Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4371 )

• Motorcycle Trip

  

  Among my introductory lectures to students was one that covered genre. I recall saying something along the lines of “when you read something your expectations o... Read more

  Posted on 04 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Going Below

  

  Indiana Jones in National Treasure, in found-footage horror format. That’s the feel of As Above, So Below. Only Jones is a woman. There’s plenty of religious... Read more

  Posted on 03 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Perhaps More?

  

  Publishers use the term “deep backlist” to refer to titles that they published long ago. That’s always the phrase that comes to mind when I browse my “to read”... Read more

  Posted on 02 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Hoping for 2025

  

  Those who predict, as pollsters repeatedly remind us, can’t really prognosticate.  In ancient times some prophets were thought to be given (usually... Read more

  Posted on 01 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• 2024 in Books

  

  I’m trying to figure it out.  My annual last post is my book reflection for the fading year.  I keep track of my books on Goodreads, and I always join their... Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bottoming Out?

  

  It was an honest mistake, I swear! I had remembered reading in Stephen King’s Danse Macabre that The Creeping Unknown was worth seeing. I’d known about this... Read more

  Posted on 30 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Writing Academic

  

  One of the things that Stephen King detests (or at least detested back in the seventies) was academic literary criticism.  Perhaps you’re more normal than King... Read more

  Posted on 29 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Vampire Lovers

  

  Stylish, gothic, dramatic. If it weren’t for the vampires you might not know that Only Lovers Left Alive is a horror movie. Indeed, some say it’s not. You can... Read more

  Posted on 28 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Dark Season

  

  It was on Goodreads that I first saw The Gathering Dark. Since I’ve been trying to read more short stories, I decided I should give it a go. Read more

  Posted on 27 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Historic Vampires

  

  Vampire movies have always been a guilty pleasure. The thing is, there are so many of them that watching them all would be the task of a lifetime (and a... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• A Christmas Parable

  

  And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Donald Trump that all the world should be taxed.  2 (And this taxing was first made when... Read more

  Posted on 25 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Eves and Holidays

  

  If you stop in to this blog for reading about horror movies, don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of that to come.  One thing everyone who knows me knows is that I... Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mad, Bad

  

  Although epic poetry holds an important place in literary history, I tend to read prose more.  Like most wordsmiths, I do write poetry—more like dabble in it. Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Echoes

  

  Among the first books I read that might be considered Dark Academia was P. D. James’ Death in Holy Orders. That was so long ago that I don’t remember when,... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Solstice 2024

  

  We have a small solstice celebration at home.  We’re not pagans, but it seems that the shortest day ought to be observed.  Noted.  Pondered.  You see, this... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Scrolling Along

  

  I’ve got a condition.  “Oh, we know!” I hear you say.  But I mean a specific one.  Fast moving images make me nauseous.  It can be debilitating. Read more

  Posted on 20 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Feeling Gothic

  

  Gothic is an odd movie. I first saw it while in seminary and have come back to it now and again. I had been thinking of Frankenstein, so I decided to refresh... Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Philosophical Thoughts

  

  Please don’t read too much into this!  I read a lot of professors who spend their careers trying to understand a previous scholar’s thoughts. Read more

  Posted on 18 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Yes, Yes

  

  You had to’ve seen this coming. Ouija: Origin of Evil, with a different director and writer, and the same producer, pulled off the better prequel/sequel. I don’... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lovecraftian Advice

  

  It seemed natural enough to follow up Stephen King’s On Writing with H. P. Lovecraft’s famous essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature. Read more

  Posted on 16 December 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY