Sacred Terror

Sacred Terror by Douglas E. Cowan was published by Baylor University Press in November 2008 and is our 35634th best seller. The ISBN for Sacred Terror is 9781602580183.

Sacred Terror examines the religious elements lurking in horror films. It answers a simple but profound question: When there are so many other scary things around, why is religion so often used to tell a scary story? In this lucid, provocative book, Douglas Cowan argues that horror films are opportune vehicles for externalizing the fears that lie inside our religious selves: of evil; of the flesh; of sacred places; of a change in the sacred order; of the supernatural gone out of control; of death, dying badly, or not remaining dead; of fanaticism; and of the power-and the powerlessness-of religion.

Films studied include: The Omen, The Blair Witch Project, 28 Days Later, The Exorcist and Saw.

"Up to now, horror films have been largely neglected or denigrated by scholars of religion and film. Doug Cowan offers a new approach, arguing that religious elements are central to the success of horror. He effectively debunks the myth that modern secular rationalism has banished the ghosts of the past, demonstrating that religion-related fears of death, damnation, supernatural forces, and religious "others" often support the continuing ability of horror to terrify and create frisson. A book that is both entertaining and important!" -John Lyden, Professor and Chair of Religion, Dana College

"Proving that the genre of horror film belongs firmly in the interest of religious studies, Douglas Cowan offers an ample map of where any interested, and perhaps somewhat scared, scholar might turn to revisit this ancient form of storytelling. In the end, we learn about what horror might have to say to the human, beyond the death-life divide." -S. Brent Plate, Associate Professor of Religion and the Visual Arts, Texas Christian University, and author of Religion and Film: Cinema and the Re-creation of the World

Douglas E Cowan is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Social Development Studies, Renison College.