Body Worlds: Art as Horrific Expression
Body Worlds is presently on display in Salt Lake City here in the state where I live. In case you haven’t heard of this before, Body Worlds is described as part art, part science, the brainchild of Gunther von Hagens. It involves the use of actual cadavers whose tissues have been injected with plastic in […]
David Wellington on Horror Fiction and Forthcoming Vampire Zero Novel
I recently had the privilege of connecting with David Wellington, a horror writer and author of a number of books including Monster Island, Monster Nation, 13 Bullets, 99 Coffins, and the forthcoming book Vampire Zero. David made some time in his writing schedule to discuss his passion for horror fiction and Vampire Zero. TheoFantastique: David, […]
New Book Explores How Horror Films Use Religion to Stir Fear
One of the reasons why I created TheoFantastique was to explore some of the deeper sociological, cultural, and even religious aspects of horror, sci fi and fantasy. Thankfully I am not alone in this interest, as evidenced by one of my fellow explorers, my friend Douglas Cowan, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Social Development […]
New DVD for The Pit and the Pendulum Available: Perfect for Halloween Viewing
My good friend and fellow fantasy explorer, filmmaker Marc Lougee, recently sent me a copy of his short film newly available on DVD, “Ray Harryhausen Presents Edgar Allen Poe’s” The Pit and the Pendulum. This film is unique in that it tells the familiar Poe story through the art of stop-motion animation, a three dimensional […]
Philly Zombie Crawl and “Zombie Jesus”
Sometimes it is helpful to step back and understand how others perceive you through your actions and beliefs. Sometimes these perceptions can be frightening, and indicate a misunderstanding. A review of the early history of the Christian church indicates that the Romans and Greeks understood their memorial meal connected to Jesus’s death as a form […]
Despite a Distinguished Pedigree and Helpful Function, Monsters Receive Little Respect
You might recall comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s old schtick about getting no respect. Our monstrous literary and cinematic creations might sympathize, as well as those who find them of interest beyond escapist pop culture entertainment. Last week I was looking at the intriguing academic research and writing of Michael Collings of Pepperdine University who has written […]
John Muir Interview: 1980s Horror Films, and Tobe Hooper
One of the privileges I have had in operating this website is to meet and dialogue witha lot of creative and reflective people. One of these people is John Muir, a writer and journalist who is the author of twenty-two reference books covering science fiction and horror on film and television through McFarland Publishing (www.mcfarlandpub.com), […]
Halloween Animation Offerings
One of the great things that I associate with the fall and the Halloween season is a collection of animation that I have enjoyed over the years. As children in the not too distant past, viewers had to wait for the whims of the major networks to air these programs, but now with DVDs, the […]
October Promotions
Since today being the 1st of October that means the month-long countdown to Halloween begins, and with it we ratchet up the celebration of the haunted and mystical season. With this post I will share three items that recently came across my desk for review, and which also represent October promotional items available for my readers. […]
The Love War: A Legacy of the ABC Movie of the Week
The other day a memory of 1970s television came to mind in the form of a science fiction tale, but I couldn’t remember the name of the program. Thank goodness for the Internet and Google. A quick search under “Angie Dickinson” and “Lloyd Bridges,” connected to “1970s television” produced the result I was hoping for. […]
