Are you familiar with Labubu? This wide-eyed, sharp-toothed toy was designed to be cute, playful, and collectible. But now, the popular doll is also being called Satanic.
Created by artist Kasing Lung in 2015, Labubu dolls have become hugely popular in recent years. With their mischievous grins, rabbit-like ears, and bright colors, they were meant to evoke playful fantasy and folklore.
Once you start noticing them, they’re everywhere: dangling from backpacks, filling mall kiosks, perched in car dashboards. Many find them adorable – and ultra collectible. But do they have a dark side?
Pazuzu Rears Its Head?
But in the last few months, they’ve come under heavy scrutiny in certain Christian circles, with some believers alleging that the cute toys harbor a demonic secret.
One viral post pointed to their toothy grins and accused Labubu of being a vessel for Pazuzu – the Mesopotamian demon best remembered today as the spirit behind the possession in The Exorcist.
Soon, a flood of social media videos followed, with many pointing out bizarre experiences they had with their own Labubus. Some performed exorcisms on their dolls. Others took things a step further and burned them.
Many have likened it to the hysteria of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, where everything from metal music to Dungeons & Dragons was considered by some a gateway to the demonic. But is this just history repeating itself, or something new?
A Short History of the Satanic Panic
To understand Labubu’s Satanism moment, we need to go back to the height of the Satanic Panic in the 1980s-1990s, primarily in the United States.
During this period, evangelical and fundamentalist religious groups were growing in influence across the country. This religious revival of sorts helped contribute to an environment of concern about invisible Satanic forces that that threatened public wellbeing – and particularly the nation's youth.
How Did the Satanic Panic Start?
The origins of the panic stem from the 1980 release of Michelle Remembers, a memoir by psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his patient (and future wife) Michelle Smith, chronicling Smith’s alleged childhood abuse at the hands of a Satanic cult. Pazder used the now-discredited practice of recovered-memory therapy to “uncover” Smith’s memories.
Today, the book is regarded as inaccurate and sensationalized. Nevertheless, at the time, it ushered in a wave of anti-Satan mania across the United States.
What Happened During the Satanic Panic?
This cultural moment led to increasingly outlandish allegations of Satanic influence being levied at targets like heavy metal music, Dungeons & Dragons, horror movies, and pro wrestling. Soon, anything outside the cultural mainstream could be painted as a secret portal to Satanism.
In one of the Satanic Panic’s most famous episodes – the McMartin Preschool Trial – claims of sexual abuse and bizarre occult rituals were lobbed at a Los Angeles-area day care.
Many of the interview methods were later deemed coercive, with kids stating to police that they saw witches fly and traveled by hot air balloon. One child identified actor Chuck Norris as one of the abusers in a photo lineup. The case dragged on for years, resulting in zero convictions.
By the mid-1990s, the panic had fizzled, as public attention shifted to new scandals. And though the fire was briefly rekindled in the early 2000s with debates over Harry Potter and witchcraft, the frenzy never again reached the fever pitch of its 1980s heyday.
New Target, Same Panic?
If the recent outrage over Labubu teaches us anything, it’s that moral panics never really die, they just reinvent themselves. Yesterday it was heavy metal and role-playing games; today it’s collectible toys and viral trends. The pattern is the same: an unusual cultural object gets reinterpreted as dangerous, communities rally around the fear, and the outrage takes on a life of its own.
Of course, some appear to truly believe that Labubu is secretly masking a demonic figure. Should we be concerned, or is this just the latest iteration of a misguided anti-Satan moral crusade?
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