My latest essay for Religion Dispatches is now online, titled "Evangelicals, Halloween, and the Macabre." It can be read here.There is also another essay just posted this morning of interested, "Crying Witch: Learning From the O'Connell 'Dabbling' Debacle" by Spencer Drew.
1 comment:
Excellent article, and I'm glad you brought up the points from Monster Theory.
As a Pagan I do find it annoying and tacky for people with anti-pagan agendas to try to pervert honoring one's ancestors and beloved dead into something sinister, but I think it's doubly ignorant to discount another purpose the season serves - making you question what you're afraid of, and why.
I used to be an organizer and performer for a huge charity benefit haunted house project. One of our volunteers got on board because she was deathly afraid of anything horrific or monstrous, and had nightmares for years over movies she saw as a kid. Putting on the mask and makeup, and becoming one of the things creep in the dark, that other people scream and run from, was a life changing thing for her.
Not everyone is in the same place she was, but I think a lot of people experience something similar. As for the purely fun dress-up, that can be an ID thing too.
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