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Religion, Theology and Stranger Things
: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope brings interdisciplinary analysis to the teeming spiritual side of the hit television series. With chapters from social scientists, historians, theologians, and Biblical scholars, the volume addresses the many different theological, religious, and supernatural themes present in the fictional world of Hawkins, Indiana. From spiritualism to secularism, Mormon gender norms to monsters of abnormality, rock & roll to Dungeons & Dragons, an international list of scholars come together to argue that imaginative realms like the one created by the Duffer brothers can serve to showcase and to scrutinize the common impulses and needs of our culture and ourselves. To venture into the darkness of the Upside Down is to venture into the depths of human experience. This volume explores the shadows and suggests a few paths back into the light.
List of contents
Introduction,
Andrew J. Byers, Adam PowellPart I: Spirits, Monsters, and Supernatural Science
Chapter 1: Comfort, Control, and Christmas Lights: The Types and Techniques of Spirit Communication in
Stranger Things, Season One,
Adam PowellChapter 2: The Myth of
Stranger Things: A Structural Analysis of Monsters and Fears in Season One,
Vivian AsimosChapter 3: Defining the Normal: Monstrosity in
Stranger Things, Brandon GrafiusChapter 4: Enchanted Science? The Supernatural Imagination of Stranger Things,
Josh ReevesPart II: History, (Pop) Culture, and Nostalgic Contexts
Chapter 5: Who Is Suzie Bingham? Gender and the 1980s Mormon Family in
Stranger Things,
Jana ReissChapter 6: "Do Not Be Overcome by Evil": Dungeons, Dragons, and the Satanic Panic in
Stranger Things ,
Joseph P. LaycockChapter 7: Fighting Satan with the Devil's Music? Subverting Suspicions of Demonic Influence on Rock 'n' Roll in
Stranger Things Season 4,
John Anthony DunneChapter 8: Home, Nostalgia, and
Stranger Things,
Andrew RootChapter 9: Utopia, Intertextuality, and Liturgy: Nostalgia and Religion in
Stranger Things,
Melissa ConroyPart III: Theology, Ethics and Biblical Themes
Chapter 10: "Peeking Behind Bauman's Curtain": A Theology and Ethics of Institutions in
Stranger Things, Nathaniel A. Warne Adishian
Chapter 11: Max and the Magdalene: On Violence, Grief, and Trauma Under Patriarchy,
Siobhán JolleyChapter 12: From Patmos to Hawkins: Slipping through Time and Space in Revelation and
Stranger Things, Heather MacumberChapter 13: Can Anything Good Come out of Hawkins? Self, Place, Evil, and Salvation in John's Gospel,
Stranger Things, and the Secular Age,
Andrew J. ByersAfterword: What Would Suzy, Erica, and Steve Say? Concluding Reflections,
Andrew J. Byers, Adam Powell
About the author
Andrew J. Byers serves as lecturer in New Testament at Ridley Hall in the Cambridge Theological Federation and as an affiliated lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. Adam Powell is a lecturer in medical humanities in the Department of Theology & Religion at Durham University (UK).Adam Powell is a lecturer in medical humanities in the Department of Theology & Religion at Durham University (UK).Andrew J. Byers serves as lecturer in New Testament at Ridley Hall in the Cambridge Theological Federation and as an affiliated lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. Adam Powell is a lecturer in medical humanities in the Department of Theology & Religion at Durham University (UK).Alice Dal Gobbo is assistant professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Research, Trento University.Joseph P. Laycock is associate professor of religious studies at Texas State UniversityHeather Macumber is associate professor of biblical studies at Providence University College in Manitoba, Canada.Adam Powell is a lecturer in medical humanities in the Department of Theology & Religion at Durham University (UK).
