Whisper Down the Lane, Clay Chapman [best short books to read txt] 📗

Richard Beck (PublicAffairs, 2015).

Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend by Jeffrey S. Victor (Open Court, 1993).

Remembering Satan: A Tragic Case of Recovered Memory by Lawrence Wright (Vintage, 1994).

Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s edited by Kier-La Janisse and Paul Corupe, Spectacular Optical, 2015.

Michelle Remembers by Michelle Smith and Lawrence Pazder, M.D. (Pocket Books, 1980).

Humblest apologies to William Peter Blatty, Dan Chaon, Roland Topor, and Ira Levin for their inspirational masterworks. Please forgive me my satanic panic fan fic.

To Chris Steib for being my first-responder read. To Andrew Shaffer for giving me that idea.

To my high priestess, Jhanteigh Kupihea, and the team at Quirk Books: Nicole De Jackmo, Christina Tatulli, Katherine McGuire, Rebecca Gyllenhaal, Jaime-Lee Nardone, Jane Morley, Kate Brown, Jen Murphy, Mandy Dunn Sampson, Megan DiPasquale, Kate McGuire, Molly Rose Murphy, Shaquona Crews, Brett Cohen, David Borgenicht, and everyone else (you too, Ivy)…thank you for your trust, your faith, to tell the stories that I want to tell and believing in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.

To Dillon Asher and Nick McCabe and everyone at the Gotham Group, thank you for always fighting to find a home for my stories. You too, Eddie Gamarra, wherever you roam.

To Judith Karfiol for being the pit bull of my heart, always standing up for me and protecting me.

To Indrani Sen for the most loving of all papercuts.

To my sons, who I pray never read this. Ever.

To Sue. To Joe. To Henry. To Donny.

To my family and my friends.

To you. Thank you for reading.

READING GROUP GUIDE

Whisper Down the Lane is based on a true-crime event known as the McMartin preschool trial, which kicked off the Satanic Panic era of the 1980s. If you’re familiar with the event, how did you see it reflected in this novel?

Storytelling and memory are two important themes in Whisper Down the Lane. What do you think the book is ultimately trying to convey about the act of storytelling and recounting history?

There are many parallels between Richard’s and Sean’s storylines. Which ones stood out to you, and why?

Chapman connects the anxiety parents felt during the Satanic Panic to the anxiety parents feel today. How did you respond to this comparison? Do you agree or disagree with it?

There are many Easter egg references to classic horror novels and movies sprinkled throughout the book. Which ones did you catch? What do you think Chapman is trying to convey with these references?

Richard’s storyline is told from the first-person point of view, and Sean’s is told from the third-person point of view. Why do you think Chapman made this choice? How did this impact your perception of each character?

Sean tells his initial lie because he thinks it’s what his mother wants to hear. What did you think about this explanation? Did your opinion change once it became clear Richard was narrating Sean’s story?

At times, Richard wonders if he was responsible for the incidents at the Danvers School. Why do you think he suspected himself? Did it make you reconsider Richard’s version of his own story?

The letter at the end of the novel gives an explanation for the events we’ve witnessed in Richard’s storyline. Do you sympathize with this explanation? Do you question it?

Discuss this novel in the context of other novels, movies, and TV shows about mass hysteria and large-scale conspiracies. How is Chapman’s depiction of this phenomenon similar or different to other pop culture depictions? Do you think it was successful in conveying how and why people get swept up in conspiracy theories?

DON’T PANIC!

Your Friendly Satanic Panic Reading and Viewing List, Annotated by Clay McLeod Chapman NONFICTION

We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s

by Richard Beck (PublicAffairs, 2015)

The most humane exploration of paranoia I’ve ever read. Beck’s book is an absolute must.

Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend

by Jeffrey S. Victor (Open Court, 1993)

An expansive, near exhaustive look at the ripple effect of paranoia throughout the United States.

Michelle Remembers

by Michelle Smith and Lawrence Pazder, M.D. (Pocket Books, 1980)

The controversial best seller that kick-started it all…Is it fact? Fiction? Only the devil knows. FICTION

The Exorcist

by William Peter Blatty (Harper & Row, 1971)

The gold standard of good versus evil.

The Tenant (Le Locataire chimérique)

by Roland Topor (Buchet/Castel, 1964)

Not particularly satanic in its panic per se, but this novel’s look at paranoia makes it a must-read.

Rosemary’s Baby

by Ira Levin (Random House, 1967)

The slow-burn suffocation of poor Rosemary wandering into the clutches of Satan can’t be beat. FILM

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (1996)

Vexing and heartbreaking, Berlinger and Sinofsky’s film sets the template for true crime docs to come.

Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground

hosted by Geraldo Rivera (1988)

Just when you think it can’t be true, that none of this Satanic Panic malarky really happened…

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Tenant (1976)

directed by Roman Polanski

Read the novels first, then see how Polanski perverted the paranoia even further with his fish-eye lens. Throw in his 1965 film Repulsion for safe measure and make it the holy trinity of cinematic depravity.

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