Lurking Under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions that Haunt Us

Grafius, Brandon R.

ISBN 10: 1506481620 / ISBN 13: 9781506481623

Published by Broadleaf Books, 2022

Special order direct from the distributor. Seller Inventory # ING9781506481623

Synopsis:

Horror can be a valuable conversation partner for the spiritual questions that animate so many of us. Whether through a movie, television show, novel, or even myth, horror as a genre has always spoken to our deepest human fears and anxieties: fear of death, of the unknown, of knowing too much. Whether you're looking at classic narratives like Frankenstein, which shows us the consequences of stretching knowledge farther than it's safe to go, or contemporary films like Get Out, which explores racism and white guilt, horror provides a window into our culture and what makes us human. The same can be said of religion. Horror movie buff and religion scholar Brandon Grafius finds common ground between these two seemingly disparate bedfellows--horror and religion--in Lurking under the Surface. What parallels can we draw between The Walking Dead and sacred texrts? How do the stories of Hebrew Christian scriptures and apocalyptic films like A Quiet Place and Bird Box help us find hope when it's in short supply? When we treat them both seriously, we see that horror movies and religion lead us through the same sets of questions. Both explore questions of justice, hope, and our relationship to the world and the cosmos. And both offer us ways to make meaning out of the contradictory pieces of our world--a world filled with so much hope and so many recognizable fears lurking just beneath the surface.

About the Author:

Brandon R. Grafius is associate professor of biblical studies at Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, where he teaches Old Testament and Hebrew. A film reviewer and columnist as well as a religion scholar, he is a frequent podcast guest often speaking about films, horror, and religion. His previous books include Reading the Bible with Horror, a Grawemeyer Award nominee, and a handbook on the film The Witch. He lives in Mason, Michigan, with his wife and two children.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Lurking Under the Surface: Horror, Religion,...
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
Publication Date: 2022
Binding: Paperback
Condition: New