Dangerous Games

Joseph P. Laycock

Published by University of California Press 2015

Dangerous Games

What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds

Joseph P. Laycock

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520960565

Overview
Contents

About this book

The 1980s saw the peak of a moral panic over fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. A coalition of moral entrepreneurs that included representatives from the Christian Right, the field of psychology, and law enforcement claimed that these games were not only psychologically dangerous but an occult religion masquerading as a game. Dangerous Games explores both the history and the sociological significance of this panic.

Fantasy role-playing games do share several functions in common with religion. However, religion—as a socially constructed world of shared meaning—can also be compared to a fantasy role-playing game. In fact, the claims of the moral entrepreneurs, in which they presented themselves as heroes battling a dark conspiracy, often resembled the very games of imagination they condemned as evil. By attacking the imagination, they preserved the taken-for-granted status of their own socially constructed reality. Interpreted in this way, the panic over fantasy-role playing games yields new insights about how humans play and together construct and maintain meaningful worlds.

Laycock’s clear and accessible writing ensures that Dangerous Games will be required reading for those with an interest in religion, popular culture, and social behavior, both in the classroom and beyond.

Author information

Laycock Joseph P. :

Joseph P. Laycock is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Texas State University. His previous books include Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism and The Seer of Bayside: Veronica Lueken and the Struggle for Catholicism. He is also a blogger for Religion Dispatches.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface. “You Worship Gods from Books!” Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction. Fantasy and Reality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I. The History of the Panic
1. The Birth of Fantasy Role-Playing Games Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
2. Dungeons & Dragons as Religious Phenomenon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
3. Pathways into Madness: 1979–1982 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
4. Satanic Panic: 1982–1991 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
5. A World of Darkness: 1991–2001 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Part II. Interpreting the Panic
6. How Role-Playing Games Create Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
7. How the Imagination Became Dangerous Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
8. Rival Fantasies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Conclusion. Walking between Worlds Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	291
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	345