Here's to My Sweet Satan: How the Occult Haunted Music, Movies and Pop Culture, 1966-1980
by George Case
A sweeping and masterful cultural history, "Here's to My Sweet Satan" tells how the Occult conquered the American imagination, weaving together topics as diverse as the birth of heavy metal, 1970s horror films, the New Age movement, Count Chocula cereal, the serial killer Son of Sam, and more. Cultural critic George Case explores how the Occult craze permanently changed American society, creating the cultural framework for the political power of the religious right, false accusations of Satanic child abuse, and today's widespread rejection of science and rationality. An insightful blend of pop culture and social history, "Here's to My Sweet Satan" lucidly explains how the most technological society on earth became enthralled by the supernatural. AUTHOR: George Case is a writer on ideas and popular culture, and an acknowledged authority on the band Led Zeppelin. He is the author of "Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man," "Out of Our Heads: Rock 'n' Roll Before the Drugs Wore Off," "Led Zeppelin FAQ," "Calling Dr. Strangelove," and "Arcadia Borealis: Childhood and Youth in Northern Ontario." Case has also contributed several articles to the social science journal Skeptic.
Hardcover
English
Brand New
Author Biography
George Case is a writer on ideas and popular culture, and an acknowledged authority on the band Led Zeppelin. He is the author of Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man, Out of Our Heads: Rock n' Roll Before the Drugs Wore Off, Led Zeppelin FAQ, Calling Dr. Strangelove, and Arcadia Borealis: Childhood and Youth in Northern Ontario. Case has also contributed several articles to the social science journal Skeptic.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Return of the Repressed 1) Diabolus in Musica 2) Bad Words 3) Sin Cinema 4) Little Devils 5) Stranger Than Science 6 Devil in the Flesh 7) World of Wonders
Review
"If you think belief in the occult and supernatural faded in the late 17th century after the murderous Salem Witch Trials, think again. America went through a second wave of paranormal beliefs in the late 20th century, resulting in disastrous moral panics over Satanic cults and recovered memories of sexual abuse. Beliefs have consequences and George Case has documented this period in exquisite detail and compelling prose, the best book I've read all year." -- Michael Shermer, Publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for Scientific American, author of "Why People Believe Weird Things & the Moral Arc"
Review Quote
"Thoroughly researched ... well-written ... extremely pleasurable to read ... Here's to My Sweet Satan cuts deeply into the pop fascination with the occult with an unblinking stare and a very sharp knife." -- Cemetery Dance
Competing Titles
978-0399161902 (Tarcher)Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World$17.952014Description: "Aleister Crowley" traces the life and work on Occult figure Aleister Crowley and his influence on the band Led Zeppelin. While "Here's to My Sweet Satan" also explores the connection between Crowley and Led Zeppelin, the latter book presents a much broader scope of ties between the Occult, rock music, and pop culture.978-1578635603 (Weiser Books)Vampires Are Us: Understanding Our Love Affair with the Immortal Dark Side$18.952014Description: "Vampires Are Us" is a cultural study of the persistent fascination with vampires in the pop culture of the 21st century. While it is a cultural study of the intersection of pop culture and the Occult, it does not have the breadth of scope of "Here's to My Sweet Satan."
Description for Sales People
Key Selling Points:1. Hugely entertaining look at the stranger aspects of pop culture during the 1960s and 1970s.2. Uncovers the secret origins of and connections between heavy metal, supernatural horror movies and books, Scooby-Doo cartoons, Dungeons & Dragons, the Church of Satan, the Charles Manson family, and numerous other pop culture phenomena.3. First book to explore how the 1960s/1970s occult fad permanently changed popular culture and still influences how we think today.Key Book Benefits:1. The book provides an in-depth cultural history of how occult themes came to dominate several areas of popular culture in the 1960s and 1970s.2. The book traces occult-themed influences and connections between rock music, films, books, television, cults, and other pop cultural products of the period.3. The book explains how the occult themes developed in pop culture in the 1960s and 1970s still influence culture, politics, and law enforcement today.
Details
