What do we do with the Bible’s most troubling texts? Brandon R. Grafius offers a Lenten reflection on Joshua, Psalm 137 and Uzzah — and why troubling passages may deepen faith rather than diminish it.

The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Monsters - co-edited with John Morehead, made @horrorwritersassoc.bsky.social’s initial ballot for the Stoker awards! So many amazing authors on this list.

It's a Christmas miracle! Horror greats @gemmafiles.bsky.social and @brianevenson.bsky.social join Professor @bgrafius.bsky.social and me to talk about the inextirpable intersection of horror & religion! What a rich, rollicking conversation! Happy holidays to all 🎄 🎃 youtu.be/KAIsEKjH_PQ

Just in time for Christmas! My review of The Carpenter's Son in The Metropolitan Review. www.metropolitanreview.org/p/the-divine...

This was such a fun conversation! The book's a perfect Christmas gift for the horror fan in your life...

Thank you, Heather! I appreciated the review so much.

So cool to see myself quoted in this review.

Awesome review at @horrordna.bsky.social!

Wow. An administration that's literally chasing after windmills. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

RIP to the great Jack DeJohnette, giant of jazz drumming. Listening to his trio album Music We Are in honor. #jazz #vinylsky

Superb PW review of our agency client @bgrafius.bsky.social's Scared by the Bible: The Roots of Horror in Scripture": "Enlightening analysis from Grafius...he compares the apostle Paul’s struggle between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, underscoring how the 'self... contains the monstrous.'" #horror #Bible

Hey, has anyone finished reading Scared by the Bible yet? If you have, please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever you go to learn about books. Thanks for helping to spread the work!

Here's a brief intro for Scared by the Bible. Please pass along to anyone you know who might be interested in this book! youtu.be/URDPKuVZuGY

My upcoming book got a great shout-out from the Losers' Club on their recent Stacks episode, about 50 minutes in - so cool. Scared by the Bible releases Oct. 7th. #horror #books #movies #podcast podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

I know the world is crumbling around us. But at least there are new #tonepoet titles. #vinylsky #jazz

Just finished a great interview with @monicaskuebler.bsky.social at @ruemorguemag.bsky.social for my forthcoming book, Scared by the Bible. Such a great conversation! The article should be in their Nov/Dec issue, hitting newsstands early Nov.

Author’s copies arrived today, a little more than one month before release. If you’d like to preorder, you can get 20% off at indiepubs.com with code SCARED20*.

Amazing new pressing of @lorangemusic.bsky.social’s first album. #vinylsky

Goodwill find. #vinylsky #horror

This friend took up shop outside my living room window this morning. I know she’s a common yellow garden spider, but still pretty cool.

Can’t wait for this conference! I’ll be talking some about both Lurking Under the Surface, and the new one set to release in October - Scared by the Bible.

My regular brand of coffee beans were up 20% from a couple of weeks ago. I know the world’s got bigger problems. Still…

Excited to be on the speakers list for this year's Writing the Occult virtual event! What a great lineup.

Sitting down with a sour from Speciation Ales on Grand Rapids. What an amazing beer.

Hey, exactly two months until Scared by the Bible is out in the world! bookshop.org/p/books/scar...

Just finished reading @wnwagner.bsky.social's newest, Girl in the Creek - really fun read. Great sense of place, a cast of characters to care about.

Really enjoyed Jessa Cristin’s What’s Wrong with Men. The central conceit of treating Michael Douglas’s roles from the ‘80s and ‘90s as a single composite character who demonstrates the collapse of the patriarchy is brilliant. #booksky

Thanks to @horrortree.com for this great new interview. Getting excited for Scared by the Bible to hit bookshelves in October. horrortree.com/in-the-name-...

The release date for Scared by the Bible is less than 3 months away. Check out the fantastic blurb from Lovecraft Country author @bymattruff.bsky.social!

I finally took the plunge and signed up for the Blue Note Tone Poet Society. #vinylsky

Pretty excited for this new collection!!!

Michigan seems to be really living into the fact that rain actually increases humidity. I'd like to put in a request for drier air, please.

Excited to be a part of this!!!

My fifteen-year old has been thinking about spending some summer job money on a record player, and took the plunge yesterday. So much fun to set it up with him. His first two album purchases: Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago, and Jeff Buckley's Grace. My work as a parent is done. #vinylsky

I've had @ladyhorrors.bsky.social's Women, Monstrosity, and Horror Film in my TBR stack for quite awhile now. I just started it a couple of days ago, and can already see that I should have moved it up to the top as soon as I got it. Great scholarship. www.routledge.com/Women-Monstr...

According to Meta AI, I am the co-author of the Oxford Handbook of Bibliomancy. I…don’t think this book exists.

Rewatching the Final Destination movies. Why is the CGI in 4 and 5 so awful?!?

Copies arrived today! It’s been a five-year journey, but the Oxford Handbook of Biblical Monsters is out in the world. So grateful to all the contributors for making this an indispensable resource. #biblicalstudies #horrorstudies

Freddie Hubbard’s helping me through a day of revising and editing. #nowspinning #vinylsky

My new article up @sojo.net, on Last of Us, revenge, and justice. sojo.net/articles/cul...

Just passed 40k words on my novel-in-progress. That's enough to make it feel like it might actually be a thing. #amwriting

Just heard from one of my first-year Hebrew students that he was flying with some of his study materials in his checked baggage, and was pulled in for an interview with TSA. His Hebrew Bible was flagged as "potential terroristic language." Is this really what we're doing?

A new blog post up today, pushing further on my ideas about how political rhetoric often (intentionally) blurs the line between ontological and moral monsters. (And just to be clear - that's a fake image, and a perfect example of how we create monsters.) www.brandonrgrafius.com/blog/monster...

Joan Shelley and Nathan Salsburg at the Ark in Ann Arbor. What a great show.

This series is so good.

Just arrived in the mail today, the new one from @unwedsailor.bsky.social. Great stuff. #nowspinning

My best Star Wars day memory is being in a corporate box at a minor league baseball game. As the character actors came in to say hi, my 12 year-old looks at Luke and says, “Oh, hi Mark.”

I'm planning to use my new website as a place to think through some of the ideas I'm working on, offer some random reflections, and maybe try a few things out. There's a new post up this weekend on whether "monster" is a category of the body or of behavior. www.brandonrgrafius.com/blog/blog-po...

Recently, my kid told me that he does long distance running primarily to be able to eat whatever he wants. I’m realizing this philosophy works better when you’re 15 and running 40 miles a week than it does when you’re in your 40s and running 5.

Just ran a 9:30 mile, and I think it’s time for me to ride into the running sunset. No need to be Michael Jordan with the Wizards - I’m retiring while I’m on top. Or maybe I’ll just run again in a couple of days.