Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4522 )

• University Death

  

  This is an important and thoroughly depressing book. Despite globalization, I fear that a book from down under might fail to be readily found in the United... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• See Monsters

  

  I have a soft spot for seventies movies, but I can’t decide if The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is horror or not. I found it on a horror list, and... Read more

  Posted on 20 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Gothic Novelties

  

  I’m a sucker for a good gothic novel. Dilapidated houses on the moors, suggestions of ghosts, the kind of encompassing darkness that enfolds you. Women facing... Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Eye Eye

  

  When trying to be conscientious about not spending too much money on movies there’s always the risk of seeing something cheap. Read more

  Posted on 18 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Little Things

  

  Those on anti-clutter campaigns (whose lives I can’t imagine) claim that we have too much stuff.  That may be true, but when you reach a certain age these reali... Read more

  Posted on 17 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Good Hearts

  

  If you’re looking for more religion-based horror, you might try the 1987 film Angel Heart. As I’m discovering quite a bit lately, I could’ve used this one in... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Eschew Stupidity

  

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a certified evangelical Christian.  His theology often feels a bit pat to some of us who work in religious studies, but there’s no... Read more

  Posted on 15 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Remembering Winter

  

  There’s a deep satisfaction at attaining a goal, no matter how low the bar. Having rediscovered the “Beast Collection” after looking to see if Snowbeast was on... Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Decide

  

  Decisions we make when we’re young influence our entire lives.  It’s not that you can’t change course—I’ve seen it happen and it can be a thing of true... Read more

  Posted on 13 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Step Far

  

  It made a bit of a splash when it came out, Longlegs did. It took a while to get to a streaming service I can access, but I can say that it’s a movie with... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Peace

  

  Mother’s Day should be a time for peace.  In these days when misogyny is in style, it’s an especially important holiday.  The one holiday to explicitly honor... Read more

  Posted on 11 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Scholars and Villains

  

  Having read M. L. Rio’s novella Graveyard Shift, I turned to her debut novel, If We Were Villains. It must be a heady feeling having your first novel become a... Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Father of Yeti

  

  “Always steals women.” So Subra mutters high in the Himalayas. Perhaps one of the most unintentionally funny bad movies, The Snow Creature does hold a place in... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mired

  

  For someone who grew up with an Oscar Mayer jingle forever lodged his his brain, it took decades before I became curious about the surname. Read more

  Posted on 08 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Watching Watching

  

  Dynasties exist in many professions. Some of us grow up where there’s no succession, but for those who do the results can be good or bad. I’m thinking in the... Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Making More Monsters

  

  It’s endlessly frustrating, being a big picture thinker. This runs in families, so there may be something genetic about it. Those who say, “Let’s step back a... Read more

  Posted on 06 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Pseudo-documentary

  

  Documentaries have an honored place in visual education. Of course, there are some who want to spice them up a bit with dramatic re-enactments. These are... Read more

  Posted on 05 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Telling Vision

  

  My wife and I don’t watch much television.  In fact, we had very poor television reception from about 1988 (when we married), until we moved into this house in... Read more

  Posted on 04 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• For the Camera

  

  Smile 2 is getting some good critical notice and I hadn’t seen Smile (1) yet. Psychological horror often bothers me, but I figured I’d grin and bear it. I’m gla... Read more

  Posted on 03 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• First Visit

  

  Dark academia prompted me to do it. I have never read an Evelyn Waugh novel, but the title Brideshead Revisited is fairly ubiquitous. I’d heard it many times bu... Read more

  Posted on 02 May 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY