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"Rosemary's Baby"

The sensational Satanist novel by Ira Levin, first published in 1967. It was issued the year after the public announcement of the founding of the Church of Satan by Anton La Vey and the popular interest in Satanism evidenced by several front page stories concerning La Vey's activities (including a military funeral) and his appearance on the Johnny Carson television show.

The Paramount movie version starring Mia Farrow was directed by Roman Polanski. La Vey was hired as a consultant and appeared briefly as the devil. La Vey called the film "the best paid commercial for Satanism since the Inquisition," and saw it as contributing to the growth of his church.

Some interesting coincidental events surrounded the film's release. On June 5, 1968, ten days before Rosemary's Baby was released, Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate dined with Robert Kennedy in Malibu; shortly afterward Kennedy left for the Ambassador Hotel, where he was assassinated.

A year later, on August 7, 1969, followers of Charles Manson brutally stabbed, mutilated, and murdered Sharon Tate and her unborn baby, together with four other people at the Polanski residence, Los Angeles.

The premises of the American Society for Psychical Research were housed immediately behind the famous Dakota Apartments in Manhattan, the large Gothic building that was the setting for Rosemary's Baby.