Some of these myths and stories helped shape who I was, who I dated and who I became. My interest in the childhood fables helped me to discover my own psychic abilities. My father, proud Swede that he is, also used to tell me stories of our Viking ancestors - about their lives and their gods. He planted a seed that would later become the core of my religious identity.
Urban myths of my youth gave me some of my most fond childhood memories. My youthful curiosity just had to be satisfied, and one of my most thrilling teenage adventures was a sundown trip to "Satan's Castle."
San Bernardino, where I spent my childhood, was home to the infamous Satan's Castle. All in our high school had heard the stories about it: the altar with a pentagram drawn on it with blood, not to mention the bloodstains at the foot of the altar where human sacrifices were conducted. Kids who said they had been there told of the chambers in the walls where the devil worshippers hid stolen kids during rituals to await sacrifice. Others said there was another chamber with a spiral staircase, and according to some that was what Satan ascended to attend the meetings and claim the sacrifices.
We were told of teenagers going to explore the castle and that the one guy who dared to go down a few steps of the staircase was snatched away and never returned. We heard of one group who went there exploring and went to the altar area - only to be confronted by the Satanists. The kids were beat up and shackled in the chambers while the cult summoned ol' Beelzebubba himself. One kid supposedly got loose and went to get help, but when he came back with the cops, his friends and the cult members were gone; the only trace left was blood on the altar. These are the most significant rumors I can remember hearing about Satan's Castle, but from the first time I heard about it, I knew I had to see for myself, had to explore the fortress.
It took us a week of careful planning, with lunch-hour conspiracies among the group of us brave souls, to finally realize our quest. We all had to be clear with our parents about some "after-school activity" with our friends that would bring us home late Friday night, if we made it home at all. We needed money for gas. We had to have some pot, also money for beer and munchies. These things are important when going to confront the devil.
We were the envy of all the "stoners" hanging out at the smoking section that Friday at lunch. We were heading into certain death, at least Satanic slavery, and these things do have rewards because we were really "cool!" Many kids told us they would not go there for any reason, and the girls thought we were brave - stupid but brave. When we left school that afternoon, I felt sick to my stomach.
What we needed for the expedition was a car and exact directions, both somewhat hard to come by. We finally came by them via an older high school kid. Satan's Castle is actually about five minutes from Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains, near an area known as the "Rim of the World."
When we got to Lake Arrowhead Village, the driver admitted that he didn't actually know how to get there. It seems his older brother had told him something to the effect of "hang a right and then another right after you get to the top of the grade, and it's easy to find from there." I think he would have said anything to go, just like I would have.
Our personal "guided tour of Satan's Castle" came only after we went to the bowling alley and asked another "stoner" if he knew how to find it. He said sure, and after a drive that seemingly took moments, but actually took long enough to smoke a couple of joints, we were there: Satan's Castle, the promised land.
We were all high, and at least I was scared shitless. We parked and walked down a short trail only to find a huge disappointment. You see, Satan's Castle was described as a stone building two stories high and very ominous. What we found was a three-foot stone wall and several doorways, with a cobblestone floor.
We wanted at least to see the altars, but what we were led to was - a couple of stone pillars. Yes, one of them did have a pentagram - applied with spray paint. We then almost reluctantly went to see the chambers. They were on a lower level, which made me kinda happy. But the chambers were a frustration also; they were only about three by five by five feet tall, with no sign of the Satanic debauchery we were hoping for. And about the stairway to Hell… at this point I was quite unafraid and decided that no matter what, I would descend it. What I found was nothing more than a 10-foot drop to a boiler room. What a disappointment!
No blood at the altar, no torture chamber, no Satan, no Freddy Krueger, nothing. When we asked the local stoner about the possibility of a cult, he just laughed and pointed to the pentagram and said that it was put there to scare girls that were brought there. I must say, in my later years it worked for me.
We were not the first group that the stoner kid had taken there, and probably not the last, but maybe with the exception of the kids who came there from L.A., we were certainly the most disappointed!
When I got home, my Dad asked me where I'd been, so I told him; I told him what we had been told and what we had found. When he stopped laughing, he told me the truth. Satan's Castle had been some sort of pinball palace or miniature golf course that was made to resemble a castle, and it had been open when he was younger.
So how did the myth of Satan's Castle come into being? How is any myth born? I don't think it matters. This myth served a purpose: It helped me grow, helped me bond with other "men," let me explore the possibilities of life and helped me confront fear. My childhood mythologies have a strong place in my life. Who of us hasn't played "Bloody Mary" or "Light as a feather, stiff as a board"? Remember your old friend the Ouija board? Hasn't exploring the unknown helped get us here?
You can probably guess that at school the next day, as inquiring minds wanted to know, my friends and I told them what they wanted to hear. That yes, Satan's castle was real! Bloody altars, torture chambers, the spiral staircase to Hell, all of it, right there just a few miles away!
Happy Halloween!
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