Acushnet Resident’s Sinister Photos Featured in New Playboy Magazine

What do The Satanic Temple in Salem and an Acushnet photographer have in common?

They are both featured in the newest issue of Playboy.

When Frank Grace got a chance to photograph The Satanic Temple in Salem, he never could have imagined those prints would wind up in the rebooted magazine that was once a prominent influence in a curious young teenager's life.

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Who Is Frank C. Grace?

Frank Grace grew up in Fall River. He became a Director of Research and Development for a textile processing company and now lives his life in Acushnet.

His hobby is photography and is specialty is historic places.

“I like to shoot prominent places, abandoned spots…Honestly, the spookier the better,” he said.

A few years ago, he reached out to The Satanic Temple in Salem, a non-theistic religious organization that has a much bigger mission than worshipping the Devil (which they do not).

“I want to stress that The Satanic Temple does not believe in the Devil,” said Grace. “They are an organization that is fighting for religious freedoms. They believe in religious pluralism, where all religions should be equally weighed and represented.”

Grace was fascinated by the temple’s inner workings. He was thrilled to photograph the religious space and donate his work back to the church.

He returned in 2023 to photograph a prominent figure of the church adorned in a Baphomet mask. Baphomet, according to The Satanic Temple, is a pagan idol. The statue of Baphomet stands tall at the temple, resulting in some eerie pictures, and ultimately catching the attention of Playboy Magazine.

READ MORE: The Last Woman Hanged in Massachusetts was a Prominent Pirate

Acushnet Photographer Featured in Playboy

A few months after the photo shoot, Grace received an email.

“It was one of the founders saying that Playboy was relaunching their magazine in February and he wanted to know if they could use my photographs for a story that they were writing about the church,” said Grace. “I said, ‘Are you kidding? Of course you can use them!’"

The first thing Grace did after the news was call his father.

I mean, wouldn’t you?

“I just wish I could tell my younger self, ‘Hey, you’re going to have photos in Playboy, but not the ones you think,” laughed Grace.

The issue was released on February 10 and Grace is now the proud owner of one hard copy and one digital copy.

Find it on the shelves at Barnes and Noble or online to check out the revamped Playboy, and find an Acushnet photographer just happy to be there.