Why Are We Drawn to Horror?
What inspired you to write Why Horror Seduces? The book is based on years of…
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Opting for Lucy Over Linus: Watching The Great Pumpkin in the Age of Trump
There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and…
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American Horror Story: Hotel and Monotheism’s Dirty Little Secrets
A handful of conservative groups are frothing at the mouth over the current season of American…
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This Halloween, Think of Islam as a Religion of Pieces. Reese’s Pieces.
Will they have gluten-free treats? Is white chocolate structurally racist? Are brown M&M’s offensive? Isn’t…
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Trick or….Bible: Christians Coping with Halloween
“Halloween gives you a great opportunity to show how Christians celebrate the day that death was defeated, and you can give them Gospel tracts…”
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Death Couture: Not For Halloween Only
The highway that leads from the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza back to the resort-lined coast of the Yucatan Peninsula runs straight through several small towns. And there beside the Virgin of Guadalupe and San Judas Tadeo a gargantuan lawn statue of La Santa Muerte—Mexico’s patroness saint of death—looms over the rest.
Read MoreDrop that Candy Bar, Pagan!
How the religious right wants you to spend Halloween.
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Halloween, Evangelicals, and the Macabre
While many evangelicals continue to treat Halloween as evil the holiday actually includes significant Christian contributions.
Read MoreMuslims Wearing Things, Tea Party Chastised on Nazi Talk, and Politicking in Church
RD’s weekly review doesn’t flinch when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shows up in a Stetson.
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The Fear is Real: A New View of Halloween “Hell Houses”
Tribulation Trail, and other “Hell Houses” are not solely managing hypothetical fears of what may happen in end-times scenarios; they are about managing fears about the present and imagining a way out now. This “way out” is much more than metaphysical. It seems to fit with the material realities of what it is like to be a member of the working class of the U.S., by offering a sense of orientation and self-worth to people who have been demoralized and exploited in almost every other possible way.
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