He points to mounted specimens of a boar and two baboons. "My favorite dog was poisoned by my neighbor. I think that's why I'm attached to these already dead animals, so the loss factor doesn't play into it. ... I try to find beauty in the things that most people consider to be ugly." Every room is strewn with books. "I have a real thirst for knowledge on a lot of subjects, religion and psychology and philosophy being my favorites," he said. There's a kneeler and a pulpit from a Baptist church from the 1800s. "I always like to juxtapose religion and logic," he says. And there are crucifixes - some small, plastic and cheap, others huge, wooden and intricately cut - hanging on every wall. Manson has a sense of humor that escapes his detractors. "Always, my favorite character (in the Bible) is Lucifer - I re-enacted his fall from heaven, but in my own life," he says with a laugh. "He wanted to be God, he wanted to be himself, and he was kicked out for that. ... (I thought) "This is good - this guy has his own opinion.' It's a metaphor for parents and kids. ... "I've taken pieces from all sorts of teachings and combined them together to form my own opinion. ... It's much like my name represents - there's Marilyn, there's Manson, there's God, there's the devil. ... "I don't dislike what's in the Bible. I dislike how people use it to make others suffer. I don't hate God. I just don't like the God of the people that I hate." Manson was born Brian Warner in January 1969, the only child in a middle-class family, and was raised in Ohio and Florida. He doesn't have a complaint of neglect or child abuse by his parents, a furniture salesman and a nurse. In fact, they sent him to a private Christian school for 10 years. "They weren't all that religious, but they wanted me to have the best education possible," Manson said. "And they thought I'd get it there." But the young Manson said he was not allowed to express his individuality and creativity. It intrigued him when the school warned of rock's wickedness. "They would play albums backward and say, "This is what you shouldn't listen to.' ... So I immediately went out and bought Black Sabbath and Kiss. It's just common psychology - if you say, "Don't do this,' any kid is going to do it. "I've grown up to become the same thing that led me down the path of evil, as they would see it. Music was just an escape for me, my way of dealing with the world that I didn't feel like I fit in." Manson, whose first album, "Portrait of an American Family," came out in 1994, made his move into ghoulish, theatrical rock and set out from the beginning to push buttons. His music and stage shows dealt a large dose of sex, violence and Satan and integrated the influence of pornography and horror films. It was adolescent fantasy that no mainstream act could match. Manson wasn't the first to wring fame and fortune out of portraying himself as a symptom of American pop culture, but with a few sharp songs, some inflammatory imagery and reckless performances, he became the bane of people concerned about preserving family values in entertainment. He sold souvenir T-shirts proclaiming "Kill God ... Kill Your Mom And Dad ... Kill Yourself." After the release of 1996's "Antichrist Superstar" came reports that Manson ripped pages from the Bible onstage. The religious right dreamed up more - they wrongly accused him of everything from handing out drugs to bestiality to sacrificing virgins. There were pickets, canceled concerts and death threats. "There was a real slander campaign going on with some religious groups," he said. "When they were calling in bomb threats on a daily basis, it became, in a sense, a war for me. "Tearing up the Bible was obviously a provocative thing to do. At the same time, I like symbolism. It's a book, made of paper. Why do you have to put your hand on it to swear to tell the truth? It's what's in your heart that counts. .. . "Right now in Denver, I'm sure there are a lot of people arguing - is it right for me to come there, should I have the right to come there? ... So they are fulfilling my dream as an artist. The people who hate me are doing what I want them to do - I'm on their minds, so I'm affecting their lives." Immediately after Columbine, it was reported that gunmen Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were Manson fans. While Harris had a Manson CD, interviews with acquaintances indicated they were far bigger fans of the goth-industrial rock of the German bands Rammstein and KMFDM. The criticism of Manson began immediately. "I was in Chicago watching television in my hotel room, and Columbine came on the news, happening live. Initially, they were saying the killers were wearing makeup and masks and Marilyn Manson T-shirts. As it went along, some of that got knocked away, but because of the first reports, it stuck. And it snowballed from there."             Next