Providence, RI and Horror Fiction/St. Issac Joques and Companions.

This week on the afternoon broadcast—The Voice of St. Anthony (V numbered podcasts) you will hear my show recorded outside in Providence, RI. There I will speak of Hallowe'en and the horror genre in a Christian sense.

Why Providence for Hallowe'en isn't that more a Salem, MA things.

Well it is true that Salem calls itself Hallwe'en City but Providence is the home of the one of the greatest horror writers in American literature. H.P. Lovecraft. So, I am writing from his backyard so to speak.

Lovecraft indeed died the starving artist but he became an influence to other horror writers and its genre. The question is why would a Catholic show talk about horror and Halloween? Simple. Jesus redeems us from the effects of evil but we can easily be deceived by it. So it is essential to know not only evil but how to avoid it.

I will mention a famous line from the story: The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward which is a great story by Lovecraft. The line you will hear me discuss, I will encourage you to teach your children about how to live in freedom.. I believed It inspired an episode of Night Gallery called "Cool Air" although the TV story and the short story are quite different.

I will also mention one of his more famous stories in which the family names are in real life the names of the towns along the I-91 corridor in Western Massachusetts.

On an unrelated note. That corridor takes you close to Peterborough, NH which is the model for the community in Our Town.

The

Morning program (O numbered podcasts) I will discuss the readings from Ephesians. I will also discuss the saints of this week particularly St. Isaac Joques and his companions. Why, because if you drive about 3.5 hours west of Boston into the suburbs of Albany, you will encounter the place where they were martyred. It is holy ground and for us in the Northeast, it is a place we can visit to encounter it.

Enjoy our podcasts this week.

Photo top: Lucius B. Truesdell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Bottom LotR, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons