The Silence of God, Surrealism, the Supernatural, and the Plain Creepy If Not Downright Eerie

Before you can do justice to this forum, you need to complete the previous "Methods and Madness" forum, since this forum is excerpted and amplified from it.

A very religious dynamic, believe it or not, is found in the idea of the silence of God. Two phrases illustrate this quite well: the idea of a deus otiosus and the deus absconditas are Latin phrases to describe a god who withdraws or who hides. One can see this concept illustrated throughout the history of religions from African tribal sky gods to the Deist Clockmaker/Designer who withdraws from interaction with the creation. The possibility of God's non-involvement with human affairs, God's silence, may often be portrayed by what is lacking. Think of Job's struggle as the quest for a meaning which is clearly lacking from his experience of suffering. One subtle way in which the silence of God has appeared in modern literature, is in the disappearance of the omniscient narrator. There is strong sense that people are on their own in the grip of forces beyond their control. There is a sense of alienation, anxiety, and something missing. We sense the impact of a presence, or notice it by its lack, by non-presence. Yet, on the other hand, there is sometimes a sense that something quite disturbing is going on at a level that transcends human comprehension. Have you ever had a dream so real that when you awakened it took you awhile to re-orient? Surrealism is an art form that evokes a dreamlike quality in juxtaposition to normal everyday life. Surreal art depicts clocks melting off the edges of tables or, in the case of literature, people waking up as insects. Aside from bad acid trips and schizophrenic episodes does existence sometimes seem to be a deeply surreal experience, whether in life, literature, the museum, or theater? Have you ever wondered what the Kafka is going on? Have you ever felt the evocation of the supernatural? Though it is perhaps a bit anachronistic to view Edgar Allen Poe as "surreal", he certainly comes to mind when evoking an eerie sense of the supernatural in otherwise quite natural settings...

As early as 1912, Rudolf Otto used the newly developed cinematic genre of the Horror Film to speak about the mysterium tremendum et fascinans (terror and fascination) which encounter with the Holy evokes. (I have often speculated that Otto was thinking of "Nosferatu" an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Drcula.) Scary films are fraught with the sense of the supernatural and often trigger responses that remind the viewer of his/her creaturliness (absolute vulnerability) in the face of forces beyond human control. Often at stake is the sense of our finitude in the face of infinity. Infinity of anything is an overwhelming and potentially terrifying prospect. It is perhaps ironic to think in this regard that although ecstasy may be a glimpse of eternity, horror is the actual experience of it. Does terror lead to Holiness? What do you think the religious significances of Horror may be? What are its lessons? What are some truly horrifying experiences you can think of either in life, or literature and film? It is quite interesting to see the ongoing and ever re-ermerging popularity of the Vampire genre. I think of, for example, the new HBO series True Blood, Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula", the creative retelling of the original vampire film "Nosforatu" within "Shadow of the Vampire", or the cinematic rendition of the popular Anne Rice novels in "Interview With A Vampire" as examples of this popular horror genre. Among other issues, focus on the vampire portrays a form of systemic evil while posing questions about the meaning and purpose of life, the fear of death, and the dreadful predatorial dynamics of a human existence that must kill to self perpetuate, as well as some other perplexing ethical issues. Yet, that film and the series of books it represents barely scratches the surface of the hugely popular genre. So, for this assignment, I would like you to choose a film that deals with the surreal, the silence of God, or something from among the scariest films of all time. If you choose a horror film, feel free to make your case for its inclusion in the alltime HORROR HALL of FAME (If you are really squeamish, you may substitute a suspense thriller for a horror film...but be sure to discuss its religious and/or mythic implications.) Or you may want to discuss a piece of alarming literature, I know I certainly found Poe very darkly disturbing yet fascinating as a child, and Kafka was certainly a shock to my system and psyche as an adult, but we will deal with them more later...

I just need 3 paragraphs.