The next issue of StAR is on the theme, “Satan and the Art of Darkness”, and I’d like to give visitors to the website a sneak preview of the wealth of wonderful articles that they can expect to see in the forthcoming May/June issue.
Phillip Campbell asks whether witchcraft really existed in the middle ages and gives us a guided tour of history to look at the evidence for satanic practises over the centuries.
Daniel Soukup looks at Satan’s Fall in Paradise Lost.
Eleanor Donlon and Amanda Guillinger visit the realm of the undead to examine the rich vein of truth that gives lifeblood to Dracula. Miss Donlon offers “A Bite of Theology: The Catholic Aesthetic in Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and Miss Guillinger sees Dracula as “the Satanic Inversion of Christ”.
In “Called Out of Darkness: The Return of the Vampire Chronicler” Francis Phillips looks at the return of horror writer, Anne Rice, to the practice of her Catholic faith.
Jill Kriegel looks at the decadent path to Christ taken by the dark protagonists in the novels of the French author, Joris Karl Huysmans.
Ken Rademaker asks whether Gaston LeRoux betrays a sympathy for the devil in his novel, The Phantom of the Opera.
John Newton reviews three new books on “Witchcraft, Spiritism and the New Age”.
Ferdi McDermott exposes the satanic underbelly of the pioneer of communism in “Marx of the Beast”.
Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s regular film column throws light on the way in which darkness is made visible in horror films.
Beyond the theme-related articles, we have:
Kevin O’Brien “Shaking Up Shakespeare”
Patrick Riley lambasting the University of Notre Dame for inviting the pro-abortion Obama to give this year’s commencement address
Fr. Benedict Kieley discussing “The Sad Demise of the Anglican Church”
Joseph Pearce interviewing Catholic artist, David Myers
Book reviews by Al Benthall and Carleton P. Jones
and New Poems by Andrew Huntley, Graham Gillespie, Pave Chichikov, Donald P. Richmond and William Dunn.
Happy to have been told of StAR’s blog site; a great companion to my 3-year subscription. Joseph Pearce’s Literary Converts was instrumental in my conversion.
Am writing from the “future” (July ’09).
Somehow, I missed this issue & may have to order it separately – I’m looking forward to the article on Gaston Leroux and The Phantom of the Opera, having only been introduced to this story roughly a year ago…
Not having read the article (yet), I can still see how such a conclusion could be reached. I’ve only read the novel once, after seeing the 2004 film based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical (after having been invited to watch it by and with my youngest daughter). I loved the music, and found the story very moving. The novel was somewhat different, unsurprisingly, as stories don’t always (usually) translate onto the screen exactly as written.
One of the most disturbing parts of the story was that the character of Erik was a rejected and abused child. This would not excuse his later actions, but certainly explain them. The transformation of this character by a single act of love was very powerful, and his sacrifice for this love brought to mind Another’s actual and ultimate sacrifice, with a love strong enough to transform us all…
Guess it’s all in one’s point of view.
FYI:
Writer Anne Rice has been participating in a discussion on the Amazon Christianity Forums entitled:
Are Catholics Saved?
http://www.amazon.com/tag/christianity/forum/ref=cm_cd_pg_pg1?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx77WQHU8YS50Z&cdPage=1&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx1E351Z4TLY0D&displayType=tagsDetail
Although I am participating in a few of the other discussions and left this one a while ago, I am still following it.
These forums (this site included), are a very effective way of communicating within today’s culture. However, you can see on some of these sites that the anonymity (sic) afforded does not always bring out the best in people. It takes a bit of perseverance to steer such a discussion, or some of its participants anyway, in a thoughtful and intelligent direction.
‘Tisn’t easy, and some do a better job of it than others.
God bless you.