Table of Contents

Part I. Korea: Zombies and Other Supernatural

Chapter 1. A (Wo)Man’s Touch: Doomsday Book as Critique of Metropolis

Liz W. Faber

Part II. China: Demonic Possession and Spiritual Vampires

Chapter 2. Gender, Death, and the Supernatural in The Untamed (Chen Qing Ling): A Danmei Genre Pop Cultural Phenomenon.

Lucy Yuan Qin and Kong F. Cheong

Part III. Russia: Trans Rebirth

Chapter 3. A Real Woman is an Iceberg, and a Real Man is Made: Gender, Failure, and Death in Post-Soviet Cinematic Space

Lev Nikulin

Part IV. Australia: Aboriginal Vampires

Chapter 4. The Yara-ma-yha-who, “Real” Vampires, and Aboriginal Erasure: The Retold Vampires of Australian Horror Fiction

McKenzie Lynn Tozan

Part V. The Caribbean: Animism and Why the Dead Walk at Night

Chapter 5. When Opposites Impact: The Remarkable Duality Present in the Taíno Belief System

James M. VanderVeen

Part VI. Afrofuturism: Astral Projection and Hyperempathy

Chapter 6. Dying to Live in Octavia Butler’s Kindred and Breonna Taylor’s America: Discourses of Policing, Misogynoir, “Runaways,” and Zombies

Jamie A. Thomas

Chapter 7. Death and Disability in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred and Parable of the Sower

Kathryn E. Heffner

Part VII. Moving from the Real World to the Matrix: Cyborg and the Supernatural Power of Love

Chapter 8. Bodies in Pods: Masculine Domination, Sexuality, and Love in The Matrix Franchise

Brian Brutlag

Part VIII. A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Star Wars, Jedi, and the Force

Chapter 9. Half Man, Half Machine: Transhumanism and the Cyborg Through a Fictional Lens

Freya Fenton

Part IX. The Imperial Radch: The Humanity of Corpse Soliders

Chapter 10. “Blood Stays Inside Your Arteries, Dlique”: Aliens, Cyborgs, Death, and Tea Ceremonies in Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch Trilogy

Rebecca Gibson

About the Author

Rebecca Gibson is lecturer of anthropology at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of Desire in the Age of Robots and AI: An Investigation in Science Fiction and Fact.

James M. VanderVeen is professor of anthropology and assistant director of the University Center of Excellence in Teaching at Indiana University South Bend.

Reviews

Global Perspectives on the Liminality of the Supernatural: From Animus to Zombi is a fascinating exploration of contemporary science fiction and the supernatural. It is an engrossing insight into how writers and film makers have explored the possible and impossible to make sense of the world and the many ways humans exist within it. It has expanded my horizons, deepened my understanding and lengthened my reading list. A highly recommended read.
*Kathryn Harkup, PhD, author of Making the Monster: The Science of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein*