The Paranormal and Popular Culture: A Postmodern Religious Landscape (Routledge Studies in Religion)

Interest In Preternatural And Supernatural Themes Has Revitalized The Gothic Tale, Renewed Explorations Of Psychic Powers And Given Rise To A Host Of Social And Religious Movements Based Upon Claims Of The Fantastical. And Yet, In Spite Of This Widespread Enthusiasm, The Academic World Has Been Slow To Study This Development. This Volume Rectifies This Gap In Current Scholarship By Serving As An Interdisciplinary Overview Of The Relationship Of The Paranormal To The Artefacts Of Mass Media (e.g. Novels, Comic Books, And Films) As Well As The Cultural Practices They Inspire. After An Introduction Analyzing The Paranormal's Relationship To Religion And Entertainment, The Book Presents Essays Exploring Its Spiritual Significance In A Postmodern Society; Its (post)modern Representation In Literature And Film; And Its Embodiment In A Number Of Contemporary Cultural Practices. Contributors From A Number Of Discplines And Cultural Contexts Address Issues Such As The Shamanistic Aspects Of Batman And Lesbianism In Vampire Mythology. Covering Many Aspects Of The Paranormal And Its Effect On Popular Culture, This Book Is An Important Statement In The Field. As Such, It Will Be Of Utmost Interest To Scholars Of Religious Studies As Well As Media, Communication, And Cultural Studies. E Shamanistic Aspects Of Batman And Lesbianism In Vampire Mythology. Covering Many Aspects Of The Paranormal And Its Effect On Popular Culture, This Book Is An Important Statement In The Field. As Such, It Will Be Of Utmost Interest To Scholars Of Religious Studies As Well As Media, Communication, And Cultural Studies. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents List of contributors Acknowledgments Introduction Part I The return of the sacred 1 What can the paranormal in popular culture tell us about our relationship with the sacred in contemporary society? 2 Paranormal medicine 3 The right to a narrative: metamodernism, paranormal horror, and agency in The Cabin in the Woods 4 The Dark Knight Rises: shamanic transformations in Gotham City 5 These lovers are out of this world: sex, consent, and the rhetoric of conversion in abductee narratives 6 The mystery of everything out there: Bigfoot and religion in the 21st century 7 The haunters and the hunters: popular ghost hunting and the pursuit of paranormal experience Part II The spell of occulture 8 Religions of the red planet: fin de siècle Martian romances 9 Paranormal women: the “sexual revolution” and female sexuality in Hammer Studios’ Karnstein Trilogy 10 “We’re ready to believe you!” Spiritualism and the interpretation of paranormal experience in Ghostbusters (1984) 11 Jesus and the undead: resurrected bodies in scripture and the zombie apocalypse 12 Haunting the ghost of Mark Twain 13 Accounts of high strangeness: a Brazilian perspective on the paranormal and popular culture 14 How the Necronomicon became real: the ecology of a legend 15 Miranda Barbour and the construction of a “satanic cult” murder 16 “What would you do when . . .?”: Ostensive play in the zombie apocalypse narrative 17 Paranormal beliefs, new religious movements, and the New Age spiritual milieu 18 Cryptofiction! Science fiction and the rise of cryptozoology 19 When did fairies get wings? 20 A contactee canon: Gray Barker’s Saucerian Books Conclusion Index Interest in preternatural and supernatural themes has revitalised the Gothic tale, renewed explorations of psychic powers and given rise to a host of social and religious movements based upon claims of the fantastical. And yet, in spite of this widespread enthusiasm, the academic world has been slow to study this development. This volume rectifies this gap in current scholarship by serving as an interdisciplinary overview of the relationship of the paranormal to the artefacts of mass media (e.g. novels, comic books, and films) as well as the cultural practices they inspire. After an introduction analysing the paranormal's relationship to religion and entertainment, the book presents essays exploring its spiritual significance in a postmodern society; its (post)modern representation in literature and film; and its embodiment in a number of contemporary cultural practices