Ghosts Who Walk Among Us: The Millions Interviews Claire Cronin
“Horror fans are often asked to explain why to people who don’t like or understand the genre—to offer an apologia,” Claire Cronin writes in Blue Light of the Screen: On Horror, Ghosts, and God. “I’ve always felt haunted…There is something about watching ghosts on screens that satisfies this personal unprovable.”
Some books arrive at the perfect time, but Cronin’s fascinating book feels absolutely made for this especially disturbing Halloween. It speaks to the transcendence of her concerns: she reveals how horror, ghosts, and God exist among each other.
Cronin’s vignette-style structure arrives like whispers in the dark, or frenetic prayers. Her sense of curiosity permeates the book. Fans of horror films and Catholics—devoted or drifted—will love this unique book, but so will those who seek to understand fear.
Cronin is a writer and musician. Her latest album, Big Dread Moon, was described as “a full-length folk horror movie” by The Fader. She has written for Fairy Tale Review, Bennington Review, Sixth Finch, and elsewhere. She earned an MFA in poetry from the University of California, Irvine, and a PhD in English from the University of Georgia.
We spoke about writing that scares us, the power of ritual, and the ghosts who walk among us.
is unique, expansive, and scary—and I don’t think it’s merely
