Category Archives: Halloween

Gender and Witchcraft through the Ages

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On Halloween (10/31/2017), I gave a talk: “Witches and Other Magical Creatures: Gender and Witchcraft through the Ages.” We covered a lot of ground but couldn’t cover it all.  I realized after the talk that I missed talking about Eve’s Bayou and the exploration of prophesy and magic that Kasi Lemmons creates in one of my favorite Southern Gothic Horror films.

Note there was an audience in the room.

 

Bibliography

Ankarloo, Brent and Stuart Clark, eds. Witchcraft and Magic in Europe (5 book series). 1999-2002.
Barstow, Anne Llewellyn. Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts. 1994.
Chéroux, Clément, et al. The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. 2005.
Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. 1987.
Magliocco, Sabina. Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America. 2004.
Myrone, Martin. Gothic Nightmares: Füseli, Blake, and the Romantic Imagination. 2006.
Petherbridge, Deanna. Witches & Wicked Bodies. 2013. (National Galleries of Scotland)
Russell, Jeffrey and Brooks Alexander. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics, & Pagans. 2nd Ed. 2006.
Sollée, Kristen. Witches, Sluts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive. 2017.
Starhawk, The Spirit Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, 20th Anniversary Edition, 1999.

 

Halloween Horror Recommendations

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In addition to my focus on feminist horror films for my 31 Days of Horror film watching (which you can find here), I thought I’d offer some other recommendations in honor of the best month of the year, October, and my favorite holiday, Halloween. October is the month when everyone is a horror fan (for some of us it’s a year-round thing). If you’re looking for some must read or watch, check out the list below. (Note: None of the films I’m featuring in my Feminist Horror #31DaysOfHorror will be on the below list.)

First, I’d be a bad scholar if I didn’t recommend my own book, so check out Gender in the Vampire Narrative (2016) edited by U. Melissa Anyiwo and me.

To Read
Non-Fiction

Histories of Haunts and Halloween

Fiction, Comics, and Graphic Novels

To Watch
Must Watch Contemporary Horror Films

  • Get Out (2017, director Jordan Peele), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
  • Train to Busan (2016, director Sang-ho Yeon), available on Netflix
  • The Devil’s Candy (2015, director Sean Byrne), available on Netflix
  • The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016, director André Øvredal), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
  • The Purge: Election Year (2016, director James DeMonaco), I would recommend the entire series but Election Year was particularly poignant in light of our current political climate, available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
  • The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014), director Adam Robitel), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
  • The Innkeepers (2012, director Ti West), available on Amazon Prime and Shudder
  • Stake Land (2010, director Jim Mickle), available on Netflix

Must Watch Classic Horror Films