WorldNetDaily’s “expert on demonology” is worried that TV shows such as The Walking Dead and American Horror Story are encouraging people to take part in demonic worship. Karl Payne fears that with such programs, along with Halloween, promote “demonism on steroids” and open up “individuals to demonic influence.”

“[T]his stuff is real, and it hurts real people in real life,” Payne tells WND. “If people play games with the occult long enough and still believe they won’t end up hitchhiking with the demonic, they’re naïve.”

Halloween is approaching, and the theaters and TV channels are flooded with ghosts, zombies, monsters and worse.

Just entertainment, amusement and not representative of anything real, right?

Karl Payne, an expert on demonology and the author of “Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization and Deliverance,” believes these elements of Americana sometimes are more than just “fun and games.”

“When you live in [a] culture that glamorizes this, when you live in a culture that encourages people to get involved in these type of activities, do you not think that there are some people, from all age groups, who get lured into the occult through the culture we promote?” Payne asked.

Payne said he saw clear examples of “desensitization” the last time he watched television.

“This culture is like demonism on steroids. The last time I turned on the TV, one channel was heavily promoting a gory show on zombies and then on another, a show on witches that flirted with the occult was being heavily promoted. The proliferation of media like this desensitizes the public’s awareness of the evil in the world around us and opens up individuals to demonic influence,” Payne stated.

The two shows he cited are some of the most popular on TV right now. “The Walking Dead” is known for depicting gruesome violence and follows a group of human survivors in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. It just broke cable television records with its latest season premiere.

“American Horror Story” has also topped the ratings chart, and its new season is set to focus on witchcraft and the occult.

Payne disputes the notion that media, like these two shows, promote no harm in daily lives.

“There’s the notion that this stuff isn’t real, it’s all ‘fun and games,’ and we shouldn’t worry about it. But the fact is that a part of this stuff is real, and it hurts real people in real life,” he said.

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“If people play games with the occult long enough and still believe they won’t end up hitchhiking with the demonic, they’re naïve,” Payne stated.