Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions and the Media

Bill Ellis, University Press of Kentucky, 2000.

Bill Ellis describes himself as “a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America” and, moreover, someone “who has taken leadership positions and on occasion taught adult Sunday school and led services [Raising the Devil pxii].” Notwithstanding this claim, when contacted the ELCA stated that they had no knowledge of Bill Ellis and “cannot confirm whether he is a member of the ELCA or one of the other Lutheran bodies.” Ellis is, however, an associate professor of Anglo-American Studies at Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is also a member of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research. For the “Evangelical Lutheran” Ellis, exorcism is “a means of temporarily inducing an alternative personality … beneficial to some persons for whom conventional psychological or psychiatric therapy fails [Raising the Devil p282].” For Bishop Seán Manchester, against whom aspersions are aplenty [Raising the Devil p238], exorcism is the act of casting out demons (Mark 16: 17). It is not alternative therapy for failed psychology. Bishop Manchester has specialised for much of his life in the ministry of exorcism, opposing satanic cults and their rising influence, and is today the bishop of an autocephalous jurisdiction within the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. A recommendation of his work in this ministry may be found in the Reverend Kevin Logan’s Satanism and the Occult (Kingsway, 1994, p163). He has also contributed to television and radio programmes, including many documentaries, for in excess of three decades; and is still consulted for television documentary projects concerned with supernaturalism, demonology and the occult. The target of Ellis’ pen is himself the author of several books that cover these topics.

Click on the picture of Bill Ellis' book Raising the Devil (top of page) to read a critcial review by the person who was at the heart of the Highgate Vampire investigation. Click on the Devil (immediately above) to comment about the chapter titled "The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt" in Raising the Devil.