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Examining the genre of horror in books, films, and television, students will explore the ways in which horror in its many forms illuminates upon an array of religious ideas. Some of the major subjects and themes examined in this class include: various cultural interpretations of sleep paralysis, the fear of death and dying badly, Hell and Satan, nature horror, body horror, and the breakdown of the established order of reality and its replacement with one that is alien and hostile to it. In addition to these themes, we will also explore horror in Native American and Eastern social and cultural contexts. Emphasis is placed on the genre's ability to portray complex religious, philosophical, sociological, and anthropological subject matter. (Cross-listed with RELI 4450).