Podcast #026 - Feedback & Follow-ups

"Dorkness to Nightmare: The Nightmare is Over"

After the marathon of October mini-series, Em & Alan tackle the piles of feedback that those episodes generated. They also talk about all of the many, many things they forgot to mention during the mini-series.



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Link: Nathaniel Wayne's Council of Geeks YouTube Channel 
Link: Vera Wylde's book "Skirting Gender"
Link: Aaron Henley's novel "Fangs of Vengeance"
Link: Joe Golem, Occult Detective
Link: Hebrew Punk
Link: Reading in the Dark anthology
Link: "All The Way To The Bloodbank" video on YouTube

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #025 - Angels

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Angels"

On this final (not so mini) installment of this mini-series, Em & Alan talk about those scariest of all spiritual beings -- Angels. They discuss what these monsters say about humanity, faith, & God.

Topics discussed include, Lovecraftian monstrosities, 5-dimensional beings, Thing Theory, angelic visitations, flaming swords, and what we believe.

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Link: "GLORIA" by Taylor Leong


We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #024 - Nephilim & Lillith

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Nephilim, Lilith & Old Testament Weirdness"

On this penultimate sixth mini-sode, Em & Alan talk about Lilith, unicorns, Nephilim, and other weird things that may (or may not) be in the Old Testament. They talk about what these stories say about humanity, and what they say about the Bible.

Topics discussed include Bible translation, myths and legends, the value of imagination to faith, and keeping Christianity weird.

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Link: The Nephilim Wars comic book Kickstarter  
Link: Paeter Frandsen's "Spirit Blade" audio drama
Link: Dark Ark: the comic book
Link: The book "Lucifer, Leviathan, Lilith, and Other Mysterious Creatures of the Bible"

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or biblical monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #023 - The Faerie Realm

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Faeries and Sprites and Brownies and Werewolves"

On this fifth of our mini-series of mini-sodes, Em & Alan talk about spirits and cursed beings, like faeries and werewolves.

Topics discussed include Tolkien, Holly Black's novels,being nice to brownies, Werewolf by Night, and why garden gnomes have red hats.

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Link: Author Holly Black's website
Link: Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories" essay
Link: The Tolkien Professor's podcast episode about "On Fairy Stories."

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #022 - The Dead

"Dorkness to Nightmare: The Dead"

On this fourth of our mini-series of mini-sodes, Em & Alan talk about spooky dead things, like Zombies and ghosts and spirits. They discuss what these monsters say about humanity, and what may lie beyond the grave.

Topics discussed include ghosts, saints, World War Z, Wynonna Earp, wendigos, and a fair amount of speculative theology.

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You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.


Link: The band Street Angel on discogs.com 
Link: The song "What's Following the Grave," by Christian metal legends Bloodgood.

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #021 - Vampires

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Vampires"

On this third mini-sode in their "Dorkness to Nightmare" miniseries, Em and Alan discuss the most blood-sucking of monsters ... Vampires!

Topics discussed include Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Twilight, Tom Cruise, and the X-Files.

Both Em and Alan also pitch ideas for vampire novels they'd like to write.

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We would love to hear from you about this issue, the podcast episode, or the podcast in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on Twitter @DorknesstoLight and Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #020 - Djinn

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Genie & Djinn"

On this second of our mini-series of mini-sodes, Em & Alan talk about genies, djinn, and other ways to spell to that. They talk about what these occasionally monstrous beings have to teach us, other than "don't mess with them."

Topics discussed include linguistic branching, The Monkey's Paw, John Constantine, the X-Files, and (of course) Aladdin.

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You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.

Link: The origin of the Genie in the Lamp, at Giant Glacier
Link: The Podcastle version of the short story "The Dybbuk in the Bottle."

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #019: Golems

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Golems & Frankenstein Monsters"

On this first of our mini-series of mini-sodes, Em & Alan talk about Frankenstein-style monsters, the Jewish legend at their roots, and the questions these monsters ask about humanity.

Topics discussed include The Golem of Prague, Mary Shelley, RUR, Warehouse 13, the X-Files and artificial intelligence.

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Link: The Golem, at the Jewish Virtual Library
Link: The Golem Legend, from San Jose State University
Link: The Golem in comic books

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Coming Soon ...

For these Halloween Times, we will be doing a mini-series of mini-sodes we are calling "Dorkness to Nightmare!"

Over the course of the month, we will be releasing podcast episodes about various Monsters, and what they have to say about humanity. Vampires, Zombies, Demons ... and MORE!

Coming soon!

Happy Easter / TV Review

Podcast Recommendation

I wanted to give a "shout-out" to a podcast that is taking a look at similar content that what we do here, although from not the same perspective.

On the Parliament of Rooks podcast (the name is a reference to the Sandman comic), the husband-and-wife team of Tom & Melanie Lenese discuss all the elements of magic and the supernatural throughout the history of DC Comics. They don't examine the religious minutae of the characters, like we sometimes do here, but the show is an entertaining romp through an area of comics that we love.

They have looked at our favorite character, The Spectre, a number of times. In episode 19, they discussed his Golden Age origin, which is content that we covered on episode 2 of our podcast. They have also talked about such magical stalwarts as Zatanna & Zatara, Doctor Fate, Johnny Thunder, and Eclipso, in addition to the occassional dip into kids comics, such as Stanley and His Monster. The variety of the characters covered is on the strengths of the show.

Check out their show for a weekly dip into the magical side of comic books.

Nephilim and Angels in Danielle Trussoni’s Angelology

Few obscure Bible passages have generated more theological and creative speculation than Genesis 6:4.

“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” – English Standard Version

In her novel Angelology, Danielle Trussoni has an interesting take on the topic. The idea is that the great old families of Europe, the powers behind the thrones (and in some cases on the thrones) are the descendants of Nephilim. Sister Evangeline and her sisters, part of the Society of Angelologists, end up on the front lines of the spiritual battle.

The Angelologists believe that Nephilim are behind history’s greatest acts of evil – war, genocide, famine and slavery. The idea is that their wealth and influence have allowed the Nephilim to develop institutions and systems that suppress ordinary people.But as the years have passed, the Nephilim's bloodlines have becoe weakened, and their influence may be waning.

I really enjoyed Trussoni's take on the topic, as different as it was from other versions of Nephilim stories I have run across before.

There is a second novel in the series, and I expect to read it soon.

A general-interest review of the novel appears at Alan’s Eyes & Ears.