The Lure of the Dark Side Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture

Personifications of evil in the form of demons, devils, spirits, vampires, and other malign entities can be found across the popular cultural spectrum. One only has to peruse the shelves of music and bookstores or view the content of some of the most successful films and television series to discover evidence for the phenomenal popular fascination with the demonic other. However, rather surprisingly, this is not an area in which much research has been done.

Demons, devils, spirits and vampires are present throughout popular Western culture in film, music and literature. Their religious significance has only recently begun to be explored. 'The Lure of the Darkside' brings together the work of some of the most important and creative scholars in the field of Biblical and Religious Studies. The essays explore demonology in popular culture from a range of perspectives: Satanism within contemporary music; the relationship between hymn and horror film; the career of Hannibal Lecter; the portrayal of Satan in films about Christ; and spiritual perversion in the Harry Potter Stories. This fresh and ground-breaking volume will be of interest to students of religious studies and theology, as well as literary and popular culture.

INTRODUCTION Christopher Partridge & Eric ChristiansonPart I: MusicCHAPTER 1: Satanism and Popular Music Asbjorn Dyrendal (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)CHAPTER 2: Between Hymn and Horror Film: How Do We Listen to the Cradle of Filth?Peter Mercer-Taylor (University of Minnesota)CHAPTER 3: When Demons Come Calling: Dealing with the Devil and Paradigms of Life in African American MusicAnthony Pinn (Rice University, Houston)CHAPTER 4: Dark Theology: Dissident Commerce, Gothic Capitalism and The Spirit of Rock 'n' Roll Charlie Blake (Liverpool Hope University)Part II: FilmCHAPTER 5: Speak of the Devil: The Portrayal of Satan in the Christ FilmBill Telford (University of Durham)CHAPTER 6: Celluloid Vampires, Technology, and the Decline of ReligionTitus Hjelm (University of Helsinki)CHAPTER 7: A Man of Wealth and Taste: The Strange Career of Hannibal LecterBrian Baker (University of Lancaster)CHAPTER 8: Demons of the New Polytheism George Aichele (Adrian College, Michigan)CHAPTER 9: Scriptural Dimensions of Evil: Biblical Text as Timepiece, Talisman, and TatooLarry Kreitzer (University of Oxford)Part III: LiteratureCHAPTER 10: James Hogg and the Demons of Scottish PresbyterianismCrawford Gribben (University of Manchester)CHAPTER 11: Voldemort, Death Eaters, Dementors, and the Dark Arts: A Contemporary Theology of Spiritual Perversion in the Harry Potter StoriesColin Duriez

Christopher Partridge, Lancaster University, and Eric Christianson, University of Chester