Christian fear as spectacle

Ethan Blue's National Trauma, Church Drama: The Cultural Politics of Christian Fear (at Bad Subjects) tours three haunted theater settings in the heart of Jesusland. "This Hell House was scary, because the performers took the facepaint, and the "evil roles" they played so seriously. I recall seeing a muscular student slamming a shovel into a tree, noticing that the tree was worse for wear for the hits it had taken. My perceptions are my own, and were shaped by my situated, and disoriented perspective, but I sensed no small amount of adrenaline and even rage in the students. I thought that the one with the shovel could really hurt someone by mistake. He, like many of the students, seemed fully jacked-up on adrenaline and on the power and pleasure of scaring people."