Holy Horror and the Bible: A Conversation with Steve Wiggins
Steve Wiggins is an independent scholar and author of Holy Horror: The Bible and Fear in Movies (McFarland, 2018). As the title indicates, Steve looks at how the Bible is incorporated into horror films. He and I discuss this and related topics in this conversation. From the book’s back cover: What, exactly, makes us afraid? […]
Titles of Interest – Primal Roots of Horror Cinema: Evolutionary Psychology and Narratives of Fear
This looks like an interesting volume. I’ve drawn attention to a similar one previously, Why Horror Seduces, that seeks to understand horror through evolutionary social psychology. See my prior interview with the author below, Carrol Fry, on his book Cinema of the Occult. Primal Roots of Horror Cinema: Evolutionary Psychology and Narratives of Fear Carrol […]
History Channel’s “Project Blue Book”: Hynek, UFOs and fictionalized biography
As any regular reader of this blog is aware, I have had a long-time interest in paranormal phenomena, and UFOs in particular. In the 1970s I grew up with paranormal documentaries and pseudo-documentaries, and was particularly fascinated by UFOs. My brother had a sighting when we were kids, and I was a member of MUFON, […]
Texas State: Of Gods and Monsters Conference
Welcome to the page for Of Gods and Monsters, a conference happening at Texas State University April 4th -6th, 2019. We’re excited to welcome you to San Marcos, Texas, and talk about monsters! Judith Halberstam famously claimed that monsters are “meaning machines” that can be used to represent a variety of ideas, including morality, gender, […]
AAR Meeting: New Directions in the Study of Religion, Monsters, and the Monstrous Seminar
The Monsters and Religion group at the American Academy of Religion has announced an ambitious five year period of analysis and discussion that will begin with the meeting in November 2019. I really like the topic for year four, and am hoping someone presents on how we construe religious others as monsters as part of […]
Monsters: An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Project
Monsters An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Conference Saturday 31st August 2019 – Sunday 1st September 2019 Lisbon, Portugal This inclusive interdisciplinary conference seeks to investigate and explore the enduring influence and imagery of monsters and the monstrous on human culture throughout history. In particular, the project will have a dual focus with the intention of examining specific […]
Titles of Interest – Gods of Thrones: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Religions of Ice and Fire
Gods of Thrones: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Religions of Ice and Fire A. Ron Hubbard and Anthony Le Donne Bald Move Books, 2018 Why is Tyrion hated by the gods? Does Dany have a messiah complex? Can Bran manipulate timelines? What would Nietzsche think about Jaime’s morality? These are just a few of the […]
Shudder documentary “Horror Noire”
From Entertainment Weekly: Get Out writer-director Jordan Peele and Candyman star Tony Todd are two of the movie notables interviewed in a new documentary called Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, EW can exclusively reveal. Horror Noire is based on the book of the same name by Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman and takes […]
Forthcoming book in 2019: The Paranormal and Popular Culture
I am pleased to announce a February 2019 release date for one of my book projects in the coming year. It was a pleasure to co-edit with Darryl Caterine, and the wonderful contributors to this volume. I hope it makes a significant contribution to paranormal and pop culture studies. The Paranormal and Popular Culture A […]
Appreciating Rankin/Bass at the Holiday Season
I picked up a copy of the Deluxe Edition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer today to introduce to my youngest granddaughter, and was was surprisingly pleased to find several “Enchanting Bonus Features,” include a short on Restoring the Puppets of Rudolph, and a longer documentary titled The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass, a new documentary film. […]
