HauntedDaniel
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haunteddaniel.bsky.social
HauntedDaniel
@haunteddaniel.bsky.social
210 followers 590 following 87 posts
PhD Religious Studies, University of Virginia. Wrote a dissertation on ghost hunters. Now I am writing a book about America's obsession with Halloween.
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haunteddaniel.bsky.social
Found the next 2 today at @austinbooks.bsky.social still out in the main horror section. Glad I saw the first one in a box at a rural antique mall (of all places). I had to roll the dice for $1.
June 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
haunteddaniel.bsky.social
Is Bigfoot having a cultural moment? At least when it comes to merchandizing? This is one example of the many Bigfoot-themed products/knickknacks I have seen recently. In the souvenir shop at Luray Caverns in Virginia:
June 14, 2025 at 8:35 PM
haunteddaniel.bsky.social
I was thinking about this because of a passage I came across in one of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories from the 1930s. Howard gives Conan a sort of religious skepticism, but it’s a type that makes sense in a fantasy age based on the ancient and medieval worlds. (5/5)
“Conan, do you fear the gods?” “I would not tread on their shadow,” answered the barbarian conservatively. “Some gods are strong to harm, others, to aid; at least so say their priests. Mitra of the Hyborians must be a strong god, because his people have builded their cities over the world. But even the Hyborians fear Set. And Bel, god of thieves, is a good god. When I was a thief in Zamora I learned of him.” “What of your own gods? I have never heard you call on them.” “Their chief is Crom. He dwells on a great mountain. What use to call on him? Little he cares if men live or die. Better to be silent than to call his attention to you; he will send you dooms, not fortune! He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man’s soul. What else shall men ask of the gods?” “But what of the worlds beyond the river of death?” she persisted.“There is no hope here or hereafter in the cult of my people,” answered Conan. “In this world men struggle and suffer vainly, finding pleasure only in the bright madness of battle; dying, their souls enter a gray misty realm of clouds and icy winds, to wander cheerlessly throughout eternity.” Bêlit shuddered. “Life, bad as it is, is better than such a destiny. What do you believe, Conan?” He shrugged his shoulders. “I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom’s realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer’s Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illu…
May 24, 2025 at 8:13 PM
haunteddaniel.bsky.social
Brought to you from a Halloween group over on Facebook:
An image of the character Rosemary from the 1968 horror film Rosemary's Baby looking down at a bassinet where her child is laying, with the caption "Happy Mother's Day! It Could Have Been Worse."
May 11, 2025 at 5:41 PM
haunteddaniel.bsky.social
I got a kick out of the "Literary Horror" section at a Books-a-Million in Florida when I was visiting last week. Speaks volumes.
May 3, 2025 at 11:09 PM