"Throughout history, the religious imagination has attempted to control nothing so much as our bodies: what they are and what they mean; what we do with them, with whom, and under what circumstances; how they may be displayed-or, more commonly, how they must be hidden. Religious belief and mandate affect how our bodies are used in ritual practice, as well as how we use them to identify and marginalize threatening religious Others. This book examines how horror culture treats religious bodies that have stepped (or been pushed) out of their 'proper' place. Unlike most books on religion and horror, This book explores the dark spaces where sex, sexual representation, and the sexual body come together with religious belief and scary stories. Because these intersections of sex, horror, and the religious imagination force us to question the nature of consensus reality, supernatural horror, especially as it concerns the body, often shows us the religious imagination at work in real time. It is important to note that the discussion in this book is not limited either to horror cinema or to popular fiction, but considers a wide range of material, including literary horror, weird fiction, graphic storytelling, visual arts, participative culture, and aspects of real-world religious fear. It is less concerned with horror as a genre (which is mainly a function of marketing) and more with the horror mode, a way of storytelling that finds expression across a number of genres, a variety of media, and even blurs the boundary between fiction and non-fiction. This expanded focus not only deepens the pool of potential examples, but invites a much broader readership in for a swim"--

Men's adventure magazines were a form of pulp publishing which flourished in 1950s and 1960s America, pandering to the cruelty and lust of young men with luridly illustrated stories of war, sleaze and savagery. They arose partly in response to the inauguration of the Comics Code in 1954, as a way of circumventing censorship by presenting material in a new, "adults-only" format. The prime years of the men's adventure magazine unleashed a visual and verbal deluge of exposed and tormented flesh, bloody mayhem and sexual delinquency, representing a unique cultural phenomenon in US publishing and art. SOFT BRIDES FOR THE BEAST OF BLOODe ^is a new anthology which collects some prime examples of text and artwork from a range of men's adventure magazines published during the prime years of the genre. The book is divided into two main sections: FEATURES includes a selection of sensationalistic, semi-factual confessions and case histories on such subjects as Nazi doctors, tortures of the Spanish Inquisition, cannibal serial killers, vice, juvenile delinquency and other aberrations; and FICTION collects numerous examples of garishly illustrated short pulp fiction, with categories including war, white slavery, Nazi horror, jungle savagery, Red menace, Devil worship, torture, sadism and erotic carnage. The book also features numerous examples of interior art from classic men's magazines, and includes 35 features and stories, with more than 80 illustrations, and 16 pages of full colour, with work by such classic pulp artists as Norm Eastman, Norman Saunders and John Duillo. Features and stories include: THE CANNIBAL BUTCHER OF HANOVER; A SOFT WHITE THROAT FOR THE DEVIl'S HANGMAN; TORTURED NUDES FOR THE DEVIl'S CHARNEL HOUSE; SOFT BRIDES FOR THE HIDEOUS RITES OF THE DAMNED; NUDE NURSES FOR THE BEASTS OF BUSHIDO; DOOMED NUDES IN THE CIRCUS OF HORROR; TORTURE TRAP OF THE NYMPHO SCHOOLGIRLS; PRISON BREAK FROM CHAWCAGEE HELL HOLE; and many others.

Men's adventure magazines were a form of pulp publishing which flourished in 1950s and 1960s America, pandering to the cruelty and lust of young men with luridly illustrated stories of war, sleaze and savagery. As with pulp magazines from earlier decades, scantily-dressed women-in-peril were a favourite subject for cover designs; but in the early 1960s, magazines such as Man’s Story and Men Today saw sales rocket when they mixed this staple imagery with a new, fetishistic and taboo element – the swastika. The frisson of seeing half-naked, large-breasted females in bondage being menaced and tortured by evil Nazi doctors and henchmen was one which persisted throughout the 1960s. Man’s Story magazine alone published at least 50 covers featuring scenes of Nazi horror between 1961 and 1969. This decade-long deluge of exposed soft flesh, extreme torture, and the all-pervasive sign of the swastika represents a never-to-be-repeated cultural phenomenon in US publishing and art. The 65 examples displayed in this special ebook presentation stand as testament to this phenomenon, and also as a reminder to the lurid but innocent fun which people once enjoyed, before the invention of “political correctness” by repressive bodies bent on pulling popular culture - and life - back into the dark ages.

Ranging from cinematic images of Jane Austen's estates to Oscar Wilde's drawing rooms, Dianne F. Sadoff looks at popular heritage films, often featuring Hollywood stars, that have been adapted from nineteenth-century novels. Victorian Vogue argues that heritage films perform different cultural functions at key historical moments in the twentieth century. According to Sadoff, they are characterized by a double historical consciousness-one that is as attentive to the concerns of the time of production as to those of the Victorian period. If James Whale's Frankenstein and Tod Browning's Dracula exploited post-Depression fear in the 1930s, the horror films of the 1950s used the genre to explore homosexual panic, 1970s movies elaborated the sexuality only hinted at in the thirties, and films of the 1990s indulged the pleasures of consumption. Taking a broad view of the relationships among film, literature, and current events, Sadoff contrasts films not merely with their nineteenth-century source novels but with crucial historical moments in the twentieth century, showing their cultural use in interpreting the present, not just the past.

Interstellar Brides® Program Boxed Set – Books 6-8 Mastered by her Mates – Book 6 Amanda Bryant has been a spy for five long years, so when a deadly enemy threatens Earth's very survival, Amanda is asked by her superiors to accept the most dangerous mission of her life...volunteer to be an alien's bride, to share the strange warrior's bed and then betray him. Accepting the assignment, Amanda is processed as the first Interstellar Bride and transported halfway across the galaxy to her new mate's battleship. She awakens to discover she has been matched to not just one huge Prillon warrior, but two. Shocked by her craving for the touch of two dominant, alpha males, Amanda realizes the threat to Earth is very real, but the enemy isn’t from Prillon Prime as she’d been told. How can she protect the warriors she has grown to love and save the people of Earth from making a terrible mistake? Will her human contacts believe her when, with every touch, every look, they will see just how thoroughly she has been mastered by her mates? Tamed by the Beast – Book 7 When Tiffani is mated to an Atlan warrior believed lost to mating fever, she will stop at nothing to save him, including sneaking into an Atlan prison to seduce his beast.. Sick and tired of the dead-end path her life is taking, Tiffani Wilson heads to the nearest Interstellar Bride processing center to start over. She’s promised an amazing mate, an Atlan Warlord who will not only relish her plus sized body, but heal her lonely heart. Commander Deek of Atlan has lost control of his inner beast and sits in an Atlan prison cell awaiting execution. Unfortunately, nothing can save an unmated male. When Tiffani’s transport to Atlan is denied due to her mate’s unstable condition, she will stop at nothing to save him and the life she was promised. Her mate is out there, he’s in trouble, and she knows she’s the only one in the universe who can save him. Deek and his inner beast take one look at Tiffani’s soft, lush body and know they will do anything to possess her, even if it means pushing her sensual limits or taking her over his knee. But it’s not just Deek’s tenuous hold on the beast that stands in the way of their happily-ever-after, for Deek’s descent into mating fever was no accident, and his enemies will not surrender so easily. Mated to the Vikens – Book 8 As an art dealer in New York, Sophia Antonelli's worked hard to build her business, but fate forces her to make a deal with organized crime. When things go wrong, she takes the fall and is offered a choice: twenty-five years in jail or the Interstellar Bride Program. The choice is easy and Sophia is shocked to learn she's mated to not one, but three Viken warriors. After ten years fighting the Hive, Gunnar, Erik and Rolf are now the Kings' guards at Viken United. Bowing to the new Queen's wishes, they agree to share an Interstellar Bride. It should be an easy task since she's matched to three of them, all battle hardened warriors. But none can save her from being kidnapped during transport. Accidentally mixed up in an evil organization's plot to assassinate the Viken Queen, Sophia refuses to back down, even with her mates standing protectively in the way. After her experience on Earth, she's not about to let anyone ruin her new life. Sophia will risk everything to expose her enemy, but when it comes to their new bride, her three Viken mates will do whatever it takes to eliminate the threat and keep her...forever.

Ditch the storybook wedding, banish Bridezilla, and walk down the aisle in truth and in style: You are a Stone Fox Bride and this is your bridal guide. Molly Rosen Guy founded the brand Stone Fox Bride as an alternative to outdated, plastic-princess wedding culture. Her stylish and subversive approach is being embraced by creative, modern brides who believe in love and romance, but have no interest in running off into the sunset. In an inspiring mix of intimate storytelling, gorgeous visuals, and candid advice, with an aesthetic that channels Bianca Jagger in a white tux rather than Cinderella in a frilly gown, Molly Rosen Guy—your cool, hippie chic guide through the wilds of wedding planning—encourages brides-to-be, and their ladies in tow, to say no to all things phony, frilly, and silly. Featuring personal essays that explore the nuances of the process, including a raw, unairbrushed look at the realities of the early days of marriage, she tells us that a Stone Fox Bride should never sacrifice her style, her story, or her sanity to please others; she reassures us that weddings don't have to be free of confusion, shades of gray, or cellulite; and reminds us that marriage, like love, is equal parts complicated and beautiful. Praise for Molly Rosen Guy and the Stone Fox Bride phenomenon “The current wedding-wear darling of the jammin’ and Instagrammin’ set [offers] an insouciant, antiestablishment approach to weddings.”—The New York Times “[Molly Rosen Guy is] making waves in the bridal industry thanks to her eclectic eye and refusal to conform to clichéd traditions.”—W “Molly Rosen Guy built a business filling the needs of women who long for something more than your run-of-the-mill, princess-y flou for their big day.”—Vogue