A FEMALE serial killer says she “sacrificed 100” in an act of Satan worship. Another says she killed her “antichrist” mother. Two boys carved occult symbols into the body of a girl.

Is this the Rapture?

These occult-driven killings have come to light in the past month in the US, a nation in parts seemingly obsessed with religion, magic and murder.

It’s a culture bombarded with mystic messages, from Creationist advertising to exorcisms, Satanic-cult busting True Detective television series through to Once Upon a Time fairy tales.

Is America more than lapping it up?

Is the nation beginning to live the dream —or nightmare?

Is the Rapture - a popular interpretation of the Bible’s chapter of Revelations about the lead-up to Judgement Day - underway?

Or are these kids just bonkers?

RELATED: Are religious relics being stolen for Satanic purposes?

One Catholic priest is convinced.

Father Vincent Lampert, designated exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, last week told the National Catholic Register that reports of demonic activity were increasing, keeping the United States’ 50 trained exorcists busy.

“I don’t think the devil has upped his game,” Father Lampert said. “I think people today are more apt to play his game.”

His perspective can be understood: A recent Pew Research Centre study found witchcraft to be the fastest growing religion in the United States and one fifth of its populace embracing atheism.

Father Lampert said he has personally performed five exorcisms, but receives between 10-12 calls a week from people seeking help.

“I saw someone levitate once,” he said. “I saw foaming at the mouth, bodily contortions, superhuman strength, speaking in strange languages and howling like wild animals.”

By all accounts, he expects more to come.

Here’s a quick look at the three occult occurrences that have gripped the nation in the past month alone. February 1 is the Satanic new year. The month is a special one for occult rituals.

News_Image_File: Is the Craigslist killer a Satanist? She has claimed to have killed ‘up to 100’.

MIRANDA BARBOUR

This 19-year-old brunette is the epitome of the modern American woman: Young. Long, lank dark hair. Petite.

“Looks can be deceiving,” she snapped at a local reporter.

She also happens to be a self-proclaimed Satan worshipper and possibly America’s worst female serial killer.

Barbour had been charged with only one murder when she thrust herself into to public eye earlier this month — declaring to all who would listen that she had killed “almost 100” people in the past six years.

For this to be true, she would have had to have started at the tender age of 13.

US detectives are investigating her claims but have so far not made any public statements beyond the single murder charge she has already been issued with.

Three weeks after their marriage, Barbour and her husband Elytte, 22, allegedly consummated their union through the killing of Troy LaFerrara, 42.

Barbour contacted LaFerrara via the website Craigslist. She offered him sex for $100. Instead, she is said to have stabbed him to death.

News_Image_File: Stabbing saviour? This woman stabbed her mother to save her daughter from ‘the antichrist’.

KATIE NICHOLS

There was also the spontaneous, live-to-air confession by a Tennessee woman. She blurted out in an interview with local reporters that it was she who had stabbed her mother to death in front of her own young daughter.

The 61-year-old had been discovered with stab wounds to her neck, chest and stomach on February 18.

“The Satanic cult in this city has been casting Satanic spells on me for three, four days,” Nichols blurted to WQAD. “I’m exhausted. I came home and found out my mom was the ringleader and was trying to kill my daughter.”

She said she had fled her mother’s home — filled with Satanic symbols “disguised as knick-knacks” — to hide in a rural area and “await a sign” that it was safe to return.

“They were trying to kill me with curses and if I had slept, I might have died … All of the Satanic cult has been rounded up and killed now,” she said.

She is currently undergoing psychological assessment.

News_Image_File: Demon haunted ... Jose Reyes sought to initiate a friend to a Satanic cult through killing a 15-year-old girl.

TEXAS TEEN KILLERS

Two teens from Houston, Texas, allegedly enticed a 15-year-old girl into a home as part of a human sacrifice ritual to “sell their souls” to the devil.

Jose Reyes, 17, and an unnamed 16-year-old boy have been charged with murder after their victim, Corriann Cervantes, was found dead with an upside-down cross carved into her stomach.

Police say she had been tortured and sexually assaulted on February 5 before she was beaten to death with an ashtray and toilet seat.

“They discussed the fact that Mr Reyes had sold his soul to the devil, and if they ended up killing this teenager, this would allow the 16-year-old to also sell his soul to the devil,” Harris County assistant attorney John Jordan told media.

News_Rich_Media: The ancient practice of exorcism is going mainstream with churches training priests to meet demand.

Many in the US believe it is all part of a bigger picture and demonstrates the influence of the occult.

“People can invite evil in this way; and then, without the component of faith, there is nothing to protect them,” Father Lampbert told the National Catholic Register.

“When someone is possessed, the demon is choosing to act in that body,” said Father Lampert.

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“The prayers of exorcism are meant to call the demon forth. I focus on the prayers of the Church and power of Christ. A lot of people get caught up in the antics of the devil.”

Father Lampbert said it was becoming more difficult to evict evil.

“We live in an apostate society,” he said. “When one hears the Good News and listens for the first time, it takes hold. But when they’ve heard the Good News before and turned their back on it, it seems that evil has a stronger claim on them.”