History Main / HollywoodSatanism

* One of the most famous books in the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' series was ''House of Hell'', where the antagonists were a cult like this. (And a ''very'' unsubtle one at that.)

* ''Film/EyeOfTheDevil'' is a pretty standard instance of this trope, with a SecretCircleOfSecrets, evil magic, and HumanSacrifice. It turns out that the ''entire town'' (a small French village) is full of Satanists, who meet in black mass and occasionally perform human sacrifices when the town vineyard fails.

* In ''Film/{{Spawn}}'', a trio of "weekend Satanists" bump into Spawn and Clown (a.k.a. Violator) and completely freak out when faced with Spawn's transformation, much to Clown's disgust.

[[caption-width-right:325:[[http://americanvendetta.deviantart.com/art/Posh-Satanic-Ritual-338013432 Artwork]] by [[http://americanvendetta.deviantart.com/ americanvendetta]].]]

You know you're looking at Hollywood Satanism when you see Satanism portrayed as a ReligionOfEvil with bizarre, often [[{{squick}} disgusting]] rituals parodying Christian services and a particular fondness for [[HumanSacrifice human sacrifice]] and/or sex orgies. Common hobbies of the Hollywood Satanist include [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals sacrificing people's cats]], slipping [[SubliminalSeduction backmasked messages]] into popular music to corrupt the youth, and engaging in carefully-calculated [[TakeOverTheWorld world-domination schemes]] that have been in the works since the [[AncientConspiracy beginning of time]] (which usually involve breeding {{The Antichrist}} -- extra points if he's [[{{Ghostapo}} Aryan]]!).

RealLife Satanism can be divided into two categories. One of them, sometimes called "[=LaVeyan=] Satanism" after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey one of its more famous figures]], doesn't believe in Satan as a physical entity, and instead refers to him as a symbol for freedom to [[UsefulNotes/EthicalHedonism follow your own desires]] and/or for [[RebelLeader fighting]] [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters against]] [[GodIsEvil tyranny]]. The other one, which is called "Theistic Satanism", [[SatanIsGood worships or reveres Satan as a deity]]. Both of them, generally speaking, view Christian morality as self-destructive for both individuals and society. It's a religion whose followers, generally speaking, are no more or less likely to be evil than the followers of any other religion, [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad though their sense of what constitutes right and wrong is]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality likely to veer far from the mainstream]]. In reality, it is more akin to the Pagan religions of old, their primary belief being that Satan and the demons are a corruption of the old [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Mesopotamian,]] [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian,]] and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greco-Roman]] gods. And no, human sacrifice is not a widely accepted practice in most branches (though ''symbolic'' sacrifices maybe -- but that isn't so different from the Christian Communion, which is itself a symbolic sacrifice of the body and blood of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}).

* Used in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': it's mentioned that many cultists don't actually know what they're doing, merely enacting rituals from what they've seen in [[HoldYourHippogriffs scary holos]] and [[RuleOfCool whatever sounds cool]], and thus totally fail to summon daemons. On occasion, however, some of them succeed... [[GoneHorriblyRight if they're very unlucky.]]

* The Dragonfall campaign of ''Videogame/ShadowrunReturns'' features the cult Glory escaped from, which was dedicated to the worship of the 'Horned Man', an aspect of the Adversary mentor spirit. Normally the spirit in question simply represents opposition to the established order and isn't inherently evil, but in the toxic form that this cult follows, it amounts to the ugliest form of Satan worship, and the cult leader Harrow and his followers are shown happily indulging in human sacrifice, brain washing and orgies.

RealLife Satanism can be divided into two categories. One of them, sometimes called "[=LaVeyan=] Satanism" after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey one of its more famous figures]], doesn't believe in Satan as a physical entity, and instead refers to him as a symbol for freedom to [[UsefulNotes/EthicalHedonism follow your own desires]] and/or for [[RebelLeader fighting]] [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters against]] [[GodIsEvil tyranny]]. The other one, which is called "Theistic Satanism", [[SatanIsGood worships or reveres Satan as a deity]]. Both of them, generally speaking, view Christian morality as self-destructive for both individuals and society. It's a religion whose followers, generally speaking, are no more or less likely to be evil than the followers of any other religion, [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad though their sense of what constitutes right and wrong is]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality likely to veer far from the mainstream]]. In reality, it is more akin to the Pagan religions of old, their primary belief being that Satan and the demons are a corruption of the old [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Mesopotamian,]] [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian,]] and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greco-Roman]] gods. And no, human sacrifice is not a widely accepted practice in most branches (though ''symbolic'' sacrifices maybe -- but that is NotSoDifferent from the Christian Communion, which is itself a symbolic sacrifice of the body and blood of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}).

* The main villains in ''Film/DriveAngry'' are this. Oddly enough, though, [[spoiler: the actual minion of Satan, who is there to take the protagonist back to Hell, isn't really shown to be all that bad in this movie, and says that the devil does not approve of the cult.]]

RealLife Satanism can be divided into two categories. One of them, sometimes called "[=LaVeyan=] Satanism" after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey one of its more famous figures]], doesn't believe in Satan as a physical entity, and instead refers to him as a symbol for freedom to [[UsefulNotes/EthicalHedonism follow your own desires]] and/or for [[RebelLeader fighting]] [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters against]] [[GodIsEvil tyranny]]. The other one, which is called "Theistic Satanism", [[SatanIsGood worships or reveres Satan as a deity]]. Both of them, generally speaking, view Christian morality as self-destructive for both individuals and society. It's a religion whose followers, generally speaking, are no more or less likely to be evil than the followers of any other religion, [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad though their sense of what constitutes right and wrong is]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality likely to veer far from the mainstream]]. In reality, it is more akin to the Pagan religions of old, their primary belief being that Satan and the demons are a corruption of the old [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Mesopotamian,]] [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian,]] and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek and Roman]] gods. And no, human sacrifice is not a widely accepted practice in most branches (though ''symbolic'' sacrifices may be -- but that is NotSoDifferent from the Christian Communion, which is itself a symbolic sacrifice of the body and blood of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}).

* ''Ape and Essence'' by Aldous Huxley has literal Hollywood Satanism, with the worship of Belial in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalytic]] CrapsackWorld Southern California presented in the framing story as the unfilmable opus of a Hollywood screenwriter. Sex orgies, HumanSacrifice and intense misogyny are involved.

* Blaze Stalker, the BigBad of the old 90s game ''VideoGame/BlackstarAgentOfJustice''. He's very much an individual version of this trope, runs a SnuffFilm ring that targets hookers, and was responsible for the murder of both of Blackstar's parents, his father to get at his mother, and his mother to fulfill some sick lust and desire for power.

* The Dragonfall campaign of ''Videogame/ShadowrunReturns'' features the cult Glory escaped from, which was dedicated to the worship of the 'Horned Man', an aspect of the Adversary mentor spirit. Normally the spirit in question simply represents opposition to the established order and isn't inherently evil, but in the toxic form this cult follows it amounts to the ugliest form of Satan worship, and the cult leader Harrow and his followers are shown happily indulging in human sacrifice, brain washing and orgies.

Hollywood Satanism [[OlderThanTheyThink actually goes back to Medieval Europe]], when it was believed that witches made a DealWithTheDevil to gain their power and engaged in rituals intended to mock Christianity just for the heck of it. Basically, it was thought that Satanism ([[NewerThanTheyThink which didn't actually exist at that point]]) was essentially reverse Christianity, and the idea stuck. ''Film/RosemarysBaby'' gave it a shot in the arm in the 60's, and during the 70's-90's the [[WitchHunt Satanic]] [[EveryoneIsSatanInHell Panic]] ensured that many of the tropes associated with it became ingrained in the public consciousness.

You know you're looking at Hollywood Satanism when you see Satanism portrayed as a ReligionOfEvil with bizarre, often [[{{squick}} disgusting]] rituals parodying Christian services and a particular fondness for [[HumanSacrifice human sacrifice]] and/or sex orgies. Common hobbies of the Hollywood Satanist include [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals sacrificing cats]], slipping [[SubliminalSeduction backmasked messages]] into popular music to corrupt the youth, and engaging in carefully-calculated [[TakeOverTheWorld world-domination schemes]] that have been in the works since the [[AncientConspiracy beginning of time]] (which usually involve breeding {{The Antichrist}} -- extra points if he's [[{{Ghostapo}} Aryan]]!).

You know you're looking at Hollywood Satanism when you see Satanism portrayed as a ReligionOfEvil with bizarre, often [[{{squick}} disgusting]] rituals parodying Christian services and a particular fondness for [[HumanSacrifice human sacrifice]] and/or sex orgies. Common hobbies of the Hollywood Satanist include [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals sacrificing your cat]], slipping [[SubliminalSeduction backmasked messages]] into popular music to corrupt the youth, and engaging in carefully-calculated [[TakeOverTheWorld world-domination schemes]] that have been in the works since the [[AncientConspiracy beginning of time]] (which usually involve breeding {{The Antichrist}} -- extra points if he's [[{{Ghostapo}} Aryan]]!).

-->-- "Real Life Satanists," in Website/TheEditingRoom's abridged script of ''Annabelle''.

[[folder:Other]]
* The [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories conspiracy theories]] associated with the [[WitchHunt Satanic Panic]], full stop.
* [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2986101/The-blood-pumped-beating-heart-purest-form-energy-Inside-horrific-Mexican-satanist-Black-Mass-shocked-disgusted-tourists-witnessing-dark-deals-devil.html This article]] proves that at the very least, a few (keyword being a few) Satanist branches do adhere to some of the Hollywood stereotypes.
* Serial killer Richard Ramirez a.k.a The Night Stalker claimed to be a Satanist and forced victims to swear by Satan when robbing them.
* Some Neo-Nazi groups engage in Satanic worship that resembles this trope and is likely influenced by it. The motivation here is that if you really hate Jewish people, then why not worship the enemy of their God?
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais Gilles de Rais]] was infamously accused of killing children for satanic rituals. Whether or not these charges are true is debatable. If so, it's probable any "religion" was nonexistent, or his alone.
[[/folder]]

* On ''Series/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'', all witches worship {{Satan}} (also referred to as the Dark Lord). On their [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday sixteenth birthday]], witches have a "dark baptism" in which they sign their names into the Dark Lord's ''Book of the Beast''. Because of their service to the Dark Lord, witches do not go to hell. Another ritual, the Feast of Feasts, includes a randomly selected witch being [[HumanSacrifice sacrificed]] and [[ImAHumanitarian eaten]]. They do pay lip service to the beliefs of real life Satanism when Sabrina questions pledging herself to the personification of evil and the High Priest tells her that the Dark Lord is actually the personification of free will. Subsequent episodes make it clear that Satan is a very real figure and the Church of the Night is actually far more restrictive of its members' free will than Father Blackwood indicated.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais Gilles de Rais]] was infamously accused of killing children for satanic rituals. Whether or not these charges are true is debatable.

* The optional "Lucifer's Own" secret society in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' [[CardCarryingVillain gleefully]] serves Satan, granting its members [[BlackMagic unmatched dark powers]] in exchange for plentiful HumanSacrifice.

* ''Film/WeSummonTheDarkness" uses this InUniverse [[spoiler:as a decoy. The girls are actually KnightTemplar evangelical Christians who stage their murders as deliberately stereotypical Satanic rituals, to create hysteria and drive people to join their church.]]

* ''Film/HellHouseLLCIITheAbaddonHotel'' [[spoiler: The former owner of the Abaddon Hotel, Andrew Tully, is the head of one that sacrificed hotel guests and eventually themselves to get into the Lake of Fire. After the events of Film/HellHouseLLC the hotel has started luring in additional victims.]]

* ''Film/WeSummonTheDarkness" uses this InUniverse [[spoiler:as a decoy. The girls are actually KnightTemplar evangelical Christians who stage their murders as deliberately stereotypical satanic rituals, to create hysteria and drive people to join their church.]]
* ''Film/TheBabysitter'': Bee and her friends are members of a cult trying to make a Deal with the Devil.