Brandon Grafius discusses his new book “Lurking Under the Surface”

Brandon Grafius is one of the best current voices at the intersection of horror and religion. In this conversation he discusses his book Lurking Under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions That Haunt Us (Broadleaf Books, 2022). Brandon is associate professor of biblical studies at Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, where he teaches Old Testament and Hebrew. A film reviewer and columnist as well as a religion scholar, he is a frequent podcast guest, often speaking about film, horror, and religion. His previous books including “Reading the Bible with Horror,” and a handbook on the film THE WITCH.

Brandon R. Grafius: https://www.etseminary.edu/brandon-r-grafius

Matthew Tan discusses Zombie Jesus

Matthew John Paul Tan discusses his book Redeeming Flesh: The Way of the Cross with Zombie Jesus. He shares how the idea of the zombie, and Zombie Jesus, can be a helpful tool for theological reflection. Tan is Dean of Studies at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Australia. He is also is a theologian based in the Archdiocese of Sydney, an author and adjunct senior lecturer in theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and a member of the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission.

Redeeming Flesh: The Way of the Cross with Zombie Jesus

My previous blog posts related to Zombie Jesus

“Catholic Theologian Rejects ‘Zombie Jesus'”

“Reflections on a Zombie Supper”

Roundtable discussion on The Forbidden Body

Featuring a roundtable discussion with Douglas E. Cowan on his book The Forbidden Body: Sex, Horror and the Religious Imagination (NUY Press, 2022). In addition to Cowan, participants include Laura Ammon, Associate Professor of Religion at Appalachian State University; Brandon R. Grafius, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Ecumenical Theological Seminary; and James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University. The conversation is hosted by John W. Morehead, an independent scholar who blogs at TheoFantastique.com.

The Forbidden Body: https://nyupress.org/9781479803118/the-forbidden-body/

Laura Ammon: https://philrel.appstate.edu/faculty-staff/laura-ammon
Brandon R. Grafius: https://brandongrafius.com/
James F. McGrath: http://blue.butler.edu/~jfmcgrat/
John W. Morehead: https://www.theofantastique.com/

#DouglasCowan #horror #religion #body #sex

Doug Cowan on The Forbidden Body at Mark Twain House

I recently had the opportunity to have a conversation with Doug Cowan on his new book The Forbidden Body hosted by the Mark Twain House & Museum. That conversation is available in the video.

“Left Behind” and Evangelical Body Horror

For the last couple of months I’ve been doing research as I draft a book proposal for a potential co-authored volume on the New Christian Right and Satanic Panic. The chapter I’ve been focusing on lately deals with end-times anxiety as a formative element of NCR fear, evangelistic impetus, and revenge on the ungodly. As part of my research I thankfully stumbled upon an article by Brian Froese in Direction journal titled “Monsters in the Church: Marking the Body in Evangelical Horror.” This is a wonderful piece in the most unlikely of sources. Direction has a Mennonite Brethren connection, and I never would have expected an essay acknowledging evangelicals drawing upon horror in the Left Behind book series, and then noting the importance of the body in such pieces of fiction. Here are a couple of excerpts that illustrate the author’s approach and insights:

“In this reading of body and horror in evangelical Christian end-time literature, what appears to be an evangelical preoccupation with conspiracy, international politics and finance, and foreign policy is congruent with the task of destabilizing totalizing narratives in late/post-modernity. Likewise, the often-reported evangelical fixation on the sexual practices and identities of others—even granting the power to destabilize civilization to the private life of a minority—may express not so much Victorian frigidity but rather a concern joined with a particular mythopoetic reading of the stability of the cosmos centered on bodily presentation.”

“I suggest that evangelical concepts of body in twentieth-century American end-time literature go beyond merely inscribing the body with social anxieties and place it (with those inscriptions) at the center of a final mythic cosmic drama.”

I think Froese is onto something here, and I hope to bring some of these insights into my book project in various places. There is one place where I think the author might need to rethink things from the state of affairs when this piece was published in 2010. Froese picks up on the subject of liminality and horror and writes:

“What typically sets a horror story in motion is a liminal transgression: entering a haunted house or opening a grave. In evangelical end-time horror there is no liminal transgression of this sort as the Rapture is typically the plot device that sets up the terrors of the tribulation. However, one’s own body is liminal and crossed with a satanic mark in this mythic cosmos.”

The body is indeed a liminal space in Left Behind, as well as in contemporary evangelical concerns over any number of pop culture and political areas where fears of Satanic influence are seen. But the concept of liminality should be expanded. In light of Christian nationalism so prevalent in American evangelicalism, I suggest that the body politic also represents another source for the cosmic drama to play out in the minds of the New Christian Right as individuals see themselves in conflict with demonic forces working to corrupt a sacred Christian nation.

If you want an interesting take on one of the most influential collections of evangelical horror of the last few decades, read Froese’s essay.

Stephen Asma on “Imaginology”

There is an intriguing article at Aeon by Stephen Asma on the importance of imaginative cognition. In a desire to move beyond the binary of reason and emotion, facts and values, he writes:

“After years of working on the problem, and countless conversations, it seems to me that what is required is a third path: to enter the chasm itself, or descend deeper into a submerged mythopoetic cognition, and develop an entirely new way of understanding learning that embraces the true engine of the mind – imagination.”

Asma has been featured on this blog previously in connection with his writing on monster theory and his book On Monsters. You can read the Aeon piece titled “Imaginology” for more on that topic.

“Moon Knight” and Egyptian Gods

I haven’t kept up with all the comic book movies coming out, having tired of so many super hero ventures and franchises. So it wasn’t surprising that I hadn’t heard about Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight, a streaming series. However, what was surprising was to find an article at The Conversation exploring an aspect of the series with the title “Moon Knight – An Egyptologist on how the series gets the gods right.” I’m not sure about the idea of getting gods “right” in a fantasy adaptation, but it is interesting to read about the intersection of comic book culture, religion, and Egyptology. You can read that article here.

Scott Poole Forthcoming Book

I was pleased to learn today of W. Scott Poole’s forthcoming book, Dark Carnivals: Modern Horror and the Origins of American Empire. Scott has been featured on this blog in years past, and I am excited about him adding yet another volume to his body of work. The abstract is reproduced below.

The panoramic story of how the horror genre transformed into one of the most incisive critiques of unchecked American imperial power

The American empire emerged from the shadows of World War II. As the nation’s influence swept the globe with near impunity, a host of evil forces followed—from racism, exploitation, and military invasion to killer clowns, flying saucers, and monsters borne of a fear of the other. By viewing American imperial history through the prism of the horror genre, Dark Carnivals lays bare how the genre shaped us, distracted us, and gave form to a violence as American as apple pie.
 
A carnival ride that connects the mushroom clouds of 1945 to the beaches of Amity Island, Charles Manson to the massacre at My Lai, and John Wayne to John Wayne Gacy, the new book by acclaimed historian W. Scott Poole reveals how horror films and fictions have followed the course of America’s military and cultural empire and explores how the shadow of our national sins can take on the form of mass entertainment.
Pre-order at https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Carnivals-Modern-Origins-American/dp/1640094369

Daniel S. Wise on ghost hunting and the paranormal

I had the privilege of having a conversation with Daniel Wise on the topic of ghost hunting and how this functions as a form of enchantment in late modernity. Daniel wrote his PhD dissertation on this topic.

Preview for Cowan’s “The Forbidden Body”

New York University Press, the publisher for Doug Cowan’s forthcoming book The Forbidden Body, has made the preface, introduction, and first chapter available for preview. Click here.

RSS for Posts RSS for Comments