In the past one of the areas of study and commentary on this blog has looked at identity and popular culture narratives in the form of vampires and Otherkin. I hadn’t come across this recently until I started reflecting on philosopher Charles Taylor’s influential work related to secular modernity. In his book A Secular Age he notes that secularism involves an emphasis on subjective, constructed identities. Many times in modernity our identities are largely evolving subjective constructs with little connection to broader community considerations. Pop culture plays a significant part in the process of identity construction, particularly in the case of those who believe they have an “Other-Than-Human” identity. I recently came across a couple of journal papers on this, one by Clive Baldwin and Lauren Reply from QSR, and the other by Devin Proctor in Engaging Science, Technology, and Society. Proctor’s paper focuses on Otherkin, while Baldwin and Ripley’s looks at Otherkin, Therianthropes, and Vampires. The latter article defines these groups as follows: “Otherkin are those who identify, in whole or in part, as other-than-human.” This includes “dragonskin, angelkin, elvenkin, unicornkin, and so on.” Therians are those “who identify, in whole or in part, as other-than-human, but as Earth animals such as wolves, dogs, cats, cheetahs, and so on.” Vampire identity is understood as those who need human blood or energy for sustenance.

One of the more interesting aspects of the Baldwin and Ripley study on these groups and the importance of narrative in identity construction comes by way of this paragraph:

“Otherkin and Therians do not consciously create the identity, rather it is something present at birth, eventually realized as they ‘awaken’ to their true identities. In this way, some participants compare it to transgender identity, where one feels and identifies with the gender opposite to that which they were designated at birth.”

Various “other-than-human” groups make for a fascinating study in subjective narrative construction often resourced by aspects of popular culture such as fantasy or horror narratives. To read the Baldwin and Ripley study click here. For Proctor visit this link.

Those familiar with the discipline of monster studies are aware of the seminal work of Jeffrey Cohen and his influential book Monster Theory: Reading Culture. This book is now thirty years old! Cohen recently made an announcement on Facebook that he has edited a forthcoming volume titled Monster Theory at Thirty published by the University of Minnesota Press. The volume is due out early next Spring. In his Facebook post Cohen included an image from the table of contents with the titles from the volume’s twenty-seven contributors. As someone involved in the academic study of monsters for some twenty years, it is great to see this thesis have continued life and fresh explorations by young and older scholars alike.

Someone in my social media feed announced their contribution to this new volume. It looks great. Routledge Handbook of Dark Events: Celebrations, Heritage, and Customs of Death and the Macabre. From the Routledge website:

This handbook explores and critically evaluates key debates and controversies in the emerging field of Dark Events. It brings together leading specialists from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and geographical regions to provide state-of-the-art theoretical reflection and empirical research on celebrations, heritage and customs of death (events) and the macabre.

Divided into ten parts, the book explores traditions of dark festivals and events; the display of the dead; commemoration and authenticity within the context of dark events; dark events from the past; dark events in popular culture; controversial dark events; grief and memory; managing dark event experiences; decolonisation and equality for the dead; and dark event futures. This significant volume offers the reader a comprehensive synthesis of this emerging field, conveying the latest thinking and research. The text is international in focus, encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study, providing an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in Dark Events.

This is essential reading for students, researchers and academics of Dark Events, as well as those of related studies such as tourism, cultural studies, leisure, geography, sociology, death studies and museums.

I am a huge fan of the work of Laika Studios in Oregon. They are the premier torch bearers for the legacy of stop-motion animation. They have continued to push the boundaries of technology in animation as it is wedded to artistry and storytelling. For these reasons, I was excited to receive their new book LAIKA: The Magic Behind a Stop-Motion Dream Factory. It comes in the regular and deluxe editions. From their website:

LAIKA: The Magic Behind a Stop-Motion Dream Factory provides an exclusive look behind the curtain at the creative and innovative world of LAIKA Studios. Authored by Ozzy Inguanzo and with a forward by Mark Salisbury, this studio book features never-before-seen artwork, stunning new puppet photography, and interviews with the artists who bring LAIKA films to life, one frame at a time.

ISBN: 978-0-7893-4613-1

Author: Ozzy Inguanzo

Foreword by Mark Salisbury

Format: Hardcover

Trim Size: 9 x 11

Pages: 240

Publisher: Rizzoli Universe

I am honored to announce that The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Monsters (Oxford University Press, 2025), is a Horror Writers Association finalist for a Stoker Award in the category of Superior Achievement in the Category of Long Non-Fiction. I had the privilege of co-editing this volume with Brandon R. Grafius, and working with a great collection of scholars specializing in biblical studies and religious studies. We will see how the volume fares when the winners are announced in June!

I’ve posted previously about the decline of Star Trek as a franchise, perhaps more accurately described as a self-caused implosion. In the video included with this clip I was reminded of the great work done by fans in creating their own material, from a series to plans for a film. This material was so good, respecting the canon and incorporating great storytelling that often involved those creative talents who put together various Star Trek series in the past, that Paramount sued these creators and severely limited their ability to produce content. While the studio might argue this was to product copyrighted material, I would argue it was because the fan material rivaled the quality of what the studio was able to produce. Given the tremendous fan response to fan materials in contrast to Paramount productions for several series, I think this is a fair understanding of the situation. So my question to Paramount executives is, after losing millions of dollars on materials that your faithful fan base doesn’t like, why not embrace the creativity of the fan base and invite them into production of canon-faithful material they would embrace and pay to see?

Haunted Homes and the Architecture of Dread by Leila Taylor (Penguin Random House, 2025)

Explores the architecture of haunted houses, uncanny domestic spaces, and how the horror genre subverts and corrupts the sanctity of home.

Horror begins at home.

From family homes in Amityville to Gothic mansions in Los Angeles and the Unabomber’s cabin, houses often capture and contain the horror that has happened within them.

Sick Houses crosses the threshold of these eerie spaces to explore how different types of architecture become vessels for terror and how these spaces, meant to shelter us, instead become the source of our deepest fears. Using film, television, and literature to explain why we are drawn to haunted and haunting places, Sick Houses is a must read for anyone who has ever looked at a house and sensed there might be something unsettling going on inside.

The Esoteric Theology of Philip K. Dick, edited by George J. Sieg and Michael C. Barros (Bloomsbury, 2026)

This volume collects chapters written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Philip K. Dick’s transformative 1974 mystical experiences, through which he ultimately contextualized his influential and posthumously much-adapted science-fiction and speculative fiction.
Contributing authors here examine the enduring significance of Philip K. Dick and his work, drawing on diverse scholarly perspectives that engage seriously with his self-understanding as Christian, gnostic, mystic, and theologian. Including contextual introduction and overviews, individual chapters focusing on specific works of PKD (as well as some of their adaptations), critical analysis, and examination of their significance within the life and worldview of PKD and his milieu, this collection continues foundational work that has characterized PKD’s contributions to science fiction and speculative fiction as significant to its increasingly gnostic trajectory, as well as opening new avenues of exploration that situates PKD’s impact within the broader appeal of esoteric worldviews as they have continued to propagate through the counterculture into the mainstream. PKD’s commitment and dedication to Christian belief, faith, and practice, as well as Christian gnosis and mystical experience, are foci of particular interest, and this volume challenges the frequent misconception of PKD as exclusively relevant to Gnostic counter-cultural mysticism. Instead, his esoteric Christian gnosis is identified and analyzed as the basis of his ultimately moral and consistently humanistic theology.

I’m a lifelong Star Trek fan. I remember my dad watching it when I was growing up, and I’m just old enough to have either dim memories of him watching the original airings or catching early syndication. At any rate, I’ve been watching since the early series first put Gene Roddenberry’s secular science fiction vision on the small screen in several incarnations, and later in various cinematic versions.

But while I’m a fan of the franchise I also recognize that it is of varying quality, and in my view it has been in decline for many years. Beyond some of the films with the original series cast being hit or miss, I’ve gone on record previously critiquing the Star Trek 2.0 film reboot as an abandonment of elements of the franchise’s mythos that were important not only in terms of narrative, but also as an important facet embraced by the fan base. This seems to be the case, on steroids, with the new Starfleet Academy series, if the critical reviews are accurate. I’ve shared a video of one review above as an example, but there are others. I recognize that pop culture entertainment needs to be updated for its contemporary social context, but if the culture wars and political commitments are incorporated in so a way that they are accounted for at the expense of its credibility and narrative canon, that’s a problem. As a result, Star Trek will be seen as quickly moving from science fiction icon to unintentional comedy.

What do you think?

Latter-day Saints may not be happy with how their tradition is incorporated into horror films. In 2024 Heretic debuted with a psychological horror tale involving two female LDS missionaries. Now we have Diabolic, a film where “fundamentalist” LDS practices are said to be tapped into to help the traumatized psyche through experiences with the divine.