TheoFantastique

“The Supernatural Cinema of Guillermo del Toro” now available

0 | May 31st, 2015 | Posted in fantasy, Guillermo del Toro, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth

The Supernatural Cinema of Guillermo del Toro
Critical Essays

Edited by John W. Morehead
Foreword by Doug Jones
$39.95 softcover (6 ¥ 9)
Photos, notes, bibliography, index
ISBN 978-0-7864-9595-5
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4766-2075-6 2015

Guillermo del Toro is one of the most prolific artists working in film. His directorial work includes Cronos (1993), Mimic (1997), The Devil’s Backbone (2001), Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Hellboy II (2008) and Pacific Rim (2013). He has also worked extensively as a producer, with several screenwriting credits to his name. As a novelist he coauthored The Strain Trilogy (2009–2011), which he also developed into a television series for FX in 2014. Del Toro has spoken of the “primal, spiritual function” of his art, which gives expression to his fascination with monsters, myth, archetype, metaphor, Jungian psychology, the paranormal and religion. This collection of new essays discusses cultural, religious and literary influences on del Toro’s work and explores key themes of his films, including the child’s experience of humanity through encounters with the monstrous.

This book is now available through your local bookstore as well as Amazon.com and McFarland Publishing.

Tagged in: fantasy, Guillermo del Toro, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth

The Esoteric “Nosferatu”

1 | May 30th, 2015 | Posted in 1920s, esotericism, Nosferatu, occult, vampire, Western esotericism

The May 2015 issue of Fortean Times caught my eye when I was in the bookstore on Friday. On the cover was Max Shrek made up as Count Orlok in the silent horror film classic Nosferatu as the illustration for a story by Brian Robb titled “Nosferatu: The Vampire and the Occultist.” As a scholar of religion, the Western esoteric tradition is an area of interest for research, and when this comes together with horror then it becomes the best of both worlds in religion and pop culture studies.

Robb’s article tells the story of Albin Grau and his Prana-Film. Grau us credited with costume design for Nosferatu, but he was responsible for far more in this film. Much of his pre-production artwork found its way into promotional posters for the film (including the one in the image accompanying this post) and it also influenced the visual and conceptual elements of the rat and infection that shaped the look of Count Orlok. In addition, Prana-Film was Grau’s production company. “Prana” coming from Hinduism and the Western esoteric tradition of religion and it refers to the life force or vital energy.

Grau was a practitioner of the occult that experienced a revival during the Weimar Republic in Germany, an interest fueled by the nation’s defeat in World War I and the further devastation from the 1918 Spanish Flu. Robb describes Grau’s esoteric involvement:

“Albin Grau’s occult interests were far-reaching, but his main affiliation was to Fraternitas-Saturni, the ‘Brotherhood of Saturn’, a German mystical order founded in the late 1920s. Prior to that, Grau had many titles and many roles – if there was a [sic] occult group active in the early 20th century then he was probably a member. Under the alias ‘Frater Pacitus’, he was a Master of the Pansophical Lodge, where he first met fellow occultist Eugene Grosche. Gray was also briefly an initiatve of the Ordo Templi Orientis, or OTI, primarily associated with the ‘great beast’ himself, Aleister Crowley.”

Robb cites the work of Raymond Owen in an online essay titled “Nosferatu and the Occult(ists)” that expands on the occult connections of Grau:

“Grau’s occultist affiliations are of considerable interest, eventually reaching even to Aleister Crowley, although that connection was tenuous in his filmmaking years. Grau was a practitioner of mystery rituals and a close associate of Heinrich Tränker, a seller of esoteric books who founded several ‘pansophic’ groups in Weimar Germany. Tränker’s ‘Pansophia’ (‘all-wisdom’) was a program of occultist syncretism based on the close study of arcane traditions: alchemy, freemasonry, theosophy, ritual magick, rosicrucianism, astrology, templarism, ‘the hidden knowledge of the East’ etc. Sometime in the early ’20s—right about the time his friend and fellow occultist Grau was launching Prana-Film and preparing to make Nosferatu—Tränker consolidated his various groups into the Grand Pansophical Lodge of the Orient—Berlin, with himself as Grand Master. Grau served under him in an office called ‘Master of the Chair.’”

According to Robb, Grau not only included elements of esotericism in Nosferatu, but he also embedded various esoteric messages in the film. Robb did not demonstrate the latter claim to my satisfaction, but he does draw attention to a scene in the film where a contract between Orlock and the character Hutter is shown. The document only shows on screen for a few seconds, but it does include occultic symbolism.

Robb discusses the symbols and says they “are largely astrological in nature, evoking the Moon (Luna), Mars, and Saturn, as well as Satan himself. The intention was to suggest the contract with Count Orlok is actually a pact with the Devil, suggested through the use of personal sigils.” Robb goes on to say that “some magical practitioners” consider the symbols on the contract authentic, but “if translated stricly according to tradition, produce something akin to gobbledegook.” Unfortunately, Robb fails to provide a citation or bibliographical references for this.

This is the first time I’ve heard of any connection between esotericism and Nosferatu. It sounds like it might be worth pursuing with further research.

Tagged in: 1920s, esotericism, Nosferatu, occult, vampire, Western esotericism

CFP for Edited Collection – Monstrous Moral Messengers: Supernatural Figures in Children’s Picture Books and Early Readings

0 | May 30th, 2015 | Posted in children, monsters, morality, supernatural

CFP for Edited Collection: Monstrous Moral Messengers: Supernatural Figures in Children’s Picture Books and Early Readings

Picture books and early readers carry all the weight of parental authority, and are essential tools in the learning process for our children. With their bright pictures, they perform their function of holding the child’s attention quite well, and they are accessed freely and repeatedly. For more information about books click on view more. They offer children not only hours of sanctioned entertainment and carefully chosen words and concepts, they also introduce our youngest children to specific cultural norms and belief systems. What role then does the supernatural character play for children learning to “read” and interpret the values in the interplay of images, words, and authority? Is there a difference, for the child, when the protagonist shown in the picture is a werewolf, fairy, or ghost? What message is offered to a viewing child when the image of the antagonist is a vampire, troll, or god? Does the very fact that the character is supernatural alter the reading? And is it meant to alter the meaning? At this point, there is no text addressing these questions; although there is an increasing amount of scholarship regarding how the various supernatural characters (and monstrous children) reflect various adult issues when they appear within film and television. I think it is perhaps more important to understand what messages are being offered our children through the same, albeit simplified, medium of pictorial texts which offer a sanctioned teaching medium for learning the semiotics which children are praised for interpreting. This book is meant to begin the exploration of what cultural norms and morals are being offered our children in images via this medium since picture books and early readers are not just sanctioned, but encouraged.

For this collection, papers from any discipline are welcome. Focus is, however, exclusively on supernatural figures in children’s picture books and early readers. (The only exclusions are aliens, and magical entities such as talking trees, talking owls, etc.) Issues which might be explored by contributors include (but are not limited to):

* The primary purpose of the supernatural character[s] within a specific text, or series, and what it/they are teaching children
* The use of a supernatural character as harmless entertainment (is there really a picture book which doesn’t offer a moral of some sort?)
* The use of a ghost, vampire, werewolf, or other supernatural, as a stand-in for diversity. Do they work as a stand in? Why or why not? (Why not just depict the human “other?”)
* The way in which a specific moral is being offered through the use of a supernatural character
* The way the supernatural character will potentially impact the child’s view of their world
* Comparative discussion regarding how the morals in early monster tales (such as Grimm’s) are now being revised to offer a differing moral – and how/why the changes reflect new norms

Questions to get you thinking:

* Why are so many supernatural characters green?
* Are some supernatural characters depicted as “bad” while others are “good?”
* Does the color scheme used impact the child’s reading of the characters?
* In what way does adult encouragement regarding “reading” the text impact the child’s reading of the supernatural character[s]?
* Is there a different reading/interpretation of the text offered the child when the supernatural being is the protagonist or the antagonist?

Please submit a 300 word abstract and a brief scholarly bio to Leslie Ormandy at monstrousmessengers@gmail.com. The closing date for submissions is June 10, 2015. Notice of acceptance will follow by June 25, 2015 (and will include a listing of helpful readings). Complete 7000 – 8000 word essays are to be submitted by December 10, 2015 in MLA format with US spelling and punctuation.

Tagged in: children, monsters, morality, supernatural

Call for Papers – Fortean Approaches to the Study of Religion

0 | May 2nd, 2015 | Posted in call for papers, paranormal

Callf or Papers –Fortean Approaches to the Study of Religion

Edited by Jack Hunter(Doctoral Candidate, Dept. Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Bristol)

Overview:

Over the course of four intriguing books (The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1925), Lo! (1931), and Wild Talents (1932), Charles Hoy Fort meticulously collected hundreds of accounts of anomalous events documented in scientific journals and newspapers, including such unusual occurrences as fish falling from the sky, poltergeists, unidentified flying objects, levitations, mysterious objects, disappearances, ball lightning, and so on. Throughout all of his works, Fort employed the philosophy of intermediatism: “that nothing is real, but that nothing is unreal: that all phenomena are approximations in one way between realness and unrealness.” Through this rigorously agnostic epistemology Fort was able to explore some exceedingly strange territory, unearthing phenomena (what he called “damned facts”), that mainstream science had rejected outright, and in so doing inspired others to employ a similarly Fortean approach in their own writings. This collection draws together scholars who have taken a Fortean approach to the study of religion, itself a category filled with a wide range of weird and anomalous accounts: from miracles, encounters with supernatural beings, and self-mortification, to stigmata, spirit possession and mystical experience.

Submissions of abstracts on areas related to the following would be greatly appreciated:

*Fortean approaches to religion.
*The paranormal in the context of religion and religious studies.
*Explorations of implications of Fortean/paranormal phenomena for the study of religion
*Relating Fortean concepts to theory, theology, etc.
*Examinations of the relevance of other Fortean writers, e.g. John Keel, John Michell, Colin Wilson, Jacques Vallee, etc. to the study of religion.
*Intermediatism
*Extraordinary religious phenomena (stigmata, spirit possession, magic, shamanism, visions, altered states of consciousness etc.)

These are just a few ideas, and I would be more than happy to hear other thoughts or suggestions for possible chapters that would fit within the general theme of the book.

Deadline for abstract submissions and expressions of interest: June 15th 2015.

If you have any ideas or questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch: discarnates@googlemail.com

The book is currently under consideration by Aporetic Press (https://aporeticpress.wordpress.com/about/)

Bio: Jack Hunter is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol. His research takes the form of an ethnographic study of contemporary trance and physical mediumship in Bristol, focusing on themes of personhood, performance, altered states of consciousness and anomalous experience. In 2010 he established Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal, as a means to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue on issues relating to paranormal beliefs, experiences and phenomena. He is the editor of Paranthropology: Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal (2012) and Strange Dimensions: A Paranthropology Anthology (2015, forthcoming), both of which gather some of the best articles from the first four years of the journal. He is the author of Why People Believe in Spirits, Gods and Magic (2012), a beginner’s introduction to the anthropology of the supernatural, and co-editor with Dr. David Luke of Talking With the Spirits: Ethnographies from Between the Worlds (2014).

Tagged in: call for papers, paranormal

Documentary – “Santa Muerte: The Skeleton Saint”

0 | May 2nd, 2015 | Posted in Day of the Dead, death, Dia de los Muertos, Santa Muerte

Andrew Chesnut has been interviewed here at TFQ previously in his work on devotion to Santa Muerte. He has recently produced this short documentary on this titled Santa Muerte: The Skeleton Saint.

Tagged in: Day of the Dead, death, Dia de los Muertos, Santa Muerte

Lemax Spooky Town 2015

0 | April 14th, 2015 | Posted in Spooky Town

The Lemax Spooky Town line of new products is available now for preview. Several pieces caught my eye, the first time in a couple of years. For a look visit this link.

Tagged in: Spooky Town

Tor.com on respectful criticism in fandom

1 | March 27th, 2015 | Posted in fan cultures, geek cultures

Recently Tor.com included an article that brought together my interests in the fantastic as well as respectful engagement even in criticism. The article is “Protecting What You Love: On the Difference Between Criticism, Rage, and Vilification” by Emily Asher-Perrin.

The author acknowledges a place for criticism within fandom, but rightly takes issue with demonizing creators of different versions of beloved items of the fantastic. At one point the author writes:

But maybe none of this is the point. Maybe you’re just upset with the people in charge for creating something that didn’t grab you. To which the answer is simple: Disliking something is fine. Hating a person, a human being you’ve never met, for no reason other than the creative choices they made? Even if they’re weren’t great creative choices? That’s pretty extreme. And openly attacking that human being? That’s unnecessary and damaging to all fandom communities. Choices themselves can be critiqued. But that person was doing their job, trying to make something that they were hoping you’d like. Regardless of how strong your feelings are, they do not deserve that level of fury and contempt directed right at them.

I couldn’t agree more. TheoFantastique involves critical analysis of various facets of the fantastic loved by fans, but every attempt is made to be fair and respectful in the process. You can read Asher-Perrin’s piece here.

Tagged in: fan cultures, geek cultures

Remembering Leonard Nimoy

1 | February 27th, 2015 | Posted in Obituary, Star Trek

It is with great sadness that I note the passing of Leonard Nimoy at the age of 83. He was one of my childhood heroes due to Star Trek. I remember identifying with his logical approach to dealing with his emotions in his human half as I wrestled with my own emotions and social changes during teen years in the 1970s. My appreciation continued during this time period as he served as the host for In Search of… on the paranormal, and in things like Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), and his ongoing Trek films. I was privileged to meet him during a speaking engagement he had at Delta College in Stockton, California in the 70s when my brother and I dashed back stage after his presentation to get an autograph and a snapshot. He was a great icon of the the fantastic in my life.

Tagged in: Obituary, Star Trek

Trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s “Crimson Peak”

0 | February 27th, 2015 | Posted in ghost, Guillermo del Toro, haunted houses, horror

I am really looking forward to this one coming out in October this year, Crimson Peak, by Guillermo del Toro.

Tagged in: ghost, Guillermo del Toro, haunted house, horror

Interview with Jess Peacock on “Such a Dark Thing: Theology of the Vampire Narrative in Popular Culture”

1 | February 26th, 2015 | Posted in religion, theology, Titles of Interest, vampire

Recently Jess Peacock got in touch with me to let me know about his new book, Such a Dark Thing: Theology of the Vampire Narrative in Popular Culture (Resource Publications, 2015). It is a good read, and for those interested in exploring various theological aspects of the vampire, this book is worthwhile, bringing together an academic interest in probing deeply with a fan’s passion for the monstrous. Jess responded to some interview questions about his book in the following interview.

TheoFantastique: Jess, thanks for getting in touch and letting me know about Such a Dark Thing even before it was released. It was a great read. How did a horror fan from his youth, later a theologian involved in various aspects of ministry, come to develop an academic interest in vampires viewed through a theological lens?

Jess Peacock: My childhood was heavily influenced by the horror genre. I was obsessed with the entire Universal monsters franchise, Hammer films terrified and fascinated me, and I was reading Famous Monsters of Filmland at a very young age. In middle school, Fangoria magazine and the VHS revolution completed my transformation into a horror nerd. The genre really spoke to me, but nothing petrified me more than vampires. That obsession just never waned and, in all honesty, I always saw the vampire connected to theology in some manner. How could you not? Resurrection, holy water, the crucifix? It’s as if they were malevolent creatures that stepped right out of the Bible.

As I entered graduate school to study religion, it made sense to steer my research toward the vampire narrative in popular culture. Like I said, the mythos is a lens through which to analyze questions about death, the quandary of evil, and the role of religious symbols. Beyond that, I felt that the traditional narrative held a lot of potential for contemporary society. Meaning, I didn’t want to do research for the sake of research, but wanted to connect the western vampire narrative to tangible social justice efforts going on within the culture.

TheoFantastique: Among the many fine points you make in the book, you argue that not only is the vampire a figure for theological reflection on the nature of sin and evil, but you also connect it to conceptions of the divine in the Judeo-Christian tradition. This will be a bitter pill to swallow for conservative Christians who tend to hold to a sanitized version of their faith tradition. How do you see the vampire and the more general concept of the monstrous connecting to an understanding of God?

Jess Peacock: In all honesty, while I didn’t write the book to annoy conservative Christians, many of them probably wouldn’t like Such a Dark Thing. I am not anti-religion, and I make a case within the book for the potential of religion to be a force for justice within society. I am, however, anti-orthodoxy…anti-fundamentalism, and many of my conclusions skew wildly from conservative Christian dogma. Having said that, and to your question, it is undeniable that the vampire has often stood as a theophany within literature and cinema. The figure still exists as a powerful representation of topics including sin, redemption, evil, and death. Perhaps more controversial, the vampire and other fictional representations of the monstrous open a symbolic window onto the issue of theodicy, as well as shedding light on what could be interpreted in Scripture as the horror or monstrousness of God.

Reading the Hebrew Bible, it doesn’t take long to understand that Yahweh can be pretty scary. Fear is a common and stated tool of influence wielded by the Divine over humanity, and as such God comes to be seen less as a nurturer and more as a mercurial cosmic overlord who demands worship and faithfulness…or else. Many overlook the fact that in the narrative of the Egyptian plagues Yahweh is called “the Destroyer.” That’s pretty frightening to me.

TheoFantastique: You speak in the book about “interreligious horror,” and the possibility that the vampire might evolve beyond Christian symbolism and particularism. How might the vampire rooted in different religious and irreligious ideas be of value in a pluralist society?

Jess Peacock: This is a difficult question to answer without delving at length into the content of the book. But in a nutshell, I wanted to look at how the increasingly deemphasized Christian symbolism within the vampire narrative might be reflective of the waning influence of religion in the wider culture. And while that might be alarming to some, it could provide an opportunity for a spiritual revolution for others.

I would argue that the traditional view of theism is no longer needed by society, and I think we’re definitely seeing this reflected in irreligious vampire narratives from Blade to Twilight. Rather than this being a portent of the death of faith, the contemporary vampire mythos could be viewed as a symbol of a new theology, one of transcendence over immanence. In other words, the community creates and interprets God versus having to obey morals and precepts stemming from an authoritarian, unseen, and unquestioned deity. This reversal, that of a community influencing the Divine versus a “God said it, that settles it” dynamic, creates a safe and imaginative space to discuss theological and social issues without the threat of the inflexibility of religious exceptionalism or biblical literalism.

TheoFantastique: Another major idea of yours is that the vampire can serve as a symbol of resistance and liberation. You mention this in connection with liberation theology. One could argue that resistance and liberation is one facet of the so-called “war on terror.” Given our present debates over religion and violence, have you given any thought as to how the vampire might contribute to our reflection on these important global realities?

Jess Peacock: Absolutely. As I alluded to earlier, to some extent I use the vampire narrative to discuss at what point gods become monsters. With regard to the “war on terror,” we can use the same analytical process to discuss when a so-called exceptional nation turns into a monstrous one. When does the United States cross the line between justice and terror, displaying shocking ambivalence toward the innocent people victimized by its actions? When, in our search for monsters, do we become what we hate? I feel that, with our record of mass drone strikes and an illegal torture program, this is a question long overdue and one still not sufficiently publicly addressed and debated. And while we might consider our “war” to be a righteous one fueled by redemptive violence, our monstrous actions inevitably breeds more monsters, much as a vampire sires more vampires.

TheoFantastique: Jess, thanks again for the book and for the opportunity to drink deeply from the well of the vampire and the theological.

“Book Review: The Vampire Defanged”

“Leonard Primiano: True Blood, Post-9/11 Spirituality, and ‘Vernacular Religion'”

“Matt Cardin: ‘Religion and the Vampire’ in The Encyclopedia of the Vampire”

“Christians and Vampire Mythology”

“Mary Y. Hallab: Vampire God”

“Titus Hjelm – From Demonic to Genetic: The Rise and Fall of Religion in Vampire Film”

Tagged in: religion, theology, Titles of Interest, vampire