“I am your nightmare,” a possessed child tells Russell Crowe. “My nightmare is France winning the World Cup,” the actor fires back in the April 14 release, The Pope’s Exorcist. Opening the same day is Nefarious, a movie about a psychiatrist who must determine whether a man on death row who claims to be possessed by the devil is mentally fit enough to be executed. In November, 2021, Pew Research reported that 62 percent of American adults believe in Hell, up from 58 percent in 2014, and pop culture appears to be taking full advantage of the curiosity that surrounds Hell and its inhabitants. The Devil is front and center in movies, TV shows, podcasts and even children’s books. There are Satan After School Clubs, while the proliferating Satanist groups have their own political divisions. Not since 1973, when The Exorcist was a cultural phenomenon on its way to becoming the first horror film to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture has Satan been such a popular topic. There’s even a Children’s Book of Demons; sample passage: “Summoning demons has never been so fun!” A used copy of the controversial book published in 2019 sells for $253 on Amazon.com as more Americans are opening the door for Satan to enter their lives. Exorcisms are way up, and so is interest in them… (READ MORE)

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