New Moon, Monsters, and Mormons
I recognize that many horror fans are less than pleased with Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight creatures, whether vampires or werewolves, but as I’ve written previously, while they may not be the average horror fans “cup of tea,” their romantic elements places them within the spectrum of depictions of these creatures over their literary and cinematic history. […]
Fantastic Toys and More
The recession hit a little close to home yesterday, so today, rather than working like I should I took a little rest and relaxation time and retreated into the realm of the fantastic. I did this by picking up a copy of Spectrum 16 which includes a treasure trove of great fantastic art, and the […]
Sleeping with the Aliens: Weird Encounters of the Fourth Kind
TheoFantastique is pleased to present its first guest posting, a review of The Fourth Kind by Paul Meehan, author of several books including Tech-Noir: The Fusion of Science Fiction and Film Noir (McFarland, 2008), Cinema of the Psychic Realm: A Critical Survey (McFarland, 2009), and Saucer Movies: A UFOlogical History of the Cinema (The Scarecrow […]
Diary of a Madman: Neglected Price Classic, and Paranormal Connection
Over the last week two areas of interest came together to make for an interesting tale here at TheoFantastique. On Halloween, like many horror and Halloween fans, I spent a good portion of my day enjoying various horror films on television. I had several options to choose from, but one station did a better job […]
Scott Poole: Satan in America
I first heard of W. Scott Poole through the Religion Dispatches website that involves scholars interacting with pop culture and religion. Scott wrote an article on Jennifer’s Body that I commented on here, and which attracted a lot of interest at the now defunct HorrorBlips. Scott is associate professor of history at the College of […]
Monster Kid Nostalgia: Vincent Price and Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture
TheoFantastique is usually the place for in-depth exploration of issues related to the fantastic. But the flips side involves a fan’s enjoyment as well. With this post I take a stroll down memory lane to fondly remember a toy that this monster kid had growing up in the 1970s. Those fascinated by the fantastic don’t […]
Beware the Beast Man
I was reflecting today on the horror and science fiction films I saw over Halloween, including a weekend long running of the Planet of the Apes franchise films and some of the 1970s television program. I also reflected on the usual news of a nuclear North Korea, Iran moving toward nuclear weapons and assembled AR-10 […]
Joseph Laycock: The Exorcist, Secularization, and Folk Piety
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 […]
H. R. Giger as Digital Magician of Dark Archetypes
You never know where the fantastic in pop culture will surface, and where religion and the fantastic will intersect. I have been doing some research lately for a couple of essays on Neopaganism I need to write for a book on world religions. Today I looked at Magic and Witchcraft by Nevil Drury (Thomas & […]
Coming Attractions
I continue to enjoy putting together the posts and content that becomes the exploration of the fantastic in pop culture that is TheoFantastique. With this post I let readers know about “coming attractions,” beyond my own commentary the topics and individuals I will be talking with and about on this fantastic journey. In no particular […]
