#JeSuisCharlie – The Beauty of Satire
In the aftermath of the January 7th terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, I feel obliged to voice my support of satire as a cultural genre. Thinking about this article … Continue reading
Horror in October Part Three: The Witches’ Sabbath
Greetings, and Happy Halloween. Here, we end the annual Horror in October series as a trilogy, capped off by another feature on the witch. This omnipresent character of All Hallow’s … Continue reading
Horror in October Part Two: Fava Beans and a Nice Chianti
Here we are at mid-October, and The Silence of the Lambs was on TV yesterday. This is about to take a turn to the freakiest. Cannibalism is the most unthinkable … Continue reading
Horror in October: The Rebel Angels
OCTOBER! The best month on the calendar. The second annual “Horror in October” series is back, with new articles about fightening themes for the enjoyment and inspiration of upcoming Halloween. Here’s … Continue reading
Paradise Lost Was Actually Written by a Girl
While on a brief excursion to Chicago last weekend I dropped by the Art Institute for a few hours. I discovered a particular work by Henry Fuseli that caused me to linger … Continue reading
Horror in October Part Four: It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble… The famous witches mantra in Shakespeare’s Macbeth still comes to mind when bringing up that quintessential antagonist of All Hallow’s … Continue reading
Horror in October Part Three: Goya’s Madmen
This month’s feature on terror now takes a twist toward the insane. Think of how many characters in our popular culture have been portrayed as sadistic madmen. The Joker, Michael … Continue reading
Horror in October Part Two: The Female Monster
The monster is most often an embodiment of traditional masculine characteristics. If a monster is considered female, it has to be indicated so, otherwise we would probably just assume the … Continue reading
Horror in October: The Infernal Inferno
Happy October everyone! This, in my opinion, is the absolute best time of year. Football season is in full swing and the weather is cooling down. We have apples, leaves … Continue reading
What is Manifest in the Pre-Raphaelite Manifesto?
The Arts and Craft Movement, the Futurists, the Secessionists; artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries loved a good manifesto. The obsession with modernity as well as nationalism and other … Continue reading
