December 15, 2004
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Church leaders in York say the Christmas display at one of the city's tourist attractions could expose children to "evil forces".
Instead of the usual Father Christmas, visitors to Satan's Grotto at York Dungeon are greeted by a man dressed as the Devil with a red face and horns.
As well as meeting the alternative Santa, visitors to the grotto are handed "gifts" such as severed fingers, and can write on a scroll to sign their souls away.
Mr Simpson, from St Michael-le-Belfrey in the city centre, said concerns were raised at a regular meeting with clergy from Baptist, Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.
"There are real evil forces and we in our work come across people who are damaged seriously through their involvement with occult forces.
On its website the dungeon says the festive attraction includes elves impaled on spikes and robins roasting over an open fire with Santa being put in a witch's cauldron and boiled.
A spokesman for York Dungeon said: "There are many people who are tired and weary of the commercial aspect of Christmas and for those people our attraction comes as a light relief.
Comments (2)
tired and weary indeed...
We opted out of the commercial madness three years ago. It's been a relief and we surprise the kids with treats at random times during the year which turns out to be more fun, for them, less stress for us.
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