Sacred Terror
Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen
By Douglas E. Cowan
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Subjects: All Cultural Studies, All Religious Studies, Religion & Popular Culture |
Sacred Terror examines the religious elements lurking in horror films. It answers a simple but profound question: When there are so many other scary things around, why is religion so often used to tell a scary story? In this lucid, provocative book, Douglas Cowan argues that horror films are opportune vehicles for externalizing the fears that lie inside our religious selves: of evil; of the flesh; of sacred places; of a change in the sacred order; of the supernatural gone out of control; of death, dying badly, or not remaining dead; of fanaticism; and of the power-and the powerlessness-of religion.
Preface
1 Tickets, Please
An Introduction to Sacred Terror
2 Lying at the Heart of Horror
Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen
3 Angels to Some, Demons to Others
Fear of Change in the Sacred Order
4 No Sanctuary
Ambivalence and the Fear of Sacred Places
5 Stalking Life
The Fear of Death and of Dying Badly
6 Mainstreaming Satan
Fear of Supernatural Evil Internalized and Externalized
7 The Unholy Human
Fear of Fanaticism and Fear of the Flesh
8 Curtain and House Lights
Possibility Persists in the World Outside the Frame
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
Readers should take up this darkly pleasurable book... A remarkably engaging colloquial work on the salience of religion for the neglected genre of horror films... Recommended. All readers, all levels.
—CHOICE
Well written and expertly organized, this book will certainly be exciting to movie buffs, and, because of its central emphasis upon the cultural and religious angst inherent in horror movies, will appeal to the intelligent thinker. American Studies scholars may find it a welcome exploration into a topic little explored in American scholarship.
—Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas, November 2009 (Vol 40)
Cowan proves that the genre of horror film belongs firmly in the interest of religious studies.
—S. Brent Plate, Associate Professor of Religion and the Visual Arts, Texas Christian University, and author of Religion and Film: Cinema and the Re-creation of the World
Sacred Terror will prove a compelling and necessary read for a motley audience.... For those interested in religion and film, this is a must read as it investigates and legitimizes an oft-overlooked niche of the film world. Further, the revelation of cultural ambivalence towards and fear of religion necessitates dialogue and study in theological and sociological environments.
—Nova Religio 13.4 (May 2010)
Douglas E. Cowan (Ph.D. University of Calgary) is Professor of Religious Studies at Renison University College, University of Waterloo. The author or editor of ten books, his most recent publications include Cults and New Religions: A Brief History (with David G. Bromley, 2007), Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (2005), and Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet (with Lorne L. Dawson; 2004), as well as his latest release with Baylor University Press, Sacred Space: The Quest for Transcendence in Science Fiction Film and Television (2010).
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