Half dark fiction, half academic musings on angels, demons, the dead, and monsters, Dark Awakenings, by Matt Cardin, is an exploration of the common religious goals of transcendence, rebirth, and salvation. So what makes this exploration dark? Cardin’s twist of the knife comes from the enlightened …

Some of us love stories that leave us listening fearfully for shuffling footsteps in the dark, or movies that make us spray our popcorn about the room when the bogeyman leaps from the shadows, on reflection, we may wonder just what it is about scary stories that causes such fearful reactions. Those …

Above is a boar located at the excellent Boar’s Head Inn in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Below is a potpouri of reading links. This week includes a space shuttle launch, someone fighting shadows with a sword, how to make a pan flute, and lots of recommended science fiction, fantasy, and horror books …