Category Archives: death

Documentary – “Santa Muerte: The Skeleton Saint”

Andrew Chesnut has been interviewed here at TFQ previously in his work on devotion to Santa Muerte. He has recently produced this short documentary on this titled Santa Muerte: The Skeleton Saint.

Interview with R. Andrew Chesnut on Santa Muerte, the Saint of Death

R. Andrew Chesnut is Professor of Religious Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the author of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint (Oxford University Press, 2012), the first academic study of this topic in in English. He is currently working on the sequel. Chesnut discusses Santa Muerte in the interview below. TheoFantastique: Thank […]

Reflections on an Academic Conference on the Saint and ‘Cult of Death’

Santa Muerte, the Saint of Death, and the international following she has is an area of interest here at TheoFantastique. R. Andrew Chesnut, author of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint (Oxford University Press, 2012), recently posted on his blog regarding his thoughts on an international conference in the Netherlands that brought scholars […]

Titles of Interest – Devoted to Death: Santa Muerta, the Skeleton Saint

Devoted to Death: Santa Muerta, the Skelton Saint by R. Andrew Chesnut (Oxford University Press, 2012) R. Andrew Chesnut offers a fascinating portrayal of Santa Muerte, a skeleton saint whose cult has attracted millions of devotees over the past decade. Although condemned by mainstream churches, this folk saint’s supernatural powers appeal to millions of Latin […]

La Santa Muerte: Mexico’s Saint of Sacred Death

This morning I was catching up on various essays at Religion Dispatches and I came across one that especially caught my attention. It was titled “Death Couture: Not for Halloween Only,” with the byline “De-exoticizing Mexico’s patron saint of death,” by Stephen Andes. This fascinating essay describes La Santa Muerte, translated as “Holy Death” or […]

Mary Y. Hallab: Vampire God

One of the helpful features of Amazon.com is its “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought…” recommendations. In a quest for new research and discussion topics using this feature I came across a book by Mary Y. Hallab, titled Vampire God: The Allure of the Undead in Western Culture (SUNY Press, 2009). I’m glad I […]

PET SEMATARY: “Resurrection” Gone Wrong and Parental Loss

One of the programs I watch every time it’s replayed is Bravo’s “The 100 Scariest Movie Moments” (2004). Although I certainly find my areas of disagreement in the program’s selection of moments (for example, Jaws listed as number 1, the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz being included, and inclusion of the psychedelic boat scene […]

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