Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1992, Page 39
the underlying pathology is quite different, an interest in the occult leads to the exploration of
realms characterized by a lack of boundaries or rational limitation.
The Case of George S.
In literature and film, suicide or parasuicidal behavior is often linked with an interest in the
occult. The tragic case of George S. illustrates this linkage in reality:
George S. was a 16-year-old male who appeared to be a normal adolescent and was
asymptomatic until age 14. During that year, he informed his parents that he felt
suicidal. They were appropriately alarmed and sought outpatient consultation in early
May. This initial consultation was nonproductive and the family postponed their
search for treatment until after the summer recess. They hoped that the absence of
school pressure (and the presumed impact of this pressure) on an overly conforming
and rigid young man would help. The summer went well. But in October, George‟s
suicidal ideation returned. He superficially scratched his wrist. After psychiatric
consultation, he was placed on antidepressants. The medication, however, was
stopped because of presumed side-effects. Another consultation and treatment
setting was sought. A variety of treatment modalities, including individual and group
psychotherapy, were used. New medications were tried. Each approach was
nonproductive. George continued to be depressed, conforming and anhedonic.
Ultimately, in April, George went upstairs and shot himself with his father‟s pistol.
This case is presented in the context of this article because the entire wall of George‟s
bedroom was covered with runes, satanic graffiti, and bizarre androgynous figures. None of
this had been reported to his therapists.
Suicide is ultimately an unanswerable question. However, certain aspects of George‟s life
strikingly parallel the fictional portrayals in The White People and Beetlejuice. George‟s
relationship with his father was characterized by detachment (the father never attended any
family session, spoke to his therapists, or was even discussed at any length within the
sessions). George‟s suicide was apparently precipitated by his mother‟s departure on a visit.
The question remains, what was the basis of George‟s underlying angst/depression? His
inability to tell his parents about a lengthy and apparently platonic correspondence he carried
on with a female classmate suggests something of the lack of emotional intimacy within this
household, where parents and child passed each other like ships in the night. His closest
relationships appear to have been with the pets he lovingly raised.
And there is the wall: why the wall with its graffiti? Runes are more commonly utilized as a
form of divination than as a script or alphabet. They have been used as an aid in divination
and incantation. In a very real sense, their presence on the wall indicated that having failed to
communicate his intense depression to his parents, he attempted to transcend his sense of
isolation and alienation in the hope that by contacting different forces, his anguish could be
lightened. A book of Tarot was found by his bedside.
The Outsider and Other Literary Perspectives
The work of Machen represents a traditional tale of the occult. His most celebrated American
literary disciple, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, represents a transmutation to another supernatural
dimension. H. P. Lovecraft‟s work appeared primarily in Weird Tales and other pulp
magazines, which flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Despite the appearance of his work in
the pulps, Lovecraft‟s ambitions and abilities extended beyond this.
In his crabbed, convoluted, and excessively literary style (for example, he doted on using
archaisms such as eldritch), Lovecraft began to detail the Cthulhu mythos in a series of short
stories. While Lovecraft‟s original literary focus was on the more conventional tale of the
demonic or supernatural, in the Cthulhu mythos he created something rather different. The
the underlying pathology is quite different, an interest in the occult leads to the exploration of
realms characterized by a lack of boundaries or rational limitation.
The Case of George S.
In literature and film, suicide or parasuicidal behavior is often linked with an interest in the
occult. The tragic case of George S. illustrates this linkage in reality:
George S. was a 16-year-old male who appeared to be a normal adolescent and was
asymptomatic until age 14. During that year, he informed his parents that he felt
suicidal. They were appropriately alarmed and sought outpatient consultation in early
May. This initial consultation was nonproductive and the family postponed their
search for treatment until after the summer recess. They hoped that the absence of
school pressure (and the presumed impact of this pressure) on an overly conforming
and rigid young man would help. The summer went well. But in October, George‟s
suicidal ideation returned. He superficially scratched his wrist. After psychiatric
consultation, he was placed on antidepressants. The medication, however, was
stopped because of presumed side-effects. Another consultation and treatment
setting was sought. A variety of treatment modalities, including individual and group
psychotherapy, were used. New medications were tried. Each approach was
nonproductive. George continued to be depressed, conforming and anhedonic.
Ultimately, in April, George went upstairs and shot himself with his father‟s pistol.
This case is presented in the context of this article because the entire wall of George‟s
bedroom was covered with runes, satanic graffiti, and bizarre androgynous figures. None of
this had been reported to his therapists.
Suicide is ultimately an unanswerable question. However, certain aspects of George‟s life
strikingly parallel the fictional portrayals in The White People and Beetlejuice. George‟s
relationship with his father was characterized by detachment (the father never attended any
family session, spoke to his therapists, or was even discussed at any length within the
sessions). George‟s suicide was apparently precipitated by his mother‟s departure on a visit.
The question remains, what was the basis of George‟s underlying angst/depression? His
inability to tell his parents about a lengthy and apparently platonic correspondence he carried
on with a female classmate suggests something of the lack of emotional intimacy within this
household, where parents and child passed each other like ships in the night. His closest
relationships appear to have been with the pets he lovingly raised.
And there is the wall: why the wall with its graffiti? Runes are more commonly utilized as a
form of divination than as a script or alphabet. They have been used as an aid in divination
and incantation. In a very real sense, their presence on the wall indicated that having failed to
communicate his intense depression to his parents, he attempted to transcend his sense of
isolation and alienation in the hope that by contacting different forces, his anguish could be
lightened. A book of Tarot was found by his bedside.
The Outsider and Other Literary Perspectives
The work of Machen represents a traditional tale of the occult. His most celebrated American
literary disciple, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, represents a transmutation to another supernatural
dimension. H. P. Lovecraft‟s work appeared primarily in Weird Tales and other pulp
magazines, which flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Despite the appearance of his work in
the pulps, Lovecraft‟s ambitions and abilities extended beyond this.
In his crabbed, convoluted, and excessively literary style (for example, he doted on using
archaisms such as eldritch), Lovecraft began to detail the Cthulhu mythos in a series of short
stories. While Lovecraft‟s original literary focus was on the more conventional tale of the
demonic or supernatural, in the Cthulhu mythos he created something rather different. The
