes, Ghostface did want Sidney there, but they were very unprepared for how tactical she would be and not take the bait on tricks that a new slasher survivor would. Sidney was fine with shooting first and asking questions later!
Sally Hardesty (played by Owlen Fouere) makes her first return to the TCM franchise in the Netflix 2022 Texas Chainsaw Massacre legacy sequel. She has been trying to track down Leatherface and his family for decades, and finally gets her chance for revenge. An interesting take on what she has been up to for the past nearly 50 years.
Julie and Ray could be the power couple that the new survivors need. After all, they did evade and clumsily defeat Ben Willis in the 1997 movie. They made up for the clumsy execution with a more impressive effort in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer by Ray traveling to an island to fist fight the father-son duo while Julie unloaded a revolver into Ben Willis.
Both demonstrating they have learned from their first encounter with a murder and not taking second chances. I do not expect them to play the wait-and-see approach in the new movie.
The Legacy Death
What keeps horror hounds coming back to slasher franchises are the kills. Fans of slasher flicks want to see their beloved Michael Myers or Leatherface hack away at the youths who break horror movie rules. However, the shock and surprise come from meaningful deaths, and this does lead to fan favorites getting the axe (or chainsaw).
Dewey loses his plot armor in Scream 2022 as Ghostface recognizes, in a meta way, the importance of his death by saying “It’s an honor” as his corpse hits the floor. Sally finally finds her prey, only to receive a chainsaw in the abdomen and to be yeeted into a pile of garbage (I’m still salty about this). In Candyman, while he may not be considered part of the “legacy cast”, Anthony McCoy is still an important returning character. He meets his demise after William Burke saws off his hand, and the Chicago police later slay Anthony in a poignant scene. These deaths make the audience feel the gravity of the situation and fear what is now possible for the new cast.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer left us with three possible legacy characters returning: Julie, Ray, and Karla (played by Brandy). Trailers have not revealed a Brandy cameo, but it is not out of the question for her to return as the sacrificial legacy death. I personally believe there is a bigger chance for Ray to meet his end, similar to Dewey. While all filmmakers hope for audiences to fall in love with their new characters, any financial success will likely warrant a sequel that will need to feature Jennifer Love Hewitt to keep the slasher fans excited. Fingers crossed that Julie makes it out of her third run-in with the vengeful fisherman.
I Know What You Did Last Summer hits theaters July 18, and I’ll eagerly be seated to see what trends this new addition has to offer to the slasher legacy sequel canon.
Editorials
Finding Unexpected Empowerment in “Poor Things”

A young person, raised by a scientist and seemingly simple minded by design, discovers their inner hedonist. In their quest for pleasure, they leave their home and embark on misadventures involving sex, sugar, an abusive relationship, and various enlightenments, all before returning home to confront their past so that they may move towards their future. This is the streamlined arc for both Poor Things protagonist Bella Baxter and myself. When I saw Poor Things in theaters in January 2024, the only things I knew about the film were that Yorgos Lanthimos directed it and that the cast included Emma Stone, Ramy Youssef, and Willem Dafoe.
You can imagine my surprise when I not only felt the impact of Bella’s arc, but also felt seen and even empowered in a way that I rarely do as a queer disabled man.
Discovering Bella Baxter in Poor Things
Bella, an adult woman who exhibits childlike behavior, is under the care of scientist Godwin Baxter, who has taken on the role of her father figure. Conversations with his student Max reveals that Bella’s body is the resurrected corpse of a woman that Godwin discovered, while her brain had originally belonged to the child the woman had been pregnant with. It’s important to note that Godwin didn’t know the circumstances of the woman’s death before he pulled off this macabre miracle. More on that later.
Bella eventually has her first sexual experience through masturbation, is instantly hooked on the gratification she feels, and tries to achieve constant satisfaction proclaiming “Bella discover happy when she want.”. Those around her, such as Max and Godwin’s maid Prim, are less than elated about Bella’s newfound desires, but Bella shamelessly persists. Godwin, in response, decides to try to arrange a marriage between Bella and Max, with the condition that the pair live with him for the rest of his days. While Max agrees, Bella ultimately decides to leave their home in London to embark on a whirlwind affair with Godwin’s lawyer, Duncan Wedderburn. Duncan, enticed by the contradicting nature of Bella’s innocence and sexual hedonism, pursues and woos her with promises of worldliness and sex.
Subverting Disability Stereotypes
One of the most common stereotypes in media around disabled people is the belief that their disabilities render them either asexual or unable to obtain any type of sexual gratification at all. When one reads Bella as disabled-coded, as I do, she becomes one of the strongest subversions of the “disabled equals asexual” trope seen in recent, mainstream film history. A disabled-coded reading also makes Bella’s hypersexuality much less problematic than it would be if the character was only analyzed at a surface level. The juxtaposition of disability and hypersexuality is an aspect of Bella’s character that I greatly identify with.
In early childhood, I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and as an adult, I also tend to chase this type of gratification for the sake of leisurely pleasure or even as a way to cope with stress. With Duncan, Bella travels first to Lisbon, Portugal, where the two spend their time together having sex and eating exotic foods and sweets. Bella’s constant craving for more pleasure proves to be too much for Duncan, who grows to resent her as he is unable to keep up.
His resentment is compounded by Bella’s social ineptitude, as she repeatedly embarrasses him with several faux pas during a dinner party at their hotel. For example, after taking an extra moment to understand her female dinner mate’s sex joke, Bella makes a comment about the taste of Duncan’s penis. When Duncan reprimands her and restricts her to a few choice phrases, she describes the death of her dining companion’s relative as “delightful”; she later interrupts the dinner banter because she wants to “punch [a] baby” that’s annoying her.
Bella’s Misadventures with Duncan Wedderburn
Bella’s unfiltered comments and inappropriate responses are painfully reminiscent of my own past social failings, from remarks about my former partner’s genitals, to intrusive questions about the suicide of a classmate’s uncle, and finally to vocalized violent inclinations towards small, annoying children. Thankfully, like Bella, I was stopped before any harm could come to the younglings.
Despite their growing tensions, Bella and Duncan stay together, even as Bella goes on to binge alcohol and have sexual encounters with other men. Duncan eventually lures her out of Lisbon with a cruise to Athens, Greece. Bella is quite displeased with this change until she befriends two fellow patrons, Martha and Harry, who open her eyes to pursuits beyond her hedonism, and introduce her to philosophy and literature, irking Duncan.
Bella’s Intellectual and Emotional Growth in Poor Things
Bella embraces the intellectual stimulation presented to her, leading to a debate with Harry over humanity’s potential for cruelty in which Bella argues that humankind is not inherently cruel. Harry retaliates when the cruise docks by showing her the conditions that poor people must endure. Bella gives her and Duncan’s money to members of the ship’s crew with the (ultimately ignored) instruction to distribute it to the poor. The rash decision results in Bella and Duncan being left to fend for themselves in Paris. Bella, to Duncan’s outrage, finds work in a local brothel, a job that she views as merely a means to an end. She ends their relationship and gives him money to return to London. Bella continues life as a sex worker, taking on many lovers in the process, including a fellow sex worker named Antoinette.
The trajectory of Bella and Duncan’s relationship evokes a situationship I had years ago with an older man that would prove to be formative. Like Duncan, he presented himself as a mature man of many sexual interests that he would help me dip my toes into. And, like Duncan, he seemed to be attracted to me only when I was entirely compliant with his whims, and had an issue with me having friends and connections outside of him. I, like Bella, also managed to have a much larger libido than the supposedly adventurous gentleman, which amplified the tension as I was always wanting more. Finally, after ending this affair, I, like Bella, learned an important lesson or two and threw myself into my personal development and goals.
Returning Home and Facing the Past
Bella’s story eventually sees her return to London. She learns the truth about her origins and reconciles with Godwin, whose health is failing. She also meets Felicity—a “new Bella” that Godwin and Max created. This is a subplot that deeply resonates with me, specifically Godwin and Max’s treatment of Felicity in comparison to their treatment of Bella. Godwin doted on Bella and Max fell for her, whereas the pair grew frustrated with Felicity and essentially abandoned her to be cared for solely by Prim. It’s easy to view Bella and Felicity as higher and lower-functioning disabled people, with Bella as the preferable one because she can mask her symptoms better than Felicity can.
Several times, I have been in Bella’s position of being a preferable disabled person to interact with compared to others because of my higher functioning and less obvious presentation. I’ve even experienced this dynamic in my childhood with my sister having ADD and ADHD, which was deemed more draining for our parents compared to my own diagnosis. It’s been a journey to overcome the internalized ableism that these experiences created, but it’s one that I’m glad I’ve embarked on. Among other things, it makes Bella rightfully directing the disdain she has for Felicity towards Godwin and Max so much more satisfying, even if she does offer both men forgiveness.
Uncovering Bella’s Tragic Origins
In London, Bella learns that her body, pre-reanimation, had belonged to a sadistic woman named Victoria Blessington, who, along with her husband Alfie, abused their servants. Alfie informs Bella that Victoria died by suicide, likely due to her hatred of her unborn child, which she referred to as “the monster.” Alfie plots to imprison Bella and subject her to female genital mutilation. Bella ultimately escapes and takes Alfie back to Godwin’s home, where she performs her own surgery—one in which she replaces Alfie’s brain with a goat’s.
Although Godwin dies shortly after Bella’s return, Bella remains ever the optimist and becomes a scientist, following in Godwin’s footsteps. She builds a life with her chosen family, including Max and Antoinette as her partners, Felicity as her surrogate sister, and Prim and Alfie as her servant and pet, respectively. The film’s ending is not the traditional “Good For Her (™)” conclusion we tend to see, but rather a “Good For Bella” ending that empowers her, as a person, uniquely.
Bella Baxter’s Queer and Polyamorous Awakening
The conclusion of Poor Things brings home my feelings of kinship with Bella in two ways. The first being her completed arc from the cruel and hateful Victoria to the joyful and sincere Bella. When I was younger, I was definitely more Victoria than Bella; my younger self was a bully who enjoyed using my sharp tongue to bring others down as hard as I could. It was a lot of work to become a better person, one that I struggle to maintain from time to time. Like Bella, I have found kindness to be more rewarding than cruelty and wish to believe in the inherent joy in humanity.
The other way this conclusion resonates with me is through our—Bella’s and my own— late queer awakenings. For over half of the film, we have no indication that Bella is queer besides the likely unintentional hint of Bella rejecting Godwin and Max’s heteronormative ideals of marriage. We don’t see anything concrete until the montage of her sexual escapades in Paris, concluding with her and Antoinette having sex. It awakens Bella’s queerness in her adulthood to the point where she ends up in a throuple with Antoinette and Max, revealing that Bella is both queer and polyamorous. Similarly, I did not have my queer awakening until I was twenty, and I had my awakening as polyamorous only last year. Bella is a fictional character, but it is comforting to know that it is possible for others to have those awakenings occur later in life.
Embracing My Disabled and Queer Identity
When I look back at Poor Things, I see it as a messy and polarizing film by design. The questions of whether we should be offended, intrigued, or feel something else entirely regarding the plot of a woman being reanimated with her baby’s brain in place of her own and eventually embarking on a quest of hedonism are valid ones that do warrant discourse. I don’t resent those who are outraged by the film and detest the film’s critical success.
However, I can’t find myself outraged, especially when the film’s protagonist’s experiences mirror my own, with Bella becoming a comfort character to me as a result. In the time since my initial viewing of Poor Things, I have found so much more pride in being disabled and queer that I keep surprising myself. I used to be embarrassed to discuss my disability in any detail, because I feared that I would be treated differently or viewed as merely trying to excuse my own faults with my neurodivergence.
On the contrary, those who care about me now understand me better, and I have a film that I can point to for them to have a glimpse into my lived experience. I’ve even become more proud of my queerness to the point of going to my first Pride celebration last summer, as well as having an awakening in regards to my polyamory. I cannot begrudge a film like Poor Things for its messiness when it has empowered me so much in the way that it ultimately empowers its protagonist.