New “The Matrix Resurrection” trailer

1 | September 9th, 2021 | Posted in The Matrix

The trailer for The Matrix Resurrection dropped today.

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FORWARD on “The secret Jewish history of Frankenstein”

0 | September 9th, 2021 | Posted in Frankenstein, Golem, Jewish monsters

FORWARD, a publication devoted to discussion of interest to Jewish Americans, includes an interesting story:

“Author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born on this day, Aug. 30, in 1797 in London. Shelley is best known as the author of the Gothic novel “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” and as the wife of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary Shelley was something of a radical in her time: a believer in free love, a proto-feminist, an atheist and a prolific female author when the prevailing notions of womanhood did not include writing novels and biographies. Among dozens of writings that challenged her father’s political theories and her husband’s notion of Romanticism, Shelley’s legacy includes the age-old question: Was the premise of her “Frankenstein” based on the Jewish folktale of the Golem?”

Read the story here.

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New issue of The Journal of Gods and Monsters

0 | August 30th, 2021 | Posted in gods, Journal of Gods and Monsters, monsters, monstrous

A new issue of The Journal of Gods and Monsters is now available, Vol. 2., No. 1 (2021).
View and download here.

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Shadow Puppetry and Horror

0 | July 30th, 2021 | Posted in horror

Previously I’ve written on what I consider to be the best scene in all of the Harry Potter films, the shadow play of the “Tale of Three Brothers.” It is based on the ancient art of shadow puppetry, and this post comes out of an article on the topic in the current issue of RUE MORGUE, Issue 201 July/August 2021. The article is titled “Shadow Show,” and it is written by Carly Maga. It takes as its starting place the use of shadow puppets as part of the new CANDYMAN film trailer. I’ve always found this form of storytelling and horror interesting, and a little creepy. This article discusses some of the reasons why. Whether in CANDYMAN or HARRY POTTER, or a form of it in the opening of BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, shadow puppetry represents a form of storytelling that lends itself well to horror and the dark recesses of our mind. Check out RUE MORGUE for more.

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Darryl Caterine on the paranormal in popular culture

0 | July 29th, 2021 | Posted in paranormal

Here’s another podcast video from my other creative venture. In this conversation, Darryl Caterine and I discuss various aspects of the paranormal. Caterine is author of Haunted Ground: Journeys Through Paranormal America, and the volume we co-edited, The Paranormal and Popular Culture: A Postmodern Religious Landscape.

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David Feltmate and religious satire in adult animation

0 | July 29th, 2021 | Posted in animation, religion, satire

Some of my recent podcasts on religion and culture on another website have application here. This is my conversation with David Feltmate on religion in adult animation, including The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Family Guy. This comes out of David’s book Drawn to the Gods.

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Recommended articles and news

0 | July 2nd, 2021 | Posted in exorcism, possession

This week I posted a couple of interesting news items in the TheoFantastique Facebook page that are worth mentioning here. First, was a piece at CURRENT titled “Found Footage: January 6 and the Horror Movies that Made It.” This interesting article looks at similarities between internet-created and folklorish monsters like Slender Man are similar to those in real-life, like the insurrection against the America government on January 6, 2021. The author connects some interesting dots here. Second, there is an article that brings together horror films and religion in the form of exorcism in connection with the Conjuring 3. The article at Religion Dispatches, titled “Will ‘Conjuring 3’ Influence Real-Life Events via the ‘Exorcist effect’?”, like the preceding essay, also discusses the blurred lines between horror in pop culture and how this then becomes a part of the fabric of life outside of entertainment.

In terms of news, in my work the book I co-edited, Theology and Horror, is now available. I am currently co-editing a book on Religion and Horror Comics with Brandon Benziger. He and I are also waiting for draft submissions for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Biblical Monsters as well. More to come on these volumes as they near finalization.

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Steve Wiggins on “Nightmares with the Bible”

0 | April 27th, 2021 | Posted in Bible, Christianity, demonic, demonology, horror, possession, Satan

Steve Wiggins returns to TheoFantastique to discuss his new book Nightmares with the Bible: The Good Book and Cinematic Demons. You can purchase this volume at the link, or secure a copy via interlibrary loan. My review of Steve’s great book can be found at Horror Homeroom. Watch my previous conversation with Steve here. The book’s description is found below.


Demons! Nightmares with the Bible views demons through two lenses: that of western religion and that of cinema. Sketching out the long fear of demons in western history, including the Bible, Steve A. Wiggins moves on to analyze how popular movies inform our beliefs about demonic forces. Beginning with the idea of possession, he explores the portrayal of demons from ancient Mesopotamia and the biblical world (including in select extra-biblical texts), and then examines the portrayal of demons in popular horror franchises The Conjuring, The Amityville Horror, and Paranormal Activity. In the final chapter, Wiggins looks at movies that followed The Exorcist and offers new perspectives for viewing possession and exorcism. Written in non-technical language, this book is intended for anyone interested in how demons are perceived and how popular culture informs those perceptions.

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Guest blog post at Pop Culture and Theology

2 | March 31st, 2021 | Posted in horror, theology

I’ve got a new guest blog post at the great Pop Culture and Theology website titled “Theology and Horror: Answering the Concerns of Critics.” It is part of the promotion for my new volume, co-edited with Brandon Grafius, titled Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination.

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Review of “Nightmares with the Bible” at Horror Homeroom

0 | March 29th, 2021 | Posted in Christianity, demonic, demonology, exorcism, horror, Jewish monsters, Judaism, possession

I had the privilege of reading Steve Wiggins’ fine book, Nightmares with the Bible, a book that looks at demons, possession and the Bible, for Horror Homeroom. You can find that review here. Steve’s response is also interesting on his blog as he expresses great appreciation of the review, and his frustration that his other book on horror and the Bible, haven’t been picked up by academic book reviewers. I hope we can get Steve here to discuss his book in a podcast. See our previous discussion of Holy Horror here.

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