Voodoo: How a Religion became a Horror Trope

In October in the UK it is Black History Month, and of course October is ‘Month of Horror’ on this blog. It is a trope in horror media, and popular culture as a whole, that depicts Voodoo as a Satanic, blood-sacrifice, black magic cult based on purposeful and general misunderstandings of the religion. Born through

The Making of Today: Francois Mackandal and Enslaved Resistance in Saint-Domingue, January-March 1758

In 1791 enslaved Africans and Afro-Caribbean peoples rose up in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, modern Haiti. However, the famous revolution of 1791 was far from the first slave revolt in Saint-Domingue. One earlier revolt, planned by the enigmatic Francois Mackandal, was found out resulting in Mackandal’s brutal execution on January 20 1758. Today we’ll

Myths, Legends, and Faith: Zombies

It’s the final week of 2022’s Month of Horror and in the UK October is also Black History Month. The legacies of slavery in the Caribbean led to folklore and belief intersecting Black History with what we associate with horror. The zombie is one of these, but the original zombies were a far cry from