Scott Culpepper 
Most Americans have heard of the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692 which condemned 20 people to death, 19 by hanging and one pressed to death by rocks. Fewer know that the first person executed …
I was introduced to Christian nationalism in subtle ways throughout my early years. I never gave a second thought to the overt display of the American flag alongside the Christian flag during Vacation Bible School …
Stranger Things returned to Netflix with the first seven episodes of its fourth season in May 2024. Matt and Ross Duffer’s series has offered fans a mixture of horror and sci-fi with a massive dose …
Arthur Conan Doyle was done. In December 1893, he finally disposed of the burden that had dogged him since 1888. Ironically, that perceived burden was also the means of his economic success and growing fame. …
We meet at “The Gift” a few minutes after high noon on a sunny spring afternoon. Though our feet are planted in Iowa soil, our hearts and minds had been transported back in time five …
I recently enjoyed the opportunity to contribute a chapter to a collection of essays reflecting on the influence of media during the Trump presidency. American Television During a Television Presidency was edited by Dr. Karen …
Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play Gas Light tells the story of a young woman named Bella Manningham whose husband Jack exhibits suspicious behavior. He engages in improper flirtation with the servants and goes out for long …
Book burning and censorship campaigns seemed a relic of the past in the rural middle-class world where I grew up. We vigorously attacked the censorship of the repressive Soviet Union and insisted that Americans stood …
Spider-Man rose like the Phoenix from the pages of a dying comic, Amazing Adult Fantasy, which ran as an anthology published by Marvel Comics in 1961 and 1962. As the series neared its run in …
Ghostly apparitions glide as easily into the Christmas season as they do Halloween. In fact, the traditional association of frightening morality tales with the holiday season stretches at least as far back as the seventeenth …