Great article and recommendations. I have been hearing so much about The Secret Life of Puppets lately ~ it seems the universe is pointing me to it! A recent episode of the Weird Studies podcast features an interview with Victoria Nelson that was quite interesting. I believe you’ve been on that podcast as well Matt, right? Thanks for more great content!
Pleased that I could contribute to the universe's recent flurry of signs pointing you in the direction of that book. 🙂
Yes, I've been interviewed twice for Weird Studies, once in 2019 (episode 41, "On Speculative Fiction") and then earlier this year (episode 126, "The Daemon Speaks"). It's probably my single favorite podcast. JF and Phil are just brilliant.
Does Secret Life of Puppets reference Rudolf Otto? I got Beal, Varnado, and Ingebretsen which all do. I'm doing my masters thesis maybe on something to do with Rudolf Otto (it's not set in stone, I could do something else, depends where this takes me). I have the Philip C Almond book. I have not yet gotten the new book by Yoshitsugu Sawai but it seems really great. I want to do my thesis on something do with Otto and the horror genre. It's not going to get published or anything it's just a school exercise. If you could make this list of books even bigger is there anything else you would add?
Ms. Nelson mentions Otto on a single page in The Secret Life of Puppets. But the entire book is well worth factoring into your reading and your thesis. She also mentions Otto on a single page in her next book, Gothicka: Vampire Heroes, Human Gods, and the New Supernatural.
As for additional suggestions for the direction you're heading, the following come to mind. Not all of them may prove helpful, but they would at least all be interesting, and they might worm their way into your thinking and provide valuable fodder and maybe even direct content:
Peter Penzoldt, The Supernatural in Fiction
A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (This is a Christian book in the evangelical tradition, so it may seem an odd suggestion, but Tozer's handling of the holy in it, from his Christian perspective, is quite skillful and insightful, and he's well aware of and indebted to Otto)
Jack Hunter, ed., Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience (I haven't actually read this one yet, but I think it might intersect with your interests, and I know that Jack's research interests overlap with yours to a significant degree; plus, the list of contributors includes the likes of Kripal. Plus, see below.)
Brandon Grafius, Lurking under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions That Haunt Us
Brandon Grafius, Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination (The first Grafius title above is a popular book; the second is a scholarly one. You might find something of interest in both. Amplifying my recommendation of Jack Hunter's book above, be advised that Brandon's Theology and Horror contains an essay by Jack titled "Mysterium Horrendum: Exploring Otto's Concept of the Numinous in Stoker, Machen, and Lovecraft.")
A friend recommended this to me, do you know of it?
by Austin M Freeman, Theology and H P Lovecraft
" the book is divided into five sections corresponding to each of the divisions of theology: biblical, historical, systematic, practical, and comparative. With responses ranging from admiration to critique, the contributors explore the dark uncharted regions of Lovecraft’s dark mythology in the service of theological truth."
I found these great quotes translated from Das Gefühl des Überweltlichen (sensus numinis) by Rudolf Otto in Todd Gooch's Numinous And Modernity. I don't believe that book is available in english otherwsie. It basically confirmed what I long suspected Rudolf Otto to have thought,
Gooch says, "Otto claims that, on the contrary, the origin of the gods must be sought in the unfamiliar and uncanny. It is precisely when the gods become too familiar that they begin to loose (sic) their religious power, as was the case, for example, in ancient Greece." then he quotes Otto "Where the goddesses and gods became all-too noble and all-too charming and all-too human-like, belief in them was not at its highpoint, as one would have to assume according to the doctrine of anthropomorphism"
Rudolf Otto also said, "The pictures of the gods of the world, brought together in one heap, would put to shame all of today's museums of futuristic artists in terms of the imagination (Fantastik), strangeness and inexhaustibility of the wholly means of expression of the wholly unfamiliar (des ganz Befremdlichen) that they display. If the oxen strove to see their gods as oxen, humans would appear on the contrary to have had quite the opposite ambition, portraying their gods as half or whole cows, calves, horses, crocodiles, elephants, birds, fish, as marvelous hybrids, hermaphrodites and hideous beings, as weird, confused forms (Schling- und Zeichen-gebilde) and who knows what else.
In Idea of the Holy, Rudolf Otto is like daemonic dread is pivotally important to the development of the holy, but even though there is a remnant at the highest levels, religion evolves away from it. He seemed to be saying two different things at once. These quotes from another of Otto's books really show his true feelings on the topic.
Started reading Varnado's Haunted Presence earlier in the week - his explanation of Otto's conception of the Numinous is summarised well - whether or not I shall agree with the Gothic as having a morality I look forward to finding out since I would be of the opinion that the essence of the Gothic is the absence of a clear cut (ie instructional) morality & rather an exploration of the grey areas of morality which creates questions that are far more complex than those found in the works that have a more straightforward moral perspective - either way thanks for drawing my attention to it as I probably wouldn't have found it otherwise
I think you may be right - it's a pity he decided not to include Sheridan Le Fanu though - he's sadly neglected & all too quickly dismissed by many - it's good to see that in certain circles there's a renewed interest in his work
thanks for the recommendations. the secret life of puppets looks awesome!
I'm glad my write-up conveyed the book's inherent fascination factor. I predict you'll love it.
looking forward to checking out your books, as well!
I hope they connect. For a free one that you'll not find on Amazon, see my A COURSE IN DEMONIC CREATIVITY: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE INNER GENIUS (https://mattcardin.com/nonfiction/a-course-in-demonic-creativity).
Great article and recommendations. I have been hearing so much about The Secret Life of Puppets lately ~ it seems the universe is pointing me to it! A recent episode of the Weird Studies podcast features an interview with Victoria Nelson that was quite interesting. I believe you’ve been on that podcast as well Matt, right? Thanks for more great content!
Pleased that I could contribute to the universe's recent flurry of signs pointing you in the direction of that book. 🙂
Yes, I've been interviewed twice for Weird Studies, once in 2019 (episode 41, "On Speculative Fiction") and then earlier this year (episode 126, "The Daemon Speaks"). It's probably my single favorite podcast. JF and Phil are just brilliant.
Does Secret Life of Puppets reference Rudolf Otto? I got Beal, Varnado, and Ingebretsen which all do. I'm doing my masters thesis maybe on something to do with Rudolf Otto (it's not set in stone, I could do something else, depends where this takes me). I have the Philip C Almond book. I have not yet gotten the new book by Yoshitsugu Sawai but it seems really great. I want to do my thesis on something do with Otto and the horror genre. It's not going to get published or anything it's just a school exercise. If you could make this list of books even bigger is there anything else you would add?
Ms. Nelson mentions Otto on a single page in The Secret Life of Puppets. But the entire book is well worth factoring into your reading and your thesis. She also mentions Otto on a single page in her next book, Gothicka: Vampire Heroes, Human Gods, and the New Supernatural.
As for additional suggestions for the direction you're heading, the following come to mind. Not all of them may prove helpful, but they would at least all be interesting, and they might worm their way into your thinking and provide valuable fodder and maybe even direct content:
Peter Penzoldt, The Supernatural in Fiction
A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (This is a Christian book in the evangelical tradition, so it may seem an odd suggestion, but Tozer's handling of the holy in it, from his Christian perspective, is quite skillful and insightful, and he's well aware of and indebted to Otto)
Jack Hunter, ed., Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience (I haven't actually read this one yet, but I think it might intersect with your interests, and I know that Jack's research interests overlap with yours to a significant degree; plus, the list of contributors includes the likes of Kripal. Plus, see below.)
Brandon Grafius, Lurking under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions That Haunt Us
Brandon Grafius, Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination (The first Grafius title above is a popular book; the second is a scholarly one. You might find something of interest in both. Amplifying my recommendation of Jack Hunter's book above, be advised that Brandon's Theology and Horror contains an essay by Jack titled "Mysterium Horrendum: Exploring Otto's Concept of the Numinous in Stoker, Machen, and Lovecraft.")
A friend recommended this to me, do you know of it?
by Austin M Freeman, Theology and H P Lovecraft
" the book is divided into five sections corresponding to each of the divisions of theology: biblical, historical, systematic, practical, and comparative. With responses ranging from admiration to critique, the contributors explore the dark uncharted regions of Lovecraft’s dark mythology in the service of theological truth."
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one, but the description is interesting.
I found these great quotes translated from Das Gefühl des Überweltlichen (sensus numinis) by Rudolf Otto in Todd Gooch's Numinous And Modernity. I don't believe that book is available in english otherwsie. It basically confirmed what I long suspected Rudolf Otto to have thought,
Gooch says, "Otto claims that, on the contrary, the origin of the gods must be sought in the unfamiliar and uncanny. It is precisely when the gods become too familiar that they begin to loose (sic) their religious power, as was the case, for example, in ancient Greece." then he quotes Otto "Where the goddesses and gods became all-too noble and all-too charming and all-too human-like, belief in them was not at its highpoint, as one would have to assume according to the doctrine of anthropomorphism"
Rudolf Otto also said, "The pictures of the gods of the world, brought together in one heap, would put to shame all of today's museums of futuristic artists in terms of the imagination (Fantastik), strangeness and inexhaustibility of the wholly means of expression of the wholly unfamiliar (des ganz Befremdlichen) that they display. If the oxen strove to see their gods as oxen, humans would appear on the contrary to have had quite the opposite ambition, portraying their gods as half or whole cows, calves, horses, crocodiles, elephants, birds, fish, as marvelous hybrids, hermaphrodites and hideous beings, as weird, confused forms (Schling- und Zeichen-gebilde) and who knows what else.
In Idea of the Holy, Rudolf Otto is like daemonic dread is pivotally important to the development of the holy, but even though there is a remnant at the highest levels, religion evolves away from it. He seemed to be saying two different things at once. These quotes from another of Otto's books really show his true feelings on the topic.
Started reading Varnado's Haunted Presence earlier in the week - his explanation of Otto's conception of the Numinous is summarised well - whether or not I shall agree with the Gothic as having a morality I look forward to finding out since I would be of the opinion that the essence of the Gothic is the absence of a clear cut (ie instructional) morality & rather an exploration of the grey areas of morality which creates questions that are far more complex than those found in the works that have a more straightforward moral perspective - either way thanks for drawing my attention to it as I probably wouldn't have found it otherwise
Glad you're enjoying the book, David. I expect its insights will continue to resonate with you long after reading it. Happened to me, anyway.
I think you may be right - it's a pity he decided not to include Sheridan Le Fanu though - he's sadly neglected & all too quickly dismissed by many - it's good to see that in certain circles there's a renewed interest in his work