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 […]
Interview with Robert Geraci on the “Virtually Sacred”
Robert Geraci has been interviewed here previously regarding his work in artificial intelligence. With his return below we discuss his new volume Virtually Sacred: Myth and Meaning in World of Warcraft and Second Life (Oxford University Press, 2014). TheoFantastique: Thanks for your willingness to discuss your new book. How did you come to see video […]
Titles of Interest – Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds
Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds (University of California Press, 2015), by Joseph P. Laycock. The 1980s saw the peak of a moral panic over fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Before you read the rest of this article, you might want to […]
Dungeons & Dragons and Ancient Bestiaries
Religion Dispatches recently published an interesting article by Robert Geraci that contrasts the The Monster Manual from Dungeons & Dragons with ancient bestiaries and tales of monsters and miracles. The essay is titled “Monstrous Futures: Dungeons & Dragons, Harbinger of the “None” Generation, Turns 40.” Two quotes of note: “We wish for an enchanted world, […]
Guest Post – “Re-embracing John Carpenter’s More Obscure Films”
This post is a guest essay from Brandon Engel. For the average baby boomer movie-goer, John Carpenter will always be the answer to the the trivia question, “who wrote and directed the horror classic Halloween (1978)?” For film aficionados of any generation, Carpenter will be know as a film artist who crafted some of the […]
Open Graves, Open Minds update
Previously TheoFantastique has noted the conference and publishing work of Open Graves, Open Minds. This post shares a recent update received on their work, including a book and conference. OPEN GRAVES, OPEN MINDS relates the Undead in literature and other media to questions concerning genre, technology, consumption and social change. It features original research by leading […]
Call for Submissions – “Paranormal Pop: Religion, Pop Culture, and the Supernatural”
Call for Submissions ROTHCO Press is accepting proposals for essays for an edited volume tentatively titled Paranormal Pop: Religion, Pop Culture, and the Supernatural, to be published in Summer 2015. Academic writers and independent scholars are invited to submit proposals spanning the wide range of topics on pop culture and the paranormal, and their connection […]
Automata
The trailer for Automata looks intriguing. Hopefully it will be a thoughtful expression of science fiction. In a future where Earth’s ecosystem verges on collapse, man-made robots roam the cities to protect dwindling human life. When a robot overrides a key protocol put in place to protect human life, ROC Robotics insurance agent Jacq Vaucan […]
In Memory of Bela Lugosi
A nice looking colorized photo from Dracula, and a video tribute in memory of Bela Lugosi who passed away August 16, 1956.
Conference on ‘Folk Horror’ at Queen’s University in Belfast
A Friend in the Furrows: Perspectives on ‘Folk Horror’ in Literature, Film and Music 19-21 September, 2014 Queen’s University Belfast ‘A Fiend in the Furrows’ is a three-day conference in association with the School of English and the Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities at Queen’s University Belfast, exploring ‘folk horror’ in British and […]
