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Tapestry

Religion and Horror: soul-mates in popular culture

When Jess Peacock was five years old, his parents took him to see The Exorcist. (Bad call. However, no babysitter.) What followed was a life-long passion for the intersection of the scary and the sacrosanct. Later, a religious studies professor tells all - why he thinks many of us are a little clueless about faith, even when we’ve grown up with it. We end with an essay by former CBC producer Peter Kavanagh. He has been thinking about prayer - what it does, and what it’s for.
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A woman in vampire make-up attends Wave-Gotik Treffen, or Wave and Goth Festival, on May 17, 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. (Photo by Marco Prosch/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Tapestry53:59Religion and Horror: soul-mates in popular culture

When Jess Peacock was five years old, his parents took him to see The Exorcist. What followed was a life-long passion for the intersection of the scary and the sacrosanct. His book Such a Dark Thing - Theology of the Vampire Narrative in Popular Culture, explores the links between horror and religion.

Later, Martyn Oliver finds this Pew study alarming: 12% of Americans are under the impression that Noah, he of the Ark, was married to Joan of Arc. Oliver teaches religion at American University in Washington, a liberal-arts school where religion is a fairly popular major. But many of his students show up not exactly well-prepared for what they're about to be taught. So, Oliver wrote a list - 10 Things I Wish Every College Student Knew About Religion - which went viral.

We end with an essay by former CBC producer Peter Kavanagh. He has been thinking about prayer - what it does, and what it's for.

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