M. Jess Peacock

Jess Peacock is the author of Such a Dark Thing: Theology of the Vampire Narrative in Popular Culture (“Smart and insightful” – Fangoria) from Wipf and Stock Publishers. He has contributed to ReligionDispatches.org, Rue Morgue, and Famous Monsters of Filmland, is the former editor-in-chief of Street Speech, a social justice publication produced by the Columbus (OH) Coalition for the Homeless, and regularly writes on everything from religion to pro wrestling to the horror genre at Such a Dark Thing: The Blog. Among his academic distinctions, Peacock is the 2013 recipient of Methodist Theological School in Ohio’s Ronald L. Williams Book Prize in Theology and Ethics, as well as The Matey Janata Freedwomen Award for his research and work in women’s issues. He is currently a PhD student at Chicago Theological Seminary and an adjunct instructor at North Park University in Chicago.

Why did you write Such a Dark Thing?

As I wrote in the preface of the book, I was heavily influenced by the horror genre during my childhood, particularly the vampire subgenre. That’s not to say that a lot of kids weren’t similarly influenced, but I think it’s a select (and more than a little obsessive) audience that maintains their love and passion for horror through all of the distractions of youth into the mundane routine of adulthood. The monsters lurking within the movies I watched and the novels I read were reflective of my insecurities and the marginalization I often felt as a kid; that I often still feel.

When I started working in a Christian vocation, serving as a minister of high school students for the better part of a decade, I would often incorporate movie clips from horror films into my lessons. More often than not this would result in angry parents and church leaders, which never ceased to amaze me, as the theological implications embedded within films such as Fright Night, ‘Salem’s Lot, or Hammer’s Horror of Dracula were abundantly clear to me and served, so I thought, as a great jumping off point for discussions of a religious nature that were actually interesting and relevant to teenagers.

Fast forward a few years, and my interests in horror and theology dovetailed nicely with the type of research I was developing while pursuing my master’s degree. Dr. Tim Van Meter, a professor at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, who supervised an independent study I conducted on this very topic, suggested it might make for a good book, and I guess the folks at Wipf & Stock agreed.

So, why did I write Such a Dark Thing? I needed to write it because, well, how lucky could one person be?? I get to tumble around in conceptual playgrounds rife with symbolism and rich ideological history; theology and horror, each world complimentary of the other as ideas and concepts coalesce around the literary and cinematic figure of the vampire (where it’s been, where it’s going, and what it might tell us about ourselves) as it relates to religious studies. Plus, vampires are just cool.

Who is the audience for Such a Dark Thing?

I felt like I was walking a conceptual tightrope while writing the book, as I wanted it to be accessible to not only the non-academic, but also the non-religious. My hope is that fans of the horror genre will find a lot to love about Such a Dark Thing, and will use it to foster a deeper understanding of the cultural impact of the horror genre beyond simple entertainment (and, let’s face it, I also don’t mind sticking it to those angry parents and pastors).

However, the core of the book also needed to be academic and well researched. To balance these two requirements, I decided to approach the different chapters as primers for the various theological and sociological topics covered within, hopefully making the book ideal for an Intro to Theology or a Religion and Culture class while also being entertaining and elegant enough for the average reader.

And who knows, much like Christopher Lee’s Dracula returning again and again to terrorize buxom victims, maybe Such a Dark Thing could warrant a sequel sometime in the future.

What do you hope people will take away from reading Such a Dark Thing?

My hope is that this book, in some small way, serves as a bridge between horror aficionados and students of theology. As a pupil of both, I not only see and appreciate the parallels and connections between them, I also firmly believe they are mutually beneficial, adding depth and enhancing our avenues of analysis surrounding popular culture and religion.

In addition, with Such a Dark Thing I wanted to frame the traditional vampire narrative as a form of resistance literature, serving as a metaphorical blueprint for the fight against oppression within society. If nothing else, I would want the reader to walk away thinking about the repression they either witness or are subjected to in their own lives and how they might resist and combat the spiritual, emotional, and physical subjugation that is, as opposed to the vampire, a very real part of our world.

What makes you qualified to write a book on vampires and theology?

In all honesty, I don’t feel qualified to write this book. Sure, my background is in sociology and theology, and I am a (overly?) passionate horror nerd, but writing a book somehow makes a statement that one is an authority on a topic. I am not. But I do have something to say and, ultimately, as William Faulkner said, “If a story is in you, it has to come out.” This just happens to be the story I needed to tell.

Some might get the impression from Such a Dark Thing that you are anti-religion. How would you respond to this?

No, I am not anti-religion. I am, however, anti-orthodoxy. I view the exploration and dissection of Christian theology similar to that of a detective working toward the resolution of a crime: follow the facts. And while facts are infrequent in theological studies, we as academics must cut through centuries of creeds and dogma to get to the core of what unquestioned belief in an omnipotent and omniscient deity, one that allows and, in some cases, causes immense suffering within the world, really means for the faith community. Religion, Christianity in particular, is not, nor has it ever been, immutable, despite what many might think. Throughout history, religion has adapted to the larger culture, and an ideological and narrative reformation is needed now more than ever. So, if anything, I am making an argument that, in order to survive, contemporary religion must evolve beyond the antiquated laws, doctrine, and theologies that prevent modern audiences from fully embracing it, and develop into a vibrant mosaic of transcendent and transforming narratives.

What do you see for the future of the vampire narrative within popular culture?

It’s safe to say that the vampire is never going away. It will adapt and evolve, but it will never die (similar to religion as a whole). Why should it? As I discuss in Such a Dark Thing, even as society and popular culture progresses and changes, the vampire follows suit. The figure still exists as a powerful representation of death, redemption, and the struggle for freedom against oppressive forces. And while most of the blatant religious themes within the traditional vampire narrative have diminished if not vanished entirely, I am confident that at some point in the future they will come back around.