Flashback - One Halloween Night on the Oregon Coast

“You have no idea what you are getting yourself into. Even if you are armed, these people can do things that you can’t deal with.” - New York criminologist

(LINCOLN CITY) - When I began my first reporting job I was busy learning everything I possibly could about reporting, anchoring, and the thousands of things that go along with conveying information for a living. That first job was at a cable TV station in Lincoln City, Oregon called TV10. The station is long gone but the spirit of it lives on in the hearts of those of us who were a part of it.

One of the first things that I had to do after becoming the station’s evening anchor was to branch out and get to know people. My General Manager, station owner Roger Robertson of Lincoln City, asked me to join the local Noon Kiwanis Club. At the age of 24, I was the youngest person in the group by twenty full years.

I became friends with a local police officer in the group named Dale who was a former Marine. I also served in the Marine Corps, but a few years after Dale whose service included a combat tour in Vietnam. One of Dale’s specialties was crime dealing with the occult. The department had designated him as the officer who traveled to law enforcement seminars and informational events to learn about this specialized and often bizarre side of life because evidence of satanic worship was frequently located at that time in some of the back areas around Devil’s Lake, so aptly named.

These signs were not just the designs on the ground and signs of fire and other rituals, they sometimes included the remains of animals that had been sacrificed. Needless to say, the biggest concern of local law enforcement was coming upon remains that were not just animals.

Dale thought that he knew where the big satanic ceremony was going to be held that Halloween night in 1988, the evening is a big event for devil worshippers, and we created a plan to approach the satanic ritual by boat and videotape it, along with the participants, many of whom were rumored to be high level local business people.

The day passed and it was a typical, uneventful prelude to trick or treat night. I was excited and a little nervous. In the process of preparation for this bold plan I did as much of my own occult crime research as I could. I ended up on the phone with a criminologist in New York who works closely with the subject.

His advice was for both Dale and I to avoid the area entirely. His quote was, “You have no idea what you are getting yourself into. Even if you are armed, these people can do things that you can’t deal with.” That kind of left us feeling defenseless, so we decided to ignore the advice and move forward with our plans. This meant having a boat and all of the equipment ready for a prompt launch at a specific hour, which I believe was 8:00 PM.

The uneventful side of the day changed dramatically when a report came across the scanners about a fatal crash on East Devils Lake Road. The factory outlet center in Lincoln City was then a natural wetland, and construction on the project had been underway a short time. Two young men from McMinnville who were from the job site had just left eastbound on the lake road when they lost control in a turn and crashed. The driver was nearly decapitated.

So I shot video of the crash and ran back to the station to put it on and remind everyone to drive safely with the little children present, and then I went through the post scene emotions that we all experience when working around fatal incidents. I was pretty new at it back then.

Soon the hour was nearing for Dale and I to rendezvous and at roughly 20-minutes before the hour, I met him at Devils Lake. Now you are going to believe this or not but it is true; just as we were preparing for our evening a breeze off the lake quickly became a strong wind and an until-then calm night was now starting to sweep the lake in torrents. “We’ll just wait it out for a little while” Dale said, but it didn’t look good and the wind only increased.

We both knew that launching the small craft was worse than taking our lives in our hands. It simply wasn’t big enough, and then the lake started showing whitecaps and we were out of business. It was like a force of nature didn’t want us to witness the event.

I looked back at the advice of the criminologist in New York and then it dawned on me that maybe something big and dark did keep us away that night. I guess the only solace would be that the downpour soon followed and the devil worshippers without a doubt were rained out.

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stephen October 31, 2009 5:59 pm (Pacific time)

and I get called a weirdo cause I believe 911 was done by the CIA and the Mossad. lol :-) Seriously tho. Why do people take these isolated instances and make a big deal out of them when the same evil is in our government. bush, clinton, and obama included. Its time to grow up, and learn and make decisions. AND TURN OFF YOUR TV!!!!

Mike H. October 31, 2009 1:28 pm (Pacific time)

Is there going to be an article about what happened at the church? Being from Salem, I'm naturally curious as to what is going on around me. Hopefully an article comes out.

Osotan; October 31, 2009 12:02 pm (Pacific time)

Tim, it's obvious to me you missed it, always remember; "the devil's in the detail!", clever eh?.,humor or what?, even fundamentilist pentacostals and pagans alike can chuckle at this one! Meant only as a play on words folks.,take it easy and twist one, if you have a medical marijuana certificate of course.,if not., twist one anyway, there's enough trouble on the planet.,and don't forget to inhale!,get the munchies and order a bucket of KFC krunchy!Tim,stay away from bbq's till full moon cycle rotates thru, and the rest of you read your almanacs w/a pinch of salt. Have a great party this halloween!

Nikki Wilson September 25, 2009 10:14 am (Pacific time)

I know there has been alot of talk of people taking offense at this artical I just wanted to say that there is a big difference between Satanism and Devil Worship, and no I'm not into either I just like researching different faiths.

From Lincoln County January 10, 2009 1:21 am (Pacific time)

Brenda was murdered over money and drugs Harold Lee was involved and never charged there is no justice in Lincoln County the guy serving time didn't kill her for satan they all killed her for love of drugs

DA November 1, 2007 5:09 am (Pacific time)

Reading this brings back memories of calls to police dispatch regarding Jory Hill Park in South Salem back in about 1989-1990. Sometimes people would want to go to the park only to find the lot full of cars and what usually sounded like a large crowd of people chanting up on the hill, hidden from view. This came to a head one day when a young couple went to the park only to hear the same kind of chanting. This time though, the male driver spotted 2-3 males armed with assault weapons moving silently but quickly through the parking lot between the parked cars toward he and his girlfriend's car. He got them out of there ASAP with the 'guards' still coming toward them without a word. A few minutes later, he was talking with me on 9-1-1. We only took the calls and transferred them to Marion County. A talk with one of their dispatchers revealed devil worshippers regularly commandeering the public park for their ceremonies. This has been going on for years, I was told. The Sheriff's Office took these calls very seriously, but I always got the impression they didn't hurry right over - Sounded to me as if they were out-manned as well as out-gunned. I don't recall taking any more calls after the assault rifle report. I was also told some of the participants were reportedly very highly placed in government as well as local business. Nice.

Neal Feldman November 1, 2007 12:20 am (Pacific time)

Wow... interesting story but I found most interesting the ridiculously thin skinned rants by self proclaimed Wiccans. As Tim said (and yes I know this was from last year) he did differentiate and specified satanists not Wiccans.. not even pagans or neopagans. As a Wiccan myself I find nothing in the article to be offended by and in fact the end events could be chalked up to 'God' disrupting the satanic event, to the satanists actually having the ability to deter the attempt at filming (in such case they would have been shielded themselves), or most likely sheer coincidence. Either way it makes for an interesting story but an attack against Wiccans or the Wicca faith (or anything other than criminal satanic ritualistic activities)? Not at all by any sane or reasonable standard. These 'Wiccans' seem to be the same kind who file defamation lawsuits because some neighbor dressed up as a witch for Halloween with a wart on the chin. Oh please get a grip and then a much thicker skin. You make the rest of us look like twits. Ah well...

Ominous December 17, 2006 12:01 pm (Pacific time)

I had no idea occultism was so well received in this town. I am an Occultist and most of what is publicly known about the "occult" and our practices is grossly misUNDERstood and greatly OVER-fantasized.

Anonymous October 26, 2006 10:22 am (Pacific time)

Here is another one of Tim's stories on the paranormal... http://salem-news.com/articles/october252006/klyc_ghost_102506.php

Tim King October 26, 2006 10:20 am (Pacific time)

A.C. Aldag, I encourage you to share more if you think we can help. It would be a fantastic time to add clarity to what is what. If we could help, we would be glad. As you mentioned, we are regulars on the Google national news feed and many others as well. I encourage you to send something that details these problems in an effort to educate people. If it works, then we can publish it as one of our stories. Please email me at tim@salem-news.com

A.C. Aldag October 26, 2006 7:58 am (Pacific time)

Mr. King, Yes, people who have to repeatedly struggle with their local governments, law enforcement, the press, the schools, and others who should enforce basic human rights as a matter of course can get a bit "bitter". Our people are subject to more hate crimes than any other group, and it's because of misinformation and association with negative practices -- which we do not do. Yes, I kill "helpless" animals -- for FOOD. Unless you are a vegetarian, so do you! Otherwise, we are a peaceful group of folks, who only wish parity. We wish to wear our sacred emblems, including the pentacle -- also wrongfully associated with Satanism. Mostly by well-meaning members of the press. A young lady named Chrystal Seifferly wore hers to school, was accused of Satanism. Other students bullied her, in some instances encouraged by teachers.

Tim King October 25, 2006 11:13 pm (Pacific time)

OK Maria, fair enough. Devils Lake is a beautiful body of water that is about four miles long and a mile wide at it's widest point. It is connected to the ocean interestingly, by the world's shortest river, the "D River." I think the examination of paranoia associated with this subject could begin with the town's apparent desire to take "devil" out of the name and replace it with a letter.

India lore has it that a monster lives in the lake. Their apparent right of passage involved swimming the lake at night. If you made it, I guess you passed, and if you drowned after suffering hypothermia, then the monster got you, something like that.

In the late 1980's on this section of the Oregon coast, police were finding an increasing number of sites that contained some remnant of a deceased animal and other evidence that led them to believe they were dealing with satanists. I recall Sweet Home, Oregon having a connection with all of it. There were also a number of missing/runaway youth who police suspected were tied into it somehow.

I never picked this one up again after Dale and I bailed over the bad weather. In my heart that's all I think it was, but it was a hell of a strange thing, pardon the pun.

About two years after this, a really pretty young mom named Brenda Lee Embry who worked as a waitress at the Sea Hag in Depoe Bay, Oregon disappeared. She was killed on a night that is supposed to be significant to satanists, her eyes were gouged out, her body was tossed from the Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport, Oregon, and the murderer who was later caught, called Brenda's mom just after killing her to say "Look over the bridge for your daughter" or something to that effect.

So here is where my feelings tie into this; this guy was a self-described satanist and I absolutely hated him for it and I still do. I didn't know Brenda but I felt like I did before it was all over.

These characters can say and write whatever they want in defense of anything, but that satanic crap led to at least one very painful death of a young woman on the Oregon coast who then left her little kids behind.

That would be about it for me on this subject. I left the area in '95 and went to work for network affiliate TV stations in the Southwest, namely Yuma, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, then returned seven years later.

I've run into all kinds of bizarre and almost indescribable crimes in my career and nothing suprises me too much. Tonight we had a guy bust into a church in Salem, Oregon with several hundred people inside and light the place, and people, on fire. That story is developing as I write this.

Maria, I hope that sheds some more light on this. I don't embellish when I write, and I only know what I know. As to a connection between the people my friend and I were trying to tape, and the murder of Brenda Lee Embry, I again don't know for sure, but it would not surprise me if a connection existed.

Maria Meyer October 25, 2006 11:00 pm (Pacific time)

I was'nt intending to join in on the "witch hunt" as you put it, I honestly want to know if you ever found out if anything did happen that night. And I do think it would have made the article sound better if you had given us a little more history on Dale (not his name but how many such incidents he had investigated),the experts credentials and a little more history on the area. As for my comment about making a distinction between Satanic beliefs and those of we Pagan and Wiccans, it comes from the fact that there are far too many people in this world that think that they are one and the same.

Kevin Miles (Ansuz) October 25, 2006 9:23 pm (Pacific time)

OK, so... When do we get to the good part? I have all of my goodies ready, Popcorn Popped, buttered, salted. And big ole diet Coke! mmmmm Blessed Samhain :)

Tim King October 25, 2006 9:01 pm (Pacific time)

Wow, I am humbled by the massive response to this story. First, I did not mean to offend anyone. A.C. Aldag sums it up in sort of a cheap way but it is accurate; I am just relaying a story from my life because it is that time of year again. Sorry that offends many of you, but this is when mainstream America wants to hear this kind of stuff.

I never, never made any reference to witches or anything wiccan at all. I was careful not to, yet still paid the price with all of you for having done so it seems. I suppose you wanted that in there the first time, I didn't see the importance of it. Again, A.C. Aldag probably has me fair to rights on that. When I write about the military or general news, I am far more knowledgable than I am on this subject. Yet I don't recall casting myself as any kind of expert.

I find it terribly ironic that I am the one at the lonely end of a seeming witch hunt. I think you all take it all far too seriously.

I did not disclose my "buddy Dale's" last name or anything else because that too is not part of the story. As far as the gentleman that I spoke to in New York, I may have his name, somewhere in my records from those years, but I would not disclose it either if I did. That man spoke to me about something that he took very seriously.

I'm trying to keep a straight face through all of this and having a difficult time. As far as permission to videotape devil worshippers on the lake bank, you need to remember that we live in the United States and we have something called public property. That means that as a journalist, which A.C. Aldag also uses as a description, I don't need anyone's permission to videotape anything unless it is on private property. I would think anyone in the field would know that.

You are all certainly an interesting and entertaining crowd, but bitterness seems to flow a little too freely. My friends who practice the Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish faiths are often peaceful, decent and loving people. Then I have friends who are wiccan and they are really cool level people also. But I don't have any devil worshipping friends, that's for sure. Am I a parading Christian? No way man, but since we're in full disclosure mode, I will tell you that I am a Christian and it does give me some good ideas about how to go about life.

So if you have any plans of putting on satanic ceremonies or killing defenseless animals, keep an eye out over your shoulder, because it won't be your lucky day if I'm around.

Maria Meyer October 25, 2006 8:51 pm (Pacific time)

So Mr King, did you ever find out if anything actually happened that night? Satanic or otherwise. I do have to say that I agree with several other comments that have been posted, it would have been nice if you had made a distinction between Satanic beliefs and those of we Pagans and Wiccans. And it also would have been nice, and more professional, if you had given us some backround information on your Police officer friend, the so called expert and the area the events were supposedly taking place.

A.C. Aldag October 25, 2006 8:28 am (Pacific time)

Hello. I am addressing this message to not only Mr. King, but to the others who've written comments on this story. I am a clergy person who has been involved with Pagan groups for over 35 years. I am also a journalist, author and an advocate for religious freedom. I've had to work for parity and defamation for Pagan religions for about that length of time. Mr. King probably intended this piece to be a scary little ghost story for Halloween, and didn't realize the full implications of it. However, Satanism and its practice on Halloween is one of the accusations made toward Pagans, Witches and Wiccans. The article was feeding into that stereotype, and was thus a work of fear-mongering. I hope you understand that defamation can itself lead to hate crimes. In several locations, Wiccans have celebrated a peaceful, legal religious ceremony on their own property, when the police have interrupted them, screaming and with guns drawn. Law enforcement officials demanded that everyone get down on the ground, including elders and the handicapped. They scared the living daylights out of pregnant ladies and small children. This has happened to my own group, Mr. King. Imagine it happening in a mosque, church or temple. Police blazing in, guns drawn, in the middle of a Seder or Ide. This is because some darn fool phoned in a report of "Satanic abuse" because he'd seen it on TV or read about it in the paper. In North Carolina, "good Christians" disagreed with a Wiccan Priestess named Darla Kaye Wynne, accusing her of Satanism, and so they broke into her home, killed her pets, destroyed her belongings, vandalized the premises, and even smashed her front teeth out with a rock. In Detroit Michigan, a young lady age 12 named Tempest Smith was accused of Satanism and bullied by her classmates so badly that she committed suicide. In Indianapolis, two Wiccan parents were told by a judge that they could not celebrate their religion with their own children, claiming it was Satanism. The judge threatened to take custody and put the kids in a foster home if the parents did not comply. This is not "ancient history", Mr. King. These events have all happened within the past four years. This is not "whining", Mr. Johnson. If it happened to your wife and kids, I'm certain that you would be outraged. My real name is Alice Carole Fisher Aldag. My last name is authentically Pagan, from Norway, and dates to the time we actually began having last names there -- it is two runes, Alges and Dagas. I noticed you lambasting others for not using their real names, yet your "partner" in spying on ceremony was only called Dale, and your "expert" police officer who advocates armed response to a religious rite wasn't named at all. Which is good, because his information is blatantly wrong -- and dangerous. Mr. King, neither you nor your buddy Dale had permission to attend, let alone videotape, someone else's religious rites. What would have happened if you did? Would you have put it on TV with the title "Satanism", possibly costing wage-earners their jobs, causing mothers to lose the custody of their children, and causing the children to feel unsafe and traumatized? All in the name of sensationalized journalism? Would this have caused more hate crimes to be perpetrated against innocent people? Having particiapated in Pagan ceremonies all my life, I know of very few who actually perform "animal sacrifice". I do, because I own a small farm, and the chickens don't kill themselves, pluck themselves, and then leap into the freezer. We thank the animal's spirit and kill it humanely, which is much better than keeping them in tiny cages, stuffing them with growth hormones, and then killing them painfully in a slaughterhouse. Other religions practice animal sacrifice, too, including Santarea, Judaism, Islam, and yes, Christianity. Most are just slaughtered without acknowledging the animal at all. Please think about this the next time you order the McNuggets. What likely happened in the context of your story is some hunter wounded an animal and left it to run away and slowly bleed out. People abandon pets, who are sometimes wounded or starve and die painful deaths. We see this all the time on our farm. Not Satanism, not ritual torture. Just irresponsible, lazy people who aren't properly taking care of companion animals or their hunting prey. Most of them likely profess to be Christians. Now, this is for the gentlemen who called Wicca "weird" and a "pseudo-religion". Christians engage in ritual cannibalism, pretending to eat the flesh and drink the blood of a 2,000-year-old corpse. They dunk little babies in cold water. Some of them handle snakes or refuse to vaccinate their children against lethal diseases. And then they call US "weird"? Yet I work for parity of Christians, too, and ensure their right to practice their religion isn't impaired by the government or law enforcement. My husband and father both fought in the Army to ensure religious freedom for everyone. Mr. King, please, next time think before you write. Your story became part of a national news feed, which is how I read it in Michigan. You have an impact on many people. Think about how you'd feel if some overzealous police officer shot a young woman because he read your article, and thought she was practicing Satanism. If you want to talk to a REAL person who uses their real name in discussing occult crimes, please contact Mr. Kerr Cuhulain, who is a Pagan police officer and author. Mr. Cuhulain not only educates law enforcement officers about Pagan and Wiccan religious practice, he helps them to solve occult crimes -- of which there are few. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, A.C. Aldag

a myth buster October 25, 2006 6:31 am (Pacific time)

This is directly from LaVey Satanism. Please especially read numbers 9 and 10. The juveniles who likely were playing around on that island were NOT satanists in any organized group. The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth 1. Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked. 2. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them. 3. When in another’s lair, show him/her respect or else do not go there. 4. If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him/her cruelly and without mercy. 5. Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal. 6. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he/she cries out to be relieved. 7. Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained. 8. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself. 9. Do not harm little children. 10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food. 11. When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him/her to stop. If he/she does not stop, destroy him/her. Duplicated from http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Eleven.html ©1967

Bill October 25, 2006 5:59 am (Pacific time)

This is a perfect example of a predjudicial (and inaccurate) story against pagans. I love all of these "occult experts" who know so much. What was it Swartzkopf said during one press briefing during the Gulf War? Oh yeah...."Bovine Scatology". Same word applies here.

Curmudgeon October 25, 2006 4:27 am (Pacific time)

I am not aware that Wiccans worship satan. They don't according to anything I have ever read about the Wicca religion. This is an article about satanic worship, not Wicca. So what has it got to do with anyone calling themselves a Wiccan? Nothing. Actually, it's not even a story about satanic worship. I read it as a story about an interesting day in the life of a young reporter. And mertle_wood, if this story was such a waste of your time, why did you bother reading it? And then waste more of your time posting here?

YourafollowerImaleader October 24, 2006 11:46 pm (Pacific time)

Wiccan huh? I'm not even a member of your pseudo religion, but know several who practice it and even I KNEW he wasn't referring to Wiccan practice. Also, coming on here blasting off from a keyboard just makes you look like hot headed idiots and makes me know you wouldnt be welcome around those I know. Grow some brains.

mertle_wood October 24, 2006 10:37 pm (Pacific time)

in my humble opinion, it seems to me that tim king is on the defensive.. because he has no story. he is trying to create some sensation out of thin air, and i find that the attempt at sensationalism from some assumed "occult practice" that occurred (or didnt occur) nearly 2 decades is a waste of my time.

Henry Ruark October 24, 2006 7:05 pm (Pacific time)

To all: Where we putting the stake ? Who will light the pyre and blow the flames up fast ? In any case, put yourselves there and lay off our Editor, who was simply writing an imaginative piece for general consumption. Buy yourselves a candle with what you'd pay for a subscription...and I leave it up to you what you do with it.

Christopher Blackwell October 24, 2006 6:59 pm (Pacific time)

Readers, it is dangerous to make assumptions about what the purpose of a writer's story is. That is jumping to conclusions. If you attack the Tim, you put him on the defensive and then he is thinking of his defense and no longer listening. Can you really blame him? I think I was able to raise the same questions without attacking the author. I think that gets more respect. I doubt most of us are honestly capable of reading the Mr. King's mind.

Matt Johnson October 24, 2006 6:31 pm (Pacific time)

You stupid witches are all a bunch of babies. You want to feel persecuted and you can't do anything but throw your "faith" right in the middle of this. Especially that one called "Me." What a stupid name.

Tim King October 24, 2006 6:13 pm (Pacific time)

Guy, I was called pathetic by that poster called Me, how would you react? I'm not some friggin' post era crusader, I was just following information and trying to learn things. I know for a fact that animals were killed in those areas on Devils Lake. Were they teens? Maybe.

Maybe they were other people, it isn't like satanists don't exist and it isn't like it couldn't have been one of their ceremonies. And you know what? I think that people who kill animals in the process of a ceremony are losers to say the least.

When people write comments that are completely insulting, then they should expect a reaction. There is room for rational discussion, it is interesting and sometimes enlightening. People can pose questions and be critical with class, or they can come thrashing along and tangle with me over their insults. We have competition and I never know when someone is slighting us by exploiting our comment section to make us look bad.

I don't mind being wrong, I have the ability to correct myself and I am always trying to learn more about any given subject. The general public reads stories of this nature at this time of year, they expect it, I can't help that,

Christopher Blackwell October 24, 2006 6:10 pm (Pacific time)

I often have wondered just what an occult or Satanic Crime would be. I have never understood the need to make an distinction. If someone is killed that is murder, with or without a ritual, If an animals is killed, I believe that might go under animal cruelty laws at worse. Perhaps some health law if the carcass is let lying around, even the littering laws. Now if the animal was stolen then it is theft. I was just dong a read up on LaVeys Church of Satan and it never had more than 300 supposed members and the guy was poor as a pauper. A rather poor con man but hardly a danger to society. There has never been any police documentation of any kind of major Satanic organization or of any Satanic crime spree, even during the period of the so called Satanic Child Abuse Panic, which I remember well, being 61 years old. I remember at the time musing that it looked like American was going through another "Witch Hunt" with no evidence what s ever, much like the Salem Witch Hunt. Nice Halloween story I suppose, but you really never saw anything so did anything actually happen? Ever go back and check up on the alleged Satanic gathering. I have always considered follow up to be an important part of reporting, which I do even for a newsletter for AREN. http://aren.org/ Click on newsletter and then just follow instructions. I am not a career journalist like yourself, but I still try to learn and be careful about my facts. ACTION started from scratch three years ago, with me having to learn as I went along. Our third year starts with the Samhain.

Guy Robert Whitney October 24, 2006 5:39 pm (Pacific time)

There, I put my name, Feel better? First off your not mentioning Wiccans or Pagans at all did nothing at all to inform your readers that you were ONLY talking about Satanists. Instead it tars anyone who might be Pagan doing ritual as Satanist in the minds of your readers I am sure you are well aware of this. You also never mentioned how other groups can be mis-perceived as Sataist. You spend many lines rambling about just how you met your good buddy and not a word on background. The fact that you failed to mention any of the debunking of most of the so-called experts from that time also casts doubt on your objectivity and motives in writing this. It also shows that you are less than willing to admit when you have been too credulous, even when young at the game. Lastly you never actually answered that first poster, you just attacked her. You claim to have written this just because it is Halloween and it is expected. I think not! You could have made it an interesting article if you had talked about how it has been proven that almost all so-called animal mutilations are the result of natural insect, microbe, animal and biological events when an animal that dies lays around outside for days before being found. You could have also talked about how most of these so called experts took a few random incidents mostly by teenagers being teenagers and invented a huge Satanic Conspiracy that included "some of the more promnent people in town". Did you bother to talk about how it all turned out to be hype? No, instead you write as though all of it was real and your good buddy was on the forefront of Godly Battles. That you came close to these evil folk but that God, they were prevented from completing their horrid tasks by a storm. You give no background to prove anything at all was going on or that anything EVER really went on out of the ordinary to create a piece that is meant to cause the timid soals to fear anyone who is too different in their religion. Shame on you!

Henry Ruark October 24, 2006 5:27 pm (Pacific time)

Tim et al: Obviously you broke a few frames in those nasty-anno writers' heads...good thing, too, since now they can claim it was persecution for their weird beiefs, unnamed, too. Ain't bad enough for THEM to be anon, they gotta do allasame with whatever it is they think they believe...!!

Tom Canfield October 24, 2006 4:35 pm (Pacific time)

Although the article did not mention Wiccans, there is some guilt by insinuation with emphasis on the idea that Halloween is a big time for "Satanic rituals." So, if any Wiccan group were to perform a ritual on Halloween, they would be considered "Satanists" by snooping reporters and police officers. It reminds me of the old canard that human sacrifice rituals used to take place on Yom Kippur, and it does not take a college degree to figure out which group was blamed for that.

Me October 24, 2006 4:15 pm (Pacific time)

I don't think I'll let you waste any more of my valuable time, poseur. (No, that's not a mis-spelling, moron.) We all know exactly what this entire article implies, and if you're still doing this kind of "investigation" after all these years and all the debunking this crap has received, I feel sorry for you AND your editor. Buh-bye loser!

Tim King October 24, 2006 4:03 pm (Pacific time)

Tell me where I referenced the Wiccan faith you guys? Oh that's right, it wasn't even mentioned. I do paranormal investigations with people who are Wiccan, and it has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote about here.

Aren't you supposed to know that if you know that already if you are Wiccan? What is really a drag, is that I was careful not to confuse people by mentioning witchcraft which is distinctly different from Satanism.

Again, you were supposed to know that, but you're both to busy writing your snide comments. I'm sure there was nothing actually sinister at work that night, it is just an interesting and true story from somebody who does interesting things in this life.

I think it is sad that you all have to be so vindictive about it, but keyboards make people brave don't they?

So again, this is about something that happened when Lincoln CIty was experiencing a rash of these.

I am guilty over having written this at Halloween, but I do this work year round, people just expect this kind of story in October. You're both insulting and cause me to really wonder if you did anything more than get a pointed hat out of a cracker jack box.

Dennis Deal October 24, 2006 3:34 pm (Pacific time)

You must be kidding.. This is some sort of stupid joke? Dear Goddess above and below please tell me this is some sort of lame joke on the part of the editors. Cause if not... Son you do need to get a clue and you should really join the rest of us in the 21st century. The only thing I can write is that if this is what you think of some rough water and a little down pour was the work of Witches or even satanist, it is sad really sad.

Me October 24, 2006 3:34 pm (Pacific time)

OK, fine, I know quite a bit about it, considering I am a Wiccan and have been trashed by better than you. My name is Kelly Eagle and I am a visitor to your "pleasant" little site. I would be thrilled to read your "sensitive" information, considering I could probably name your "sources" just as fast as you could deny them. This "article" was printed quite probably right now just because Halloween is around the corner, and it's the season to demonize a good chunk of the population. Satisfied now?

Tim King October 24, 2006 3:15 pm (Pacific time)

At least I have the courage to put my name by what I write. You must not have been in that line. There is a great deal that accompanies this but it is sensitive information. I can sense that you know exactly nothing about it and I know just a little more. And really, I hope you don't like it so you can find another local news site to go bother.

Me October 24, 2006 2:38 pm (Pacific time)

So what you're saying is: Twenty-some-odd years ago, during the height of the "satanic panic" being perpetrated by make-believe "experts", you didn't see anyone do anything anywhere, but nevertheless assume that some "satanists" must have been doing something evil. And you feel the need to write about it now....why? Pathetic!

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