While many people might associate soap operas with campy, over the top dramas still somewhat grounded in reality, many series have dipped into other genres throughout their long runs. Some soap operas, such as Dark Shadows and Passions, even focused fully on supernatural storylines in conjunction with the standard soap opera fare. Days of Our Lives, which has been on the air for 57 years, has also dipped into the realms of action, espionage, science fiction and horror throughout the course of its long run.

One of Days of Our Lives most iconic storylines was Satan’s possession of Dr. Marlena Evans (Deirdre Hall), who was the town's psychiatrist and one of the series’ main stars in 1994. For months, audiences watched the residents of Salem come to grips with the knowledge that one of their town’s most connected citizens was targeted by Satan. While the storyline is well known for being outside most soaps' usual fare, Marlena's possession still highlights the soap opera genre's greatest strength: the ability to tell stories that span decades.

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How Was Marlena Possessed?

John Black holds a newspaper clipping detailing Marlena Evans time possessed by Satan on Days of Our Lives

Marlena Evans has been one of Days of Our Lives' main characters since 1976, and she became the center point of Stefano DiMera's obsession for decades. Like many soap opera villains, Stefano's schemes would not be out of place amongst comic book supervillains and storylines. He tried to use hypnotism to force Marlena to love him, and this scheme weakened her spirit and allowed space for the devil to sneak in.

Her possession began with unsettling dreams but sprang into full forcein 1994. Marlena's possession had many iconic features such as scenes where she levitated off the bed and a pair of yellow contacts to distinguish when the devil was in control. Throughout the course of her possession, Marlena wreaked havoc on Salem, chaining people to alters and ruining weddings. While Marlena was Satan's main target, the devil also tempted other people with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Stefano DiMera's other plots against Marlena and the Brady family also led to her salvation. John Black, one of Marlena's love interests, became involved with Marlena because they believed that he was her husband, Roman Brady, with amnesia. When the real Roman returned, John and Marlena learned the truth -- John was an agent of Stefano's. Around the time of Marlena's possession, John learned he had been a priest before Stefano interfered. Conveniently, his former priesthood made him the perfect candidate to perform the exorcism, and Marlena was freed.

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Because Days is a daytime soap opera, new episodes air every weekday with the exception of holidays; therefore, Marlena's possession storyline was told over a longer span of time than most demonic possession movies or television shows. As Ken Corday, Days' executive producer, explained in an interview with EW.com, the storyline was only supposed to last two months but spread until Easter of 1995.

Possibly due in part to this extended time period, Marlena's possession remains one of the series' most remembered plot lines. Over the decades since, Marlena's possession has been referenced on the show multiple times, making it a core part of Days' lore rather than a forgotten foray into the supernatural.

Days of Our Lives Possession Continues Today

Marlena Evans, possessed by Satan, has yellow Sith-like eyes on Days of Our Lives

Last year, the devil came back to Salem and possessed Marlena, and this new storyline was rooted in the show's history. The story originally focused on Marlena's treatment of Doug Williams, a stalwart member of Salem who was beginning to experience memory problems; however, he really was being possessed by Satan, and when Satan tried to kill his new host, Marlena became possessed again to save Doug. While some of the possession elements remained the same as in the original storyline, some iconic features received upgrades, like the yellow possession eyes appearing more Sith-like.

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In the show's Christmas episode, John Black, Marlena's children and their grandchildren fought for Marlena’s soul once more, culminating in a successful exorcism. Still, the devil went on to possess more of the people close to Marlena. Satan's reign of terror across multiple hosts included a special Halloween zombie invasion with former characters returning as intelligent zombies to menace Salem's residents. Satan was finally defeated in May, and Salem's residents were free to resume their normal dramas once more.

Overall, while ridiculous, Marlena’s possession is a significant soap opera storyline because it represents the ability of soap operas to weave storylines over the course of decades. Marlena's repossession coincided with Marlena's grandson, Johnny's, attempts to make a movie focusing on Satan's first attempt to wreak havoc on Salem. Johnny's movie lays out an avenue for newer viewers to learn more about the original storyline while also giving moments to the series' veterans to look back on former storylines. Marlena's repossession and Satan's subsequent reign of terror was built upon the foundation of decades of character relationships and dramas, and this foundation made the storyline, while delightfully over the top, have more weight.

While many soap opera storylines are more grounded in reality, they still have stakes that reach back for decades. For the remaining soap operas, many of the characters have remained consistent parts of these series for long periods of time, leaving a vast amount of history for writers to work with. As Days of Our Lives moves to stream exclusively on Peacock alongside other genre-bending titles, the writers can tap into the show's long history to create new stories for the people of Salem, from the more reality based soap opera staples to more paranormal storylines.

To see how Salem's residents dealt with Satan's rampage, watch Days of Our Lives, streaming now on Peacock.