Category Archives: demonology

Relegere Reviews The Lure of the Dark Side: Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture

August 29th, 2011 | Posted in demonology, Satan, vampire

The publication Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception, includes a book review by Steve A. Wiggins of The Lure of the Dark Side: Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture, edited by Christopher Partridge and Eric Christianson (London: Equinox, 2009). The review touches on a number of areas covered by contributors, including a chapter describing […]

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Satanism, Exorcism and Social Horror Trends

April 7th, 2011 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, possession, Satan, Satanism, Western esotericism

An article that ran in The Telegraph on 7 April titled “Rise in demand for exorcism recalls horror trend,” caught my attention, not only for its connection of concerns over the demonic and contemporary horror films, but also for some of the provocative claims it made. Looking back at The Exorcist (1973) and an increase […]

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Cinefantastique Online – The RITE: Satan, Possession, and Unlikely Sources of Faith

February 8th, 2011 | Posted in Cinefantastique, demonic, demonology, devil in film, horror, possession

My latest contribution to Cinefantastique Online is now available, an essay titled “THE RITE: Satan, Possession, and Unlikely Sources of Faith.” From the introduction: The Devil and the related phenomenon of demonic possession, have been the source of several horror films for the years. Previous decades offered THE EXORCIST (1973), with its Roman Catholic perspective, […]

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THE RITE: Modern Exorcism in Theaters January 2011

October 23rd, 2010 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, horror, podcast, Satan

Our fascination with the devil in popular culture as informed by the Christian tradition continues, or at least Hollywood’s assumption that this figure is of interest to us, with the release of The Rite in January 2011. The film is “inspired by” the book of the same title by Matt Baglio. See the film’s website […]

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Joseph Laycock: The Exorcist, Secularization, and Folk Piety

October 27th, 2009 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, horror, Joseph Laycock, Satan, The Exorcist

Joseph Laycock is an independent scholar and doctoral candidate at Boston University, and author of Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism (Praeger, 2009) who was interviewed here in the recent past on this book. He has returned to discuss a paper he submitted to the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion titled “The Folk Piety […]

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Carrol L. Fry – Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca, and Spiritualism in Film

May 4th, 2009 | Posted in demonic, demonology, devil in film, ghost, Harry Potter, horror, occult, Othering, Satan, Satanism, Western esotericism, Wicca, Witchcraft

Various aspects of the occult, or as it is more commonly referred to today in academic circles, Western esotericism, have long been facets that have informed storytelling and fear in horror films. A recent book by Carrol Fry touches on this topic, titled Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca and Spiritualism in Film (Rosemont […]

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Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Metaphysical Reflection

January 16th, 2009 | Posted in demonology, Minority Report, science fiction, The Devil's Advocate, theological reflection

As readers of this site are aware, I attempt to move beyond a surface level analysis and appreciation of the fantastic in cinema and television to dig a little deeper in order to discover their social, cultural, and at times religious or spiritual aspects these venues provide. Last year I had the opportunity to teach […]

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Angels, Aliens, and the Supernatural Other

July 24th, 2007 | Posted in alien Messiah, aliens, angels, demonology

A short while ago I became aware of the Popular Culture Association and discovered they have an extensive horror panel at their annual convention which involves a number of presenters and papers. I contacted the gentleman who coordinates this track and he kindly provided me with a list of the panels from 2003 through 2006. […]

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