Violence and Sacrifice

The plot involves murder, ritual sacrifice, and brutal acts (like pegs driven into eye-sockets), showing how the cult's practices lead to physical and psychological violence.

The Esbat ceremony involves elements of sacrifice and violence, as the cult's dark rites unfold.

The discovery of the sacrificial chicken and the plan to sacrifice Deborah highlight the theme of ritual violence.

The burning farmhouse, the gunshot that felled Burroughs, and the rescue of Deborah from the sacrificial stone.

The fire consumes the house and a man within it, a violent act that seems to cleanse the valley of an old horror.