Book Title: A (Holy?) Ghost in the Machine: Religion and Artificial Intelligence in Science-Fiction and Horror Editor: Gregory Stevenson, York University The genres of Science-Fiction and Horror have always been somewhat ahead of the curve in envisioning the possibilities and dangers of technology. With the rapidly increasing advancements in the field of artificial intelligence, those…
Tag: Horror
Horror Comics and Religion: Beyond the Frames
By John W. Morehead I grew up in the 1970s and have fond memories of walking home from elementary school and cutting through the small local grocery store each day. Right near the entrance were a couple of magazine racks that featured the latest comic books and MAD magazine. With great eagerness we would spin…
Theology and Horror: A Mirror for Current Events
By John W. Morehead I have roots in the conservative Evangelical Christian tradition, even though I see myself staking out more of a centrist position. When evangelicals “do theology,” whether biblical, systematic, or whatever form it takes, rarely is there an effort to wrestle with the darker aspects of the Hebrew and Christian Bible. For…
The Devil and Generational Conflict in 1968
By Danny Anderson The year is 1968 and two attractive young people find themselves seduced by a Devil-worshiping cult. The cult seeks the vitality of their youth and will stop at nothing in a plot to indoctrinate them as servants of Satan. This plot summary surely rings a bell for horror aficionados, but the fact…
A Friday the 13th in October: Jason Voorhees and Scapegoating
By David L. Dickey Today marks a special Holiday for us “spooky kids” of the 1980’s. Not only are we in the middle of October, with most of us elbow deep in the process of transforming our homes and yards (and workplaces and cars and whatever else we can afford to) into tombs, graveyards, haunted…
Ryan Murphy, As American as Apple Pie and Demons
Ilaria Biano, PhD Clive Barker once said, “There are apparently two books in every American household—one of them is the Bible, and the other one is probably by Stephen King,”[i] thus suggesting an inseparable connection between American culture, religion, and the horror genre. If one were to seek a champion of this cultural milieu within…
Horror, Theology, and the Fragmented World
By Brandon R. Grafius Every prophet in the Hebrew Bible has a call narrative, a story where God speaks to them directly and commissions them to be a prophet. Think of Moses at the burning bush, the young Samuel being woken by a voice in the middle of the night, or Jeremiah being touched on…
Faith in the Balance: Religious Trauma and Hope in The Vigil
By Danny Anderson Horror films are shapeshifters by nature. They emerge into the world at a given time and place and contort themselves to embody the anxieties, fears, and hopes of their moment. For those interested in religion, horror has been, justifiably so, a primary cinematic genre to explore. No other kind of film takes…
Theology and Horror: Answering the Concerns of the Critics
Guest post by John W. Morehead As a co-editor with Brandon Grafius of the new volume Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination, I was asked to submit a post to help bring attention to our new work. I will use the opportunity to respond to tendencies that at times see a disconnect between…
Sometimes Dead is Better: Pet Sematary and Some Halloween Easter Reflections
By Danny Anderson Is it going too far to call Pet Sematary an Easter movie? Hear me out. First, let’s admit up front that Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer’s 2019 adaptation of Pet Sematary doesn’t explore the depths of human grief that it’s source material does. Stephen King’s 1983 novel is a classic work of…
Pop Culture and Theology 