It’s Halloween week and everybody loves a good ghost story. Or, if you’re theologically inclined, a good exorcism story. What’s more frightening than a physical manifestation of pure evil through an ordinary person? And while we’re at it, why are all the famous Hollywood exorcisms of girls (i.e. Regan in The Exorcist and Emily in The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Is it the juxtaposition of darkness over the perception of innocence?) Let’s save a full-blown exposition of demonology for another post.
For now, let me propose something scarier than possession. It’s not nearly as dramatic. It’s much more subtle and, because of that, would never make for a very good film. I know people who don’t believe in evil. But some of those same individuals acknowledge the existence of darker corners within their own hearts. Such darkness, left unchecked, evolves over time. It chokes joy out of the spirit, transforms hope into despair, and hardens healthy skeptics into cold cynics. This is truly insidious. It’s exponentially more unnerving to me than levitating adolescents, pea soup projectile vomiting, and spinning heads.
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